Chaos As 'Big Dog' Gatecrashes Dachshund Park Meet-Up

A dachshund meet-up in the park descended into chaos after a larger dog gatecrashed proceedings.

Sam, from Berlin, Germany, only got his dapple dachshund Gustav a few months ago, and this was his first time attending a public gathering of wiener dogs.

It proved to be a memorable occasion for both Sam and Gustav, though not necessarily in the way they would have imagined it to be.

Gustav is a very happy 6-month-old wiener dog. "He likes to destroy socks and shoes. Eats anything he can and loves to play with other dachshunds, doing zoomies and running around the place," Sam told Newsweek.

But while he's comfortable around fellow dachshunds, Sam admits he can be "quite stand-offish with bigger dogs."

"He likes to play with big dogs as long as they don't jump on him," he said. "Most of the time that's fine."

Dogs love to meet other dogs out on walks. In fact, research suggests dogs prefer the sight of a fellow canine to that of their human companion.

A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience back in 2020 saw 20 dogs under a functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scan. The scan is designed to highlight which parts of the brain are most active, based on blood flow.

The dogs were then presented with a series of four different 2-second videos. They included a clip of a human face, the back of a human head, a dog's face and the back of a dog's head.

Researchers found that dogs' brains were more active when viewing the clips involving other dogs, suggesting they prefer the sight of their own species.

That level of interest might partly explain why dogs often struggle to resist approaching another canine in the park. It may also explain what happened during Gustav's Dachshund meet-up.

In a video posted to the wiener dog's TikTok account, gustavtigerdackel, a large canine described on the clip as simply a "big dog" can be seen standing among the dachshunds.

The dog appears to be a greyhound, though it is difficult to know for certain.

It's fair to say the larger pup stands out though. He certainly garners plenty of attention from the other dogs present too, who seem eager to crowd around the big dog, nipping at the pet's heels.

Usually, the Dachshund owners get together at a park in Humboldthein in Berlin every Sunday at 1 p.m. and stand in a circle with their dogs dashing all around them and enjoying a good sniff of each other's coats.

This time, however, was different due to the presence of the larger pup. Sam said it's not uncommon for other dogs to approach the group. However, there was something about this encounter that convinced him to pick up his phone and record what unfolded.

In the video shared to TikTok, several of the wiener dogs can be seen chasing the larger canine who, despite his superior size, appears a little apprehensive about his new smaller friends barking incessantly around him.

"It was all good fun," Sam said. "He was just playing around with the other dogs but some of the wieners get a bit protective around bigger dogs so they would bark at him and follow him around."

Gustav, to his credit, kept a low profile throughout the chaos. "He just looked at the big dog and stayed with us," Sam said.

The resulting footage proved entertaining enough though with fellow dog fans flocking to watch the clip on social media. At the time of writing, Sam's TikTok video has been watched over 555,000 times.

"Who invited the horse?" one viewer joked with another quipping: "She's just a taller dachshund." A third wrote "empire strikes back" while a fourth added: "There's so much ankle for them to yap at."

Despite the chaos of it all, Sam plans on returning with Gustav again soon. "I'll be going to more," he said. "It's really good for socializing your dog with other dogs."

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