Miniature dachshund brings back playful spirit
Gunther Axel Hall lives up to his strong German name by being the best guard dog and companion Joy Hall could have hoped for.
Hall always had rescue dogs before Gunther. Her niece in Louisiana breeds miniature dachshunds, and when she saw Gunther, she knew she had to have him.
“(I asked) how much, and she told me, (and I said,) ‘What kind of deal can we make? Can we make payment arrangements? I’ll set up an automatic draft in my bank, I want him.’
“(So,) we did that and set up another betting draft in my bank for whatever ma- ny months it took to pay for him.”
Gunther, often called Gunner, got his name as a combination of Hall’s desire for him to have a German name and Hall’s children’s love of WWE.
“So my son immediately comes up with Gunther, the wrestler Gunther. I’m thinking more like Fritz or something like that. (But) no, Gunther Axel Hall, and we call him Gunner.”
Gunther’s youth and spirit have revived some of the older dogs in the home, Hall said. His resilient demeanor also makes him stand out from the other dogs.
“You can get on to him and scold him, and he’ll come right back to you and want to love on you. Some of the other dogs, you get on to them and scold them, and they’re going to not want to talk to you for the rest of the day.”
Hall said if Gunther had a human job, he would most likely be a farmhand.
“He’s good to get all the dogs together in one place; he’ll bark and say, ‘OK, time to go this way!’”
Gunther has brought great joy and love to the Hall home, and they are happy to have such a loving dog, she said.