Ståhlis: A Noble Parade of Dachshunds. Shall We Slip Into Svenskt Tenn Instead?

I am standing in a sea of dachshunds. There must be well over a thousand of them: small and large, smooth-haired and spotted, long-haired, gruff, quiet, dressed in pajamas and cowboy hats, interested in their fellow dogs or desperate to go home.

It is the capital’s annual dachshund parade, and the dogs yap around my ankles in Berzelii Park while we wait for the procession to move. Then a young woman approaches, looks at my partner’s wire-haired dachshund, Douglas, and asks what breed he is.

“

What breed is he?

Douglas and I look at each other. Did we hear correctly? “Well, he certainly isn’t a Saint Bernard,” I reply. She crouches down to pet him and says he is fine, not fat, just muscular. Then she asks whether she may carry him. Absolutely not. I scoop up the wire-haired dog, and we squeeze into the moving parade.

The route leads to Galärparken on Djurgården. Along Strandvägen, crowds stand and sit two deep to see the procession. Arms reach toward the dachshunds. People whistle, call, cuddle and coo. A bull terrier walks in the middle of the parade. Perhaps he has an identity problem, I whisper to Douglas.

“

Well, he certainly isn’t a Saint Bernard.

Douglas, meanwhile, has had enough. He speeds up, dreaming of the nearest lamppost or patch of grass. Someone calls him a giant, though he is an ordinary-sized dachshund in his prime. Under the late-summer sun, the dogs’ tongues hang like pink ties. We leave the procession and head home.

We pass packed outdoor restaurants where people are already raising Saturday’s first glasses of wine over Caesar salads and shrimp sandwiches. Svenskt Tenn’s colorful collections appeal to Douglas, who tries to slip into the store. The Dramaten theatre does not have the same pull. At home, Douglas falls into a deep sleep, occasionally barking and growling. When he wakes, I tell him he was dreaming of being a giant, perhaps a Saint Bernard. He looks doubtful, sighs and goes back to sleep.

“

Carry him?! Absolutely not!