March 24, 2023, 12:46 pm | Read time: 11 minutes

For actress Jana Schölermann, her Harzer Fuchs Rudi was long a top priority. For her and her husband Thore Schölermann, the dog was a kind of child substitute. Now the couple has a child together, daughter Ilvi. In the extensive PETBOOK interview, the former “Verbotene Liebe” actress talks about her life with a dog, her fears during pregnancy, and how she juggles child, dog, home construction, and career.

PETBOOK: Jana, let’s talk about your dog Rudi. He’s a Harzer Fuchs, a very rare breed … 
Jana Schölermann: Yes, it’s an old herding dog breed that isn’t typically given to private individuals. We actually got him from a shepherdess who had a whole litter and couldn’t keep them all, so she listed him on eBay Classifieds. We had been looking for a dog for a long time, and that’s how we came across the Harzer Fuchs. It’s a very demanding breed, which is why we thought it through very carefully beforehand and immediately spoke with a dog school to see if we could meet the requirements. It’s a breed that really needs a lot of physical and mental stimulation. We got him in a year when I actually had a lot of time for him. It was clear that I could go to dog school three times a week right from the start and that he wouldn’t miss out on training, especially in the beginning.  

Also interesting: Puppy sales are still so easy on eBay Classifieds

How was the first meeting? Was it love at first sight? 
Thore always had dogs at home, I grew up with dogs, and we thought it through very well. We also waited a long time because it was a bit difficult for us for a while. Especially when I was still employed in the TV series, I couldn’t take the dog to the set. When it became clear that we could take the dog to work–me to the dubbing studio, Thore to “Taff”–we started looking.  

Why Jana and Thore Schölermann Decided Against a Shelter Dog

We actually wanted to give a dog a second chance and a new home and looked in many shelters. However, there was never one that we could have accommodated. The dog has to come into the studio with us, and some have had bad experiences with children. However, it was always clear to us that we wanted to have children someday. That’s why I always checked eBay Classifieds, because sometimes shelters list dogs there or people who can no longer keep theirs. There was a shepherdess who was quite desperate. She used the dogs as a working line, had a litter, and couldn’t keep them all. 

We drove to Kerpen, looked at Rudi, and immediately fell in love. But we didn’t take him right away. I also told Thore, “We need to sleep on it. It’s a big responsibility, especially this breed. We need to make sure we can handle it.” We went home and slept on it. Thore literally slept on it and snored, as his decision was already made. Meanwhile, I spent the whole night pondering and making a pro and con list to see if we could manage it.

“For Us, Rudi Is an Absolute Dream Family Dog”   

The trainer from the dog school also said that if we approach it this way and dedicate time to him, we can definitely manage it. Conclusion: I must say, he is an absolute dream dog, but not an “easy dog breed” for everyone. People often ask about him because they find him so handsome and want to get a Harzer Fuchs themselves. But he’s not a dog you can just bring into the family without prior knowledge. You have to be able and willing to meet his needs. For us, he is an absolute dream family dog.    

How did you come up with the name Rudi? 
We didn’t want a typical dog name. We love hiking and spend a lot of time in the mountains, so we wanted a rustic name. That’s how we ended up with Rudi.  

Also interesting: “Unter Uns” star Patrick Müller: “My TV dog Linka is not a circus dog that has to jump through hoops” 

If you follow you on Instagram, it’s noticeable that you spend a lot of time with Rudi in the woods and mountains. Do you have a favorite spot? 
We spend a lot of time in Seefeld, Austria, and I’ve also traveled with Rudi. I even went on a solo hut trip with him, where you really hike from hut to hut. I was filming in the Dolomites and had a few days off with Rudi. Because he listens so well, he’s usually with me during shoots and can go anywhere. It was a truly beautiful vacation that Rudi and I had. Every morning, when the sun rose, we hiked up the mountain, and he walked obediently beside me. It was the only time I got him so exhausted that he fell asleep by eight in the evening. Once, we couldn’t get a spot in the hut because dogs weren’t allowed. Since we couldn’t stay in the sleeping area, we slept in the boot room. It smelled incredibly like sweaty feet, but I gladly did it for him. (laughs)  

More on the topic

0

TV Star in Interview Isabell Horn and her cat even share the bed.

