| The Dachshund is a group of dog breeds. It is distinguished by its short-legs and elongated body.
Name of the breed:
The German Dachshund originates from the words “Badger” (German: Dachs) and “Dog” (German: Hund). Daschunds were used for search, persecution and for driving in the badgers and other Red Hill animals. In spite of the fact that the word Dachshund is a German word, in Germany it is practically not used, being superseded by the words Dackel and Teckel.
History:
The Dachshund is one of the oldest breeds of dogs on earth. The Origins of this breed is still a matter of debate.
According to some theories, Dachshunds appeared in Ancient Egypt, where carved images of short-legged hunting dogs were found.
The occurrence of modern breed began in the 16th century in South Germany territory. The first mention of Dachshunds (even under the name of “badger-crawler” (German: Tachs Kriecher) and “Badger-warrior” (German: Tachs Krieger) are mentioned in books written before 1700. Though earlier references of “Badger dogs” and “hole dogs” exist, they could belong to the purpose of dogs rather than to a specific breed.
The undersized German hounds Bracke (German: Bracke) were ancestors of Dachshunds. These dogs inherited the abilities to hunt the prey by voice, excellent scent, moderate rage and the hunting passion from their ancestors. The drawbacks of these hounds with their disproportionately long body with short legs became beneficial for hole dogs. German hunters, having assessed these qualities, started rearing a certain type of dog: stocky, short-legged, with an elongated body structure so that it could easily penetrate into ground holes. Hunting was expensive and prestigious task and maintaining a dachshund did not require a huge expenditure. Particularly, for this reason, the middle class population such as burghers and small noblemen loved it.
Two types were mentioned in the mid 17th century: Bow-legged dogs for underground hunting and rough-coated short-footed hounds.
With time, Germans became more and more attached to the hounds. Germans appreciated their energy, hunting zeal and diligence, loyalty, reliability and intelligence. By the end of the 18th century, the hound almost acquired its modern features – short height, with a lengthy body and slightly bent extremities. The population of hounds increased so much so that the hounds were exported to other countries. A huge network of nurseries was made in Germany. The owners of the nurseries reared dogs by sticking to their personal likings. But gradually, the division between the decorative and working dogs diminished. Naturally, necessity for setting the standard of the breed arises. The critical point for the hounds was in 1870, the year in which the first standard was accepted. At the moment the universally recognized standard of the hound breed is the standard FCI - Standard № 148 dated 13.03.2001.
The hound made its way into Russia at the end of the 19th century. But two world wars have considerably reduced the population of hounds in Russia. In 1958, the number of hounds in Russia stood at 11. Presently, hounds are not a rare in Russia. Hounds are loved both by hunters and also by simple dog breeders. |
