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Dashing Dachshund

PHOTO BY RASY RAN

It was a sweltering summer morning at Flag Pole Hill when we documented the No Big Woof Flyball team for our annual September animalthemed issue. Flyball competitors typically are graceful, bounding, quick breeds — whippets, Australian shepherds and bull terriers. Then there is Bandit, a diminutive dachshund-mix. When it is Bandit’s turn, no one would blame a spectator for giggling. His legs are 2-feet long, if that. He’s adorable, all right, but can he clear the obstacles with those teensy pins? Bandit isn’t laughing. Not only does he race with startling speed and laser focus, he also creates an advantage for the whole squad, because in competition hurdles are lowered to accommodate a team’s shortest member. “I did not expect him to be so fast,” says photographer Rasy Ran, who lay supine and sweat-soaked in the prickly grass to meet Bandit at his level. Bandit put all of our preconceived notions about shorties in check and ran away with our hearts.