Dachshund Fest 2018

Dachshund Fest (also called the Dachshund Spring Fiesta) is my very favorite New York event. On the last Saturday in April, dachshund owners (and dachshund lovers!) gather in Washington Square Park. At 1pm everyone sings the "Dachsong" and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I look forward to being surrounded by so many wiener dogs all year long.

Don't tell Mozart, but I think New York has turned me into a dog person. My heart breaks into a thousand pieces every time I see a cute dog and I think this must be how most women my age feel about human babies. Most children just annoy me, but the minute I see a dog in tiny rainboots, I'm an emotional mess. 

The Dachshund Fest is the perfect event for me because I get to pet a bunch of the world's cutest dachshunds without having to put in any of the effort required to own a dog. I would love to own my own wiener dog eventually, but Mozart is a bit of a bad seed and might actually murder anything that takes my attention away from her. 

It was pretty warm but some of the dogs were still dressed up. There was only one in a bun, but it was a great one—I'm team mustard all the way. Two dogs had jean jackets, one was wearing a snacks-themed onesie, several had neckties and bandanas, two were wearing gingham shirts, two had Hawaiian shirts and the "Best Wiener in Town" hoodie was just too much. All ages, colors, sizes and coat styles were represented and I met three separate dachshunds that were 17 years old (Diesel, Pepsi and Chili). 

This was my third year at the Dachshund Fest (here are my photos from 2015 and 2017) and I recognized a lot of dogs (and their owners) from previous years. I also recognized an embarrassing amount of dogs from accounts I currently follow on Instagram, including Mina the Wiena, Big Al, Zoe Morini, Chili and I met Dachshunds of NYC, Waddles and a lot of other new friends—if you see a photo of your dog, say hi! 

Westminster Dog Show 2018

Growing up, Best in Show was one of the movies I watched most with my parents. As a result, I've always wanted to see a dog show in person, and this year my mom and I finally made it to the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden. The dog show spans two nights, and we got tickets to the first night which included judging of the Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding groups. The second night is where they crown Best-in-Show, after judging the Sporting, Working and Terrier groups.

Tickets were easier to come by for the first night, but it also included all of our favorite breeds so we weren't too bummed about missing Best-in-Show. We both have low-maintenance cats, but dream of the day when we can own dachshunds (although my mom will probably get there before me). Luckily for us, up first was the hound group, my favorites of which included: the shimmery Afghan hound, the flappy Basset Hound, Bluetick Coonhound (my dad has one!), Dachshunds (of course), Greyhound, the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hound, and Whippet.

In conjunction with the Westminster Kennel Club, the First Annual New York Bench Show of Dogs was staged in 1877 at Gilmore’s Garden (a forerunner of Madison Square Garden), with 1,201 dogs. The show—2018 was the 142nd one—is one of only four events to be held in all four iterations of Madison Square Garden through the years. J.P. Morgan showed his collies, Nellie Bly entered a Maltese, The Queen of England and a Czar of Russia bred show dogs and of course, Martha Stewart has entered several Chow Chows in the show and in 2012 Ghenghis Khan won Best of Breed.

The second group was Toy, which includes a lot of my tiny favorites such as Pug, Chihuahuas, Chinese Crested, a shaky Italian Greyhound, the impossibly small Toy Poodle and Fox Terrier. The third group was Non-Sporting, which included Bulldog, Boston Terrier, French Bulldog, Chow Chow, Shar-pei (brought back from the brink of extinction in the 1960s), Dalmatian and all-black Miniature and Standard Poodles.

Our seats were better than I anticipated—19 rows behind the judges on an aisle—but I knew we wouldn't be super close (and dogs are tiny!) so I rented this huge zoom lens for the day just for fun. My photos aren't the best and we did find ourselves watching the Jumbotron frequently for close-ups, but I'm really glad we finally saw a dog show in person.

It was super exciting for the first two groups, less so by the third and we ended up leaving halfway through the judging of the Herding group because we were tired and only recognized about half of the breeds. But we did stick around just long enough to see the Puli and the Bergamasco Sheepdog, dogs so strange-looking that they need to be seen in person just to be believed.

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BEST OF BREED 🏅
Hound: Borzoi
Toy: Pug
Non-Sporting: Bichon Frise
Herding: Border Collie
Sporting: Sussex Spaniel
Working: Giant Schnauzer
Terrier: Norfolk Terrier

BEST IN SHOW 🏆
Bichon Frise

Dachshund Fest 2017

Last Saturday was the annual spring dachshund meet-up in Washington Square Park (alternatively called the Dachshund Spring Fiesta, a Dachshund Parade and other names.). I first went two years ago and nearly died of cuteness at all of the adorable dogs and their costumes.

