This is my beloved mother, Emma Nance, showing CH Dorndorf's Delanie L to Best of Variety under F. J. Fiore at the Sandusky Kennel Club on July 28, 1979. One of three good Champion bitches from the half-brother/half-sister mating of CH Dorndorf's Admiral Long x CH Margem Hills Tillie, I consider Lani one of the two best bitches my mother bred.
The Dorndorf D litter was born February 21, 1978. In August that year, I took my 30 days annual leave from the US Army and went home to house- and dog-sit while my mother and two of my younger siblings went to Germany to visit my mother's family for a month. During that time and with my mother's blessing, I tried real hard to sell to a pet home the six months old black & tan bitch that had gone overshot. I was actually quite disappointed that I wasn't able to do this for my mother while she was gone. Well, we learned something about bites with that experience - and were fortunate indeed not to learn it the hard way. We learned that a dog whose bite is correct as a young puppy may go through a stage as an older puppy where he or she is overshot for a time BUT that the bite will come back to what it was at a few weeks old. We learned that this is not uncommon because there is a time at four, five, six months of age when the lower jaw may grow more slowly than the upper jaw. It was one of the experiences that taught me patience with developing youngsters.
Lani's bite became perfect again as she continued to mature. She went Winners Bitch at her first show, the Hoosier Dachshund Club specialty, in March, 1979 and went on to finish very easily. She won several Varieties as a special and also a very nice Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed award at the Dachshund Club of Greater Buffalo under Phil Bishop.
In 1981, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and decided to sell some dogs. Lani went to a pet home (after all) with a lovely couple named Don and Joan Craven. I was not happy about Lani leaving us but then she wasn't my dog and it wasn't my decision to make. But I have to say that seeing a bitch of this caliber go to a pet home and never contribute offspring ranks high among my top dachshund regrets. Many of us have regrets like this, I know.
A good thing that came as a result of this placement was that the Cravens became good friends to my mother. They called often, sent nice cards and letters, and visited a few times before my mother's death on her 52nd birthday, November 18, 1983. She was very happy to have found such good friends and such a good home for Lani.
I stayed in touch with Don and Joan for a number of years afterward. In 1993, they obtained another black & tan bitch from me, and gave Janis a good home, too.
Lani's bite became perfect again as she continued to mature. She went Winners Bitch at her first show, the Hoosier Dachshund Club specialty, in March, 1979 and went on to finish very easily. She won several Varieties as a special and also a very nice Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed award at the Dachshund Club of Greater Buffalo under Phil Bishop.
In 1981, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and decided to sell some dogs. Lani went to a pet home (after all) with a lovely couple named Don and Joan Craven. I was not happy about Lani leaving us but then she wasn't my dog and it wasn't my decision to make. But I have to say that seeing a bitch of this caliber go to a pet home and never contribute offspring ranks high among my top dachshund regrets. Many of us have regrets like this, I know.
A good thing that came as a result of this placement was that the Cravens became good friends to my mother. They called often, sent nice cards and letters, and visited a few times before my mother's death on her 52nd birthday, November 18, 1983. She was very happy to have found such good friends and such a good home for Lani.
I stayed in touch with Don and Joan for a number of years afterward. In 1993, they obtained another black & tan bitch from me, and gave Janis a good home, too.
