Dachshunds, traditionally viewed as the symbol of Germany are, like many other things in our lives have their own myths and legends surrounding them. Pictures found on the walls of pyramids of long dogs with short legs, a hieroglyphic name translated as Tekal. Some historians believe that the Dachshund was bred as early as the fifth century for hunting field game. The story of St. Hubert, patron saint of hounds and hunting and it is the St. Hubert Hound that authorities believe to be the ancestor of Basset Hounds, Beagles and Dachshunds.

It is believed that the Bassets were first coming down from the St. Hubert Hound, or at least a Basset like hounds. Several generations of selective breeding would produce the lower stationed dog. And these dogs could have been developed into the Dachshund over time.

John Hutchinson Cook, a breeder, judge and student of all hound breeds leads us to see that perhaps the Dachshund originated in Austria as a hound that later migrated to Germany and was bred to now extinct German breeds. The Dachskrieger, the Huhnerhund and the Wachtelhund.

Earliest records of dogs that hunted badgers can be found in books dating back the mid 1500's. Woodcuts in a book published in 1560 included dogs with long bodies, short legs, medium-length heads, pendent ears -to keep grass and dirt from entering the ear canal, short necks and sickle tails. There are suggestions of smooth and long coats.

The name dachshund can be traced back to to a German book and one in Latin in the that 17th century. A painting dating from 1735 of dogs that are unmistakably dachshunds and are identified by name.

History says that between about 1550 and 1850 German forester-game keepers and sportsmen began to breed a dog suited to hunt badgers. Over the course of these 300 years the dog we know as the Dachshund was bred to be a well balanced animal with the ability to fit into a badger hole, with teeth and jaws to fight and retractable running gear and maximum maneuverability.

These dogs were also used in packs against wild bore, used to trail wounded game including deer. The cute behavior the dachshund has today in rolling over on it's back (seemingly for belly rubs) was taught to go into the underbrush to flush out the wild boar. Who would then give chase of the dachshund who led the boar to the huntsman. Upon nearing his master the Dachshund would roll over on it's back and as the boar passed over him to get to the hunter the Dachshund would attack the throat or genitalia of the boar. Thus wounding it sufficiently for the hunter to finish him off.

What developed near the end of the 300 year period became clearly defined and distinguish as the Dachshund of today.

The function of the design included a large chest with oval cross-section to provide room for lungs and heart without extending the shoulder structure. The longer the rib cage the more air could be processed as well as adding support to the long back.

Their legs needed to fold to a minimum length with shoulder blade, upper arm and forearm. In the rear the hindquarters, thigh, shin and bone from hock to floor made is possible for dachshunds to crawl through a burrow. In the past Dachshunds' front feet were turned out to make their efforts of digging more effective.

Today viewed from front or back the Dachshund should have a straight, parallel stance. Front feet centered under shoulder blades and hind feet under the pelvic socket.

The long head helped their keen sensing ability. The longer a dog's nose, the more scent receptors is has and the better he can pick up smells. A good length of neck for thrusting purposes. A tail of good length and strength could enable a hunter to pull his dog from a dangerous place. Loose skin around the neck and throat could be grasped and torn so the Dachshund was bred to have skin like a two-way stretch fabric that would snap back to a slick fit when released.

The description of dogs most likely to be ancestors of the Dachshund we know today was given by Holmberg in Georgica Curiosa, written in 1700. The dogs were referred to as badger dogs and had long, slender bodies. And The Complete German Hunter, written in 1719 contains illustrations that show dogs very much like the Dachshund we know today.

It is interesting to note that most references of times past mention that this dog came in all sorts of colors including white and dapple.

Between 1820 and 1893, wire haired and long haired Dachshunds were mentioned, though seldom seen until about 1900. It was during this time that the name Dachshund was being given to these dogs.