Saturday was really warm—in the mid-80s—so there weren't as many sweaters (and zero bun costumes), but there were some t-shirts, hats and at least one dachshund in a denim vest. The event is probably meant for people who actually own dachshunds, but my mom and I went solely as observers (and squealers). We're both cat owners with not-so-secret dachshund obsessions, and my mom insists that she will be acquiring one immediately upon her retirement. I just can't commit to owning a dog quite yet, so an event that allowed us to pet multiple dachshunds for a few hours was perfect for us.

I heard multiple people wonder out loud why there were so many dachshunds in the park, and I found myself wishing that I could spend a few hours every single weekend surrounded by adorable dogs. I generally love all smooth, small dogs, but dachshunds are by far my favorite breed—they're just painfully cute and always look so happy. It's impossible for me not to smile when I see a tiny, long, short-legged dog waddling down the sidewalk and if it has clothes on I pretty much lose my normal New York-RBF entirely.

2016 Easter Parade: Dogs

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed at the dog content of this year's Easter Parade. The pug content, however, was definitely higher than last year so that sort of made up for the lack of other breeds. I also got to actually pet a pug—current favorite dog breed—for the first time IRL, so it was still a wonderful day.

I saw a few dogs that I had first met last year—including Chloe the pug and Charro the chihuahua, whose owners were very friendly and graciously allowed me to squeal with the unique delight that comes with seeing an already-adorable dog dressed in his/her Easter best.

May I mention yet again how cute the pugs were?? Blame Doug the Pug or Noodle, but my obsession has reached peak levels in recent weeks. Seeing a pug wearing a fleece bunny suit with his curly shrimp tail poking out did absolutely nothing to subdue my intense, primordial need to rub my face into a squishy pug face.

Right before we left, and after complaining about the lack of dogs, we hit the jackpot—a stroller packed full of six (six!) chihuahuas, all of which were dressed up in some way. The one wearing the dress seemed so proud to show it off (along with her painted nails!) and she was so nice that it was easy not to be jealous that she rocked a fancy Easter dress better than I ever could.

Dachshund Fest 2015

Sometime last week the Lord planted a photo in Francesca's Instagram feed that mentioned the upcoming Dachshund Spring Fiesta in Washington Square Park. She showed it to me, we immediately made plans to go and on Saturday we met up prepared to see more wiener dogs in hot dog costumes than we could handle. Unfortunately we ended up seeing exactly zerodachshunds in buns—we squealed with joy upon thinking we had finally found one only to realize it was an impostor (chihuahua).

Other than the bun fiasco, however, the two-hour event was a complete and total delight. I kept repeating over and over "my mouth hurts from smiling so much," and there isn't a better way to describe how the gathering of so many dachshunds in one place made me feel.

I was surprised by the variety of colors and sizes on display, although I will always prefer my dachshunds miniature and short-haired. We did see some really unique color combinations, including the new-to-me "Isabella" (hi Big Al!) and a few all-black dachshunds that were really beautiful.

The weather was really beautiful on Saturday, and since the event started at noon the direct sunlight was causing the most amazing shadows. I became slightly obsessed with capturing the perfect wiener dog shadow—is there anything better than the classic shape of a dachshund?

Although not as perfect as buns, there were some pretty wonderful outfits—a Pope, a skunk, a reindeer, a three-headed, three-eyed dog, a motorcycle dude in a Harley jacket and jeans, and a variety of really adorable sweaters/sweatshirts.

I have always heard that dachshunds tend to be mean, but that wasn't our experience at all. Every dog we met was extremely friendly, happy and maybe just a bit overwhelmed by all the new friends in the park—which also does a good job of further explaining how Francesca and I felt when we left.

Easter Parade, Part Two: Dogs

As much as I enjoyed the elaborate bonnets at the Easter parade, my favorite participants were by far the dogs. I've always considered myself a cat person, but I have to admit that lately New York has turned me more and more over to the dog side of things.

The main appeal of dogs is definitely the ability to dress them up—rain coats, boots, hoodies, hats, backpacks—New York dogs are way more fashionable than I'll ever be. That is especially true of the dogs that came out on Sunday decked in their Easter finest and I could have spent days photographing and trying not to smoosh all of their adorable faces into my face.

I tried to be respectful and ask the names of most of the dogs I was photographing and I had the pleasure of meeting Chloe, Charro, Fred, Pink Dog Frankie and Puccini. I like my dogs small and smooth/short-haired, so of course the pugs and chihuahuas were my favorite. I was disappointed that I didn't see at least one dachshund, which made me want one even more than I already do (to dress as an Easter ham perhaps?).

The tiny top hats, bonnets, pearls, boas, sunglasses and bunny ears just about killed me and it seemed like I was spotting a new dog every few minutes that would make me squeal with delight. Although I don't know how nice it is to dye your dog completely pink, most of them were pretty chill and didn't seem to mind all of the attention or the ridiculous outfits.

Although I still adore Mozart, I don't foresee her being cool with me strapping an Easter bonnet on her next year and pushing her down Fifth Avenue in a stroller—but if anyone has a dachshund they're not using, let me know.

Easter Parade, Part One: Bonnets