Dog breed · Germany
The Dachshund, also known as the Dackel or Teckel, is a German breed of short-legged, long-bodied dog of hound type. It may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, in various colors.
It was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals. The miniature Dachshund was bred to hunt small animals such as rabbits.
Temperament: Dachshunds can be stubborn and refuse commands, especially if chasing a small animal which they have a propensity for. As Dachshunds were originally used as badger hunters they have a keen sense for chasing smaller animals. Dachshunds are often stubborn, making them a challenge to train.
Being the owner of Dachshunds, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning, on the character and temperament of the Dachshund and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Dachshund to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do.
Dachshunds are rated in the intelligence of dogs as an average working dog with a persistent ability to follow trained commands 50% of the time or more.
They can have a loud bark. Some bark quite a lot and may need training to stop, while others will not bark much at all. Dachshunds can be standoffish toward strangers. A Japanese study found the Miniature Dachshund to have higher rates of refusing to move whilst on a walk, barking at outside noises whilst inside, barking at strangers visiting their home, separation anxiety, inappropriate elimination (faecal and urinary incontinence), hesitancy to approach unknown humans and canines, and aggression towards family members, highlighting the breed's stubbornness and aggression.
Appearance: A typical Dachshund is long-bodied and muscular with short stubby legs. Its front paws are disproportionately large, being paddle-shaped and particularly suitable for digging. Its skin is loose enough not to tear while tunneling in tight burrows to chase prey. Its snout is long. Its ears are disproportionately big and droopy.
Coat And Color: There are three Dachshund coat varieties: smooth coat (short hair), long-haired, and wire-haired. Longhaired Dachshunds have a silky coat and short featherings on legs and ears. Wire-haired Dachshunds are the most common coat variety in Germany and the most recent coat to appear in breeding standards. Short-haired Dachshunds have two types of coats, silky and smooth. Silky short hairs have a very shiny, glossy, and soft to the touch coat, while smooth short hairs have more of a coarse and prickly coat.
Dachshunds have a wide variety of colors and patterns, the most common one being red. Their base coloration can be single-colored (either red, cream, or brown), tan pointed (black and tan, chocolate and tan, blue and tan, or isabella and tan), and in wire-haired dogs, a color referred to as wild boar. Patterns such as dapple (merle), sable, brindle and piebald also can occur on any of the base colors. Dachshunds in the same litter may be born in different coat colors depending on the genetic makeup of the parents.
The Dachshund Club of America (DCA) and the American Kennel Club (AKC) consider Double Dapple to be out of standard and a disqualifying color in the show ring. Piebald is now a recognized color in the Dachshund Club of America (DCA) breed standard.
Health: The breed is prone to spinal problems, especially intervertebral disk disease (IVDD), due in part to an extremely long spinal column and short rib cage. The risk of injury may be worsened by obesity, jumping, rough handling, or intense exercise, which place greater strain on the vertebrae. About 20–25% of Dachshunds will develop IVDD. Dachshunds with a number of calcified intervertebral discs at a young age have a higher risk of developing disc disease in later life. In addition, studies have shown that development of calcified discs is highly heritable in the breed. An appropriate screening programme for IVDD has been identified by Finnish researchers and a UK IVDD screening programme has been developed for breeders with the aim to reduce prevalence of spinal problems.
Treatment consists of combinations of crate confinement and courses of anti-inflammatory medications (steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like carprofen and meloxicam), or chronic pain medications, like tramadol. Serious cases may require surgery to remove the troublesome disk contents. A dog may need the aid of a cart to get around if paralysis occurs.
A minimally invasive procedure called "percutaneous laser disk ablation" has been developed at the Oklahoma State University Veterinary Hospital. As of 2003, the procedure was used in clinical trials only on Dachshunds that had suffered previous back incidents.
In addition to back problems, the breed is prone to patellar luxation where the kneecap can become dislodged. Dachshunds may also be affected by osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease). The condition seems to be mainly limited to wire-haired Dachshunds, with 17% being carriers. A genetic test is available to allow breeders to avoid breeding carriers to carriers. In such pairings, each puppy will have a 25% chance of being affected.
In some double dapples, there are varying degrees of vision and hearing loss, including reduced or absent eyes. Not all double dapples have problems with their eyes and/or ears, which may include degrees of hearing loss, full deafness, malformed ears, congenital eye defects, reduced or absent eyes, partial or full blindness, or varying degrees of both vision and hearing problems; but heightened problems can occur owing to the genetic process in which two dapple genes cross, particularly in certain breeding lines. Dapple genes, which are dominant genes, are considered "dilution" genes, meaning whatever color the dog would have originally carried is lightened, or diluted, randomly; two dominant "dilution" genes can cancel each other out, or "cross", removing all color and producing a white recessive gene, essentially a white mutation. When occurring genetically within the eyes or ears, this white mutation can be detrimental to development, causing hearing or vision problems.
History: The Dachshund is a creation of German breeders and includes elements of German, French, and English hounds and terriers. Dachshunds have been kept by royal courts all over Europe, including that of Queen Victoria, who was particularly enamored of the breed.
The first verifiable references to the Dachshund, originally named the "Dachs Kriecher" ("badger crawler") or "Dachs Krieger" ("badger warrior"), came from books written in the early 18th century. Prior to that, there exist references to "badger dogs" and "hole dogs", but these likely refer to purposes rather than to specific breeds. The original German Dachshunds were larger than the modern full-size variety, weighing between 14 and [dose — ask your vet] (31 and 40 lb), and originally came in straight-legged and crook-legged varieties (the modern Dachshund is descended from the latter). Though the breed is famous for its use in exterminating badgers and badger-baiting, Dachshunds were also commonly used for rabbit and fox hunting, for locating wounded deer, and in packs were known to hunt game as large as wild boar and as fierce as the wolverine.
There are huge differences of opinion as to when Dachshunds were specifically bred for their purpose of hunting badger, as the American Kennel Club states the Dachshund was bred in the 15th century, while the Dachshund Club of America states that the dogs were first described in the 18th and 19th centuries.
