Dachshund: It’s History And Origin
Dachshund is popular in countries like Germany, France and United States. Around the 17th century, German foresters were having trouble with badgers, nasty creatures weighing around twenty to forty pound residing underground. The idea of breeding a dog that could fight a badger to death was formulated. That gave way to the birth of Dachshund, a brave and intelligent dog having short legs and long body strong enough to work even down the burrow.
Literally, Dachshund means “badger dog”. Dach is a German word meaning badger and Hund meaning dog. Dachshunds are also called wiener dog, hot dog or sausage dog because of their long and narrow build. They are also known as Dackel or Teckel in Germany.
Modern Dachshund popular today is a mixture of German, French and English hounds and terriers. Formal breeding program was started way back in 17th century. It is said that smooth-haired Teckel was created out of a small pointer type called French Braque and Pinscher. Then during the French Revolution in the late 18th century, France’ upper class went to Germany for escape. Taking with them their pets gave way to the crossing of German Teckel and French Bassets. The offspring of this mix called Dachsbracke if they have long legs and Dachshunds if they have short legs, short ears and pointed muzzle.
Dachshund was first introduced in the United States between the year 1879 and 1885. Originally, Dachshund has two varieties; the smooth-haired and longhaired Dachshund. It was only recently when another variety, the wirehaired Dachshund was added to the list. Dachshund also comes into two sizes; the Miniature which weighs less than eleven pounds and the Standard with about eighteen to twenty pounds. In Germany, another size was added, Kaninchenteckel. Kaninchenteckel is based on the chest measurement taken during fifteen months of age.
World War I was a disaster for Dachshunds. There was a decrease in the number of this breed because during those years, anything that has something to do with German was being hated. They were oftentimes the victims of those hatred. Good thing they have great skills and irresistible charm, the number was increased and became popular once more.
Dachshunds are not just good in hunting badgers. They also make good pets and loyal companions. In the United States, they ranked 6th place as the most popular pet based in the recent AKC registration statistics, the standard smooth-haired as the most popular type
In addition to good household pets, they are also excellent hunters of fox and rabbit. They are also used to track wounded deer and those in packs can hunt boar.
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