Posted on March 27, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

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The heart of the dachshund is larger than of the entire world, and its ambition is twice its size. Only those who have owned  this little four-legged hound breed truly recognize where its capabilities lie. With a strut that shows who is boss, the little dachshund was well-known as a breed originally trained to hunt and draw the powerful and ferocious badger.

History

The little dachshund, or the “Teckel”, was known as the dog of Germany with its origins also found throughout Western Europe.  Known to have a personality of excessive courage and confidence which borders on the side of pure recklessness, the dachshund began its first debut in the 1888s with the German Dachshund Club–founded to standardize the breed’s conformation. The aim of the club was to eventually produce a dachshund whose beauty would equal its sheer intelligence.  In 1895, the Dachshund Club of America was founded, but dachshunds were bred in the United States as early as the 1870s.

Called the wiener dog or hot dog, the dachshund was bred very slowly over a hundred-year span with the original dachshunds weighing approximately 30 to 40 pounds. Weighing half that size today, the breed still exhibits that same fearless attitude for which it was originally bred for.  Even today, its breed standards state the dachshund shall be “courageous to the point of rashness.”

The dachshund is the only breed recognized in the AKC Club to hunt both below and above the ground–with its body developed for the specific purpose of hunting and killing its game. Its short legs allow it to burrow deep into holes to dig-out any earth-dwelling mammals from their den with large paddle-shaped paws for more efficient digging. The long “whip” tail was developed for the hunter to be able to pull the dog out if it became wedged in or was in too deep.

The deep chest of the dachshund allows for deeper lung capacity during its strenuous hunting duration. The long nose of which it is so well known for allows for more absorption area for the scent And last but not least–the dachshund bark is of a pitch which allows the hunter to realize the dog is after prey and soon will be in a den.  A strong dog in bone and muscle, this little dog is capable of high speeds when giving “chase”. In the United States and Great Britain, the dachshund is not hunted as much as they are in parts of Europe and France where this breed is still considered the most winning of hunting dogs.

The dachshund has became bred more and more for a pet after the 1800s instead of simply for hunting. With a reduction of ten pounds in this new household member, it wasn’t long before the little miniature dachshund made its entry into the world with  two sizes and a wide range of coat types, colors, and patterns available to choose from. The dachshund has always been high on the list of the most popular dogs in AKC‘s Top Ten list.