How Welsh daxie walks captured world’s attention
IT started with a dog owner looking for other dachshunds to stroll with her pets.
Now hundreds of sausage dogs from across the UK join mass walks in Wales, more than 4,000 people from across the globe have joined a dedicated Facebook group, and a charity is being launched.
Two years after starting what she thought would be a walking group of around 30 sausage dog owners in Rhondda, Charlotte Baldwin’s project is about to turn into a charity helping sick daxies with donations coming from as far as Japan and the United States.
She loans equipment to pet owners from Scotland to Cornwall thanks to the £22,000 raised to help them on her mass walks, and puts sausage dog owners and experts from around the world in touch.
The Welsh Blood Service worker, proud owner of daxies Rosie and Barney, admitted she could not believe how her plans for a small walking group had spiralled.
The biggest mass walk to date, at Porthcawl, attracted more than 600 sausage dogs from across the UK.
After that walk on Boxing Day 2015, hundreds joined a stroll in Barry Island the following year.
Charlotte had planned a world record attempt at gathering the most dogs of one breed in one place but has instead thrown her energy into launching a charity for sausage dogs with Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD), a disabling condition affecting one in four of the breed.
The 46-year-old said she didn’t want to spend money on a world record attempt when she could use it help sick animals.
Charlotte only got her first sausage dog, Barney, four years ago, closely followed by Rosie.
Her Facebook page celebrates daxies but bans advertising dogs or puppies for sale.
“I started with a Rhondda dog-walking group but Barney was getting a bit squashed so we started our own sausage dog group and I started a Facebook page thinking about 30 would join but within days we had hundreds,” said Charlotte.
“When we had 600 dogs on the Porthcawl walk I saw a lot of them needed wheelchairs and strollers because they had IVDD.”
With the money raised on that and subsequent walks Charlotte has bought 70 strollers and 12 wheelchairs specially adapted for daxies, which she lends out to dogs paralysed by IVDD.
“It’s a huge community. I could never stop this now.
“It’s not mine, it’s theirs, and I have made some really good friends.
“The people who own these dogs are really special.
“I have a feeling this is going to get bigger. Vets in Japan who have daxies and saw what I am doing sent £100 to show their support.”
She added: “It takes up my time. I do my full-time job for the Welsh Blood Service and then four to five hours a day on this.
“It is a huge job and I have to register as a charity now.
“It will be Dedicated to Dachshunds with IVDD.”
Charlotte, whose builder husband John is also daxie-mad, said she loves all dogs but there is something special about dachshunds.
“They are so loyal and inquisitive. For such small dogs they have huge personalities.
“It is fabulous. If you don’t have a sausage dog it probably doesn’t mean much but it is fun.”