Greetings

alaskanlowrider Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:38 am

My name is Angela or Ang ....many of you know me from other forums as Alaskanlowrider. I am glad there is finally a forum where I can continue to learn and grow to better my breeding program. As many of you know, I study dachshunds almost everyday trying to catch up on research out there and understand it without getting sidetracked too much :lol: What many don't know is how I got started......

My family bred Cocker Spaniels while I was growing up - It was fun having a litter every now and then. When our main stud "Boots" passed away I lost interest in dogs altogether....no one was like he was. Shortly thereafter my parents quit breeding for awhile. Years later, when I came back home from 10 yrs in the lower 48 my parents had 2 labs (Gretchen and Jake) and 2 dachshunds (Toby and Lowla)....they were trying to breed the labs but the dachshunds did instead. At first I stayed away not wanting to get attached to any of the dogs like I was Boots then about 5 yrs ago I had a really devastating time and had to live with my parents - was supposed to be short term but ended up being 2 yrs.

While I lived with them I helped my mom whelp a couple litters bringing back the good times we had with the Cockers keeping each other awake, watching for movement, going into action if needed etc....it was great. I watched how my 2 kids interacted with Toby and Lowla - those two helped my kids emotionally in ways no one else could and I wasn't sure which direction my life was going to take - being pregnant with my 3rd child being newly widowed I knew it was going to be drastic. So I decided they could each have a companion to bond with while I took care of their new sibling and decided our future.

I adopted Harley from Florida (my sons doxie) and Chloe from South Dakota (my daughters doxie) with full intentions of them being their pets and get into showing, tracking etc..... A way I can interact with my kids again trying to move forward in our lives. I started reading about breed structure and genetics late at night finding dominant/recessive traits interesting then looking at what the breed standard is, not really understanding what I was reading but enough I could ask my mom questions about but she was just as clueless as I was. My obsession was born :lol:

The more I researched, the more I looked around at all dachshunds I came across comparing them with images and my own. My pair was better structurally than what my parents had as well as many other local breeders so it was a good start or so I thought at the time. We went to a few dog shows and realized we had a long way to go and if I was going to adopt a "real" show dog to compete with, I was going to go broke so I decided to try and produce my own alongside my parents breeding program .....Alaskan Lowriders was born.

With each breeding, I learned more from forums, research, pictures and shows wanting to do better than the last. I realized last year my breedings weren't getting any better and I needed an overhaul so I adopted Luna (red longhair) and started showing her - I kept Phoebe (chocolate/tan longhair) out of my last litter.... I just couldn't part with her and decided to see if I could salvage what I started 3 yrs ago - Muddles (red brindle longhair) is my newest girl and is currently in training for the ring. After seeing my new additions, my parents decided they weren't going to breed anymore after their girl has her litter (due any day now) So I will be overhauling my website as well this winter....Lots of changes but for the better.

I am looking forward in being a member of this forum to continue to learn from those more experienced as I start a new chapter Very Happy