PETBOOK interview Lukas Hintersteiner Became an Award-Winning Petfluencer Through a Bet with Pupils

Jana Schölermann on Rudi: “Our Dog Is Our Living Baby Monitor. We Can Always Rely on Him!”

Herding dogs like Rudi need to be kept busy. What do you enjoy doing together to tire him out?
Primarily cycling. Now that I have a child and only push the stroller, it’s a bit too slow for him. But when Thore or I are on the bike, he loves it. He would also love to play ball all the time, but we don’t want to encourage that because he would become a ball junkie. The best activities are search games, concentration tasks, and obedience exercises. Mantrailing is also great. You can do it professionally in groups, but we do it on a smaller scale, with tracking and such–he’s really good at it.  

Do you have a special anecdote with Rudi that you’d like to share with our readers? 
Yes, our dog is actually our living baby monitor. As soon as the little one moves in her crib and we’re downstairs in the living room, he hears it and alerts us. He always signals it right away, and it’s fantastic. There have been times when the baby monitor suddenly failed, but we can rely on Rudi 1000 percent; he hears Ilvi immediately.    

You’ve shared your pregnancy impressively on social media with your followers and openly talked about your fear that Rudi might be jealous because he’s no longer the complete center of attention. Were your worries justified?
That’s always a big risk. Especially when the dog was almost like a child substitute and the absolute center of attention, spending the entire day with us from morning to night. Then everything changes from one day to the next. He has to share our attention with the baby and realizes that our daily routine now revolves around the new family member. You have to consciously counteract that to prevent the dog from developing jealousy. We try to do that, but we naturally have less time for him than before. Rudi is handling the new situation very well and is very gentle with the little one. He accepted Ilvi as a family member from the start, and since she constantly feeds him from the table, he loves her dearly. Most of the time, I don’t cook for Ilvi but for Rudi. (laughs)  

Jana Schölermann on Pregnancy: “He Must Have Felt That Something Was Changing for Us.”

How did you prepare Rudi for the baby? 
Beforehand, I couldn’t prepare him very well. But I believe he sensed it. From the moment I was pregnant–even before I knew it myself–he started looking after me as if on cue. We raised him quite strictly according to the pack principle, so it was always clear that he didn’t need to look after me, but that I was the pack leader. But when I was pregnant, I noticed that he was really protective: He would bark if someone knocked on the car, or he would always lie in front of me so no one could come between us. He must have really felt that something was changing for us, that we were more excited.

When the little one arrived, we gently introduced him to her. We let him sniff her for the first time. He accepted her very well and immediately understood that she belonged to us. Now, the two are a real team, and I’m thrilled that Ilvi gets to grow up with him.  

Can you remember the first conscious family moment with all four of you? 
When we were at the hospital for the delivery, friends looked after the dog. When we came home after two days, Rudi joined us, and I imagined it super romantically, thinking it would be like a movie: The dog comes, sees the child, sniffs, licks her hand, is happy, and we all cuddle together. But it wasn’t like that. The dog came, sniffed once, and then ignored her. (laughs) Later, I read that this was a great reaction because he didn’t perceive her as a disturbance or foreign body but as completely natural. The same goes the other way around. We have a very vocal dog who can be really loud at times. From the first moment–since she was born–she hasn’t flinched once when he barked, as she was already used to the sounds in the womb.  

As a young mother, you often receive unsolicited mom tips and advice from helicopter moms on social media. Do you also get such tips from know-it-all super dog owners?  
Yes, you always get tips. Sometimes they’re really valuable tips–I’m grateful for those. But you shouldn’t let them pressure you or constantly question yourself; instead, just sift through what you find valuable and ignore the rest. You get these tips not only on social networks but everywhere–from friends or acquaintances.

Many people wonder: How do you manage to juggle child, dog, home construction, career, and partnership?
Sometimes better, sometimes worse. (laughs) Sometimes it works really well, and I think to myself: It feels like a cheesy dream–our little family with our two children, Rudi and Ilvi. And then there are moments when it’s incredibly challenging and exhausting, and I think: If I’m sometimes overwhelmed, how do parents with more children or single parents manage? In the more challenging phases, when the little one was sick at the same time as us, we divided up with Rudi, and Thore took him to Munich, so I could focus solely on Ilvi. It’s really a huge relief to have two people.