Friday, April 24, 2009

Dachshund: The Superb German Dog Hunter, Burrow Creeper, and Loving House Pet

By Kathy Richardson

Dachshund is a German name that means "badger dog" and indeed, the Dachshund that we know of today is originally the chaser and capturer of the ferocious badgers. The Dachshund is irregularly long and narrow in body and oddly short in legs but these differences are what make it a superb under and above the ground hunter. In Germany where it began, this dog expertly and easily crawled in to the burrows of pesky badgers and other small animals; and the result, a good game of below the ground hunting.

This breed is an eager-beaver when it comes to hunting and would never back down at any badger challenge. At home it is a loving, playful, devoted, and loyal little pet that barks and growls at the sight of suspicious people. Having these kinds of deep sense of protectiveness, the Dachshund makes an absolute winner in terms of watching and guarding.

Bred intentionally for chasing badgers and other small animals out of their burrows, the Dachshund developed a razor- sharp sense of smell, fearless spirit, agility, and endurance. Its long, round, and nimble body is excellent in creeping in the deep and dark ground holes of small creatures and taming the bushes during hunting expeditions. Today, the Dachshund is an established fierce and effective hunter but it is furthermore a lovable and trustworthy house companion.

Intellect-wise, the badger may not get the highest of marks but it is on its own, uniquely intelligent and capable for comprehending human instructions. In his list of Intelligence of Dogs, Stanley Cohen ranked this breed 49th as evidence of its average ability in terms of obedience and training comprehension. Disregarding these data, however, this breed is still energetic, playful, and head-strong to the point where its training sessions are a challenge for the owner.

The Dachshund breed displays three varieties of fur namely, smooth fur, long fur, and wired fur; the smooth and long fur are the most common and are the accepted standards whilst the wired fur only having appeared recently and is not at all popular among other people yet. The colors of these furs come in different shades namely red, black, blue, tan, chocolate, fawn, and more. There are categories of color patterns as well and they are: single-colored, single-colored with spots or dappled, and single-colored with different points, markings, or shapes.

The Dachshund, being long and narrow in appearance, is humorously called a wiener dog or sausage dog at times. Regardless of his size, however, the Dachshund never backs down to any aggression of other relatively larger or smaller breeds. Having been defined as a ferocious and brave dog, it would sometimes challenge larger dogs and ward off strangers out of its beloved territory.

Following the history of this breed, although allegedly they are developed and reared by the Germans for ground hunting and badger trailing purposes, there are inscriptions from ancient Egypt that suggest the existence of an elongated and short-legged dog thousands of years ago. Furthermore, there had been recent discoveries of mummified dachshund-like dogs from burial urns in Egypt that further backs up this theory. But regardless, the German bred Dachshund had long been a favorite of the European royalties including the late Queen Victoria herself, who had been known throughout her court to have a fascinating enchantment with this breed.

As per requirement of every dog, the valiant Dachshund, too, requires a regular dose of walks and physical and mental activities; this will diverge their way from the negative behaviors result of improper training. A Dachshund that lacks proper attention and nurturing will manifest these unpleasant behaviors: small dog syndrome, separation anxiety, destructive consternation such as chewing on things; intense barking, and more. According to studies, improperly trained Dachshunds rank first as the most aggressive among the small breeds category; 20% is the report for Dachshund human and other dog attacks.

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