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The dachshund is the only AKC-recognized breed that hunts above and below ground, and its body is a study in superb “engineering.” Every aspect of what some people think is a funny-looking body has been designed to help the dog achieve its original purpose. The short legs allow the dachshund to burrow deep into the earth after those badgers (or any other earth-dwelling mammals) in their dens. The tail is long and sturdy and extends straight out from the spine, providing a “handle” with which the hunter can retrieve the burrowing dog. The paws are unusually large and paddle-shaped, for efficient digging. The skin is loose so that it will not tear as the dog tunnels down into tight burrows. The dachshund has a deep chest to allow enough lung capacity to keep going when hunting. Their noses are long to increase the area that absorbs odors. And the dachshund bark - which, in the standard dachshund, is relatively deep for such a small dog - lets the human locate the dachshund that has gone down a hole after prey. As anyone who has ever owned a dachshund and walked it on a leash can attest, the dachshund is extremely strong in both bone and muscle and it can achieve speeds you would not imagine in a dog with such short legs.
The Dachshund Club of America was founded in 1895, but dachshunds were
bred in the United States as early as the 1870s. In the U.S. and Great
Britain, the dachshund is rarely hunted; but in other parts of
Europe--notably France--dachshunds are still considered hunting dogs and
regularly find their way onto the country's lists of most winning
hunting dogs. During World War I, the popularity of dachshunds as pets declined dramatically, because they were used to depict Germany in many wartime propaganda pieces in the U.S., England, and France. This was probably the low point of the dachshund's place in the history of illustration. Dachshunds are almost always in the AKC Top Ten most popular breeds. This is a mixed blessing. The more popular a breed - especially a small breed - the more likely it is that it will be bred in puppy mills. |
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© 2001-2013 Almost Home Dachshund Rescue
Society
The dachshund
- sometimes called the “wiener dog” or “hot dog” - is among the most
popular dog breeds in the U.S. and has been since the 1950s. The
dachshund as we know it today originated in Germany, where it is called
Teckel. It is believed that the dachshund was developed slowly, over a
hundred years or so, and it was bred specifically to hunt badgers. In
German, 
Beginning in the 1800s, dachshunds were bred more as pets than as
hunters, especially in Great Britain, and their size was gradually
reduced by about 10 pounds. Eventually, an even smaller version
The dachshund’s popularity as a pet