Information On History And Origin Of Dachshund
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.
The word Dachshund is composed of two German words Dach and Hund. Dach means badger and Hund means dog. So literally, Dachshund means “badger dog”. This breed is also called wiener dog, hot dog and sausage dog based on their long and narrow build. In Germany, they are also known as Dackel and Teckel.
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. Basically, Dachshunds are classified into two varieties; the smooth-coated and longhaired varieties. Recently, another variety was added to Dachshund, the wirehaired Dachshund. Dachshund also comes into two sizes; the Miniature which is less than eleven pounds and the Standard that weighs about eighteen to twenty pounds. In Germany however, another size was added, the Kaninchenteckel. Kaninchenteckel is determined through chest measurement taken at the age of fifteen months.
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.
Though originally developed to hunt badgers, Dachshunds are popular pets too! In the United States, they ranked 6th in the most recent AKC registration statistics, with the standard smooth-haired as the most popular.
These dogs with exceptional skills in hunting badgers was later found out as excellent hunter of fox, rabbit and in tracking wounded deer. Dachshund in packs can also hunt wild boar.
