Waldi the Mascot

1972 Munich Summer Games: Waldi the Dachshund!
(Photo rights: Bettmann / Corbis)

Waldi, the first-ever official Olympic mascot, was based on a real-life German dachshund named Fritz (seen here looking very world-weary while he poses with his toy likenesses). Waldi went over big that year: the marathon track was designed in the shape of the popular Bavarian dog.

The mascot was designed by Otl Aicher (aka Otto Aicher), the very same designer who designed the logo for the German national airlines, Lufthansa.

To read more on Waldi the Mascot, click HERE.

To read more about Olympic mascots over time, click HERE.

Dachshund Desk Organizer

Here’s a brief appearance of a Dachshund Desk Organizer in an episode from Season 5 of AMC television series Mad Men.

RIP Velvet-chan!

A friend’s dachshund, Velvet, passed away this morning after suffering for a couple of weeks from what had turned out to be an end-stage Kidney disease. The first blood test revealed nothing of such, but it showed in the second blood test.

Velvet had been drinking a lot but was weakened because she would not touch her food. My friend prepared rice, chicken, and cabbage, but Velvet ate very little of anything.