Origins
The Dachshund is instantly recognisable due to its elongated body and short legs, often called a ‘Sausage Dog’ or ‘Wiener Dog’ because of this unusual shape.
Dachshunds were originally bred to follow scents and track small animals such as badgers and rabbits, their shape making them perfect for going into burrows dug by animals and flushing them out.
They are a member of the hound family of dogs and generally referred to as scenthounds.
Originating in Germany the breed was given it`s name, which literally means ‘badger dog’ in German.
In modern Germany however the dog is often referred to as a Dackel or Teckel.
Description
The Dachshund comes in 3 size variants:-
Standard (averaging 6.5 – 13 kilograms)
Miniature (up to around 5 kilograms)
Kaninchen (around 3.5 – 4 kilograms), the latter however is not always officially recognised.
There are also variants in coat, smooth / short-haired, long-haired, and wire-haired and these come in a multitude of different colours, the most common perhaps are the red, or black and tan but variations of all kinds exist from white, to brindle, dappled, and single colored, and multi-colored.
People all over the world love the Dachshund, it is a highly popular breed and it has featured in many paintings, and sketches by artists such as the internationally renowned Mike Sibley who produces amazingly life-like portraits and prints of many breeds of dog.
Traits
Dachshunds are lively dogs, strong for their size, and surprisingly fast, agile and athletic. They can also be slightly stubborn to train, occasionally aggressive, loudly vocal (large bark for a small dog), as well as destructive, but with proper training, socialising, exercise, and entertainment they do make good family pets.
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The mini dachshund puppies at 3 weeks old.
The history of miniature dachshunds includes being bred as hunting dogs in 1600s Germany, particularly to burrow for badgers and rodents. Find out how dachshunds were bred with their long narrow bodies from a veterinarian in this free video on dog care.