Dachshunds Are Hot Dogs
They are easy to spot by their short, elongated bodies and everybody has a different name for them. Many are common and some are funny… hot dog, weiner dog, doxie, weiner-schnitzel, sausage dog. No matter what people call them, they are all Dachshunds. The body types, colors, and temperaments of Dachshunds are almost as varied as their names. Everyone loves and knows the ‘Hot Dog”. Not everyone does know, however, the history of the Dachshund or the different sizes and ‘”flavors” that are available for a “Hot Dog”.
Dachshunds go back in history as far as Ancient Egypt. They have been found in Egyptian tombs, in drawing form, and skeletal remains have been discovered in Roman ruins, but the breed as we know it today was developed in 17th and 18th century Germany. The Dachshund was developed and bred to be a hunter, tracking and scenting game as well as entering holes, burrows, and dens. In her article “The Delightful Dachshund”, Diane Morgan writes of the name origin of the breed:
The first written mention of the breed goes back many years in German
history, when the Dachsie was known as the tachs krieger, or “badger catcher”. These days in Germany, the Dachshund is simply know as dackel (or teckel), and he is the national dog. The word “Dachshund”, although of German origin meaning “badger dog,” was devised by the English and is not used in Germany. (5)
Again, they were bred to track and hunt badgers as well as small predators such as foxes. Packs of Dachshunds were also used to chase after wild boar and trail wounded deer. The smaller Dachshunds were used to flush out small game from their holes, such as rabbits and weasels. An ability that was desired for the breed was that “it had to be able to hold his prey and bark loud enough and long enough for the hunter to catch up and dispatch the prey (Palika 16)”.
Incidentally, there is only one dog recognized by the AKC that is able to hunt both above and below...