The German Dachshund club was formed in 1888 and in 1889 the Dachshund standard was written. However, the English has already established their own Dachshund club in 1881 and written their own standard. The two standards differed considerable from each other. The Germans kept their Dachshunds in isolation in hunting lodges and cottages for work. The English began to show them and keep them as house pets. Though over a short period of time both countries were showing their dogs in each others shows and breeding between them until the English Dachshund was closer to the German standard.

It was this early that type, style and showmanship were the qualities sought after in England. The general puplic there had little interest in hunting.

It was in the mid to late 1800's that Wilhelm von Daacke of Osterode wanted to get better trailing ability in his Dachshunds so he introduced the German Bloodhound, to his lines. He got not only the better tailing ability but the bonus was the red Dachshund. His kennel was well known for that reason and red quickly became the preferred color for Dachshunds.

Also around this time there was a fairly large numbers of white Dachshunds. Though no breeder was able to produce the pure white Dachshund they had hoped for and the endeavor to breed a pure white (not an albino) was abandoned.

One of the first breeders of wire hairs was Captain v Wardenburg of Hamburg. His Mordax was shown at the Berlin show of 1883 and received the prize of encouragement. And in their efforts to standardize the coats the Germans used another of other breeds in their lines of smooth coated Dachshunds to produce the modern wire haired Dachshund. Dogs crossed to produce the wire coat were the wire haired Pinscher, the Dandie Dinmont along with other English terriers.

The later appearance of the long and wire varieties proved them to be more popular than the smooths and today in Germany it is the longhairs that are most popular.

It was in the late 1880's that Dachshunds began to make their appearance in America. Most coming from Germany and England. They appeared at American dog shows until the start of WWI. Unfortunately Dachshunds fell in with all other things German that were hated at that time. It was around then that Americans began to call them Badger Dogs rather than by their German name, Dachshund.

They were used in political cartoons to ridicule the Germans. Dachshund owners in America were harassed and victimized. One story tells of a man in the Western Dachshund club that was so victimized he went out to kennels one day and shot every one of his Dachshunds.

Between the end of WWI and the beginning of the second world war Dachshund popularity began to climb again. In 1923 the breed name became once again, Dachshund. In that year only 26 Dachshunds were registered with the AKC. By the end of the 1930's over 3,000 were registered.

The stigma of the association of Dachshunds with German was revived to a lesser extent during WWII. Though interest in the Dachshund during that time nearly died out.

Miniature Dachshunds, in the beginning were thought of as freaks or mutants and shouldn't be bred to each other. Many were were destroyed or just kept as pets and taken out of the breeding program those that bred for hunting and trailing. It wasn't realized at first that there would be use for them with hunters and a great delight to city dwellers that would keep smaller dogs.

In 1902 in Germany only eleven miniatures were registered. But it was about this same time that German breeders saw the need for the smaller Dachshunds. They could cope with a variety of underground conditions, including sandy soil where a heavier dog could get trapped. The smaller Dachshunds could enter smaller borrows to pursue rabbit and other small game underground. The small Dachshunds also went by the name of Kaninchenteckel.

With little knowledge of genetics, hunters began to breed down quickly, taking shortcuts to breed the smallest size they could. The dogs lost their drive to hunt and were much happier being lap dogs than dogs that hunted rabbits. The toy-dachshund crosses were known as Kaninchenhund.

Some breeders continued to produce these toy dogs as they had found a ready and eager market to purchase them as them as pets. They were useless to hunters. Commercial breeders took them up as well, they became so popular.

Breeders that had true dwarf Dachshunds, the Kaninchenteckel were reluctant to part with their dogs. Their breeding program was not yet fully established and there were too few of them to part with.

Leaving the breeders with the Kaninchenhund to pursue breeding the toy dogs and doing more harm that good for the breed. Hunters eventually gave up breeding these toy dogs but for some time the breeders had them to deal with and were plagued by apple-shaped heads and goggle-eyed puppies as throwbacks in their litters.

I suppose the rest of this history is more my vision of time gone by. What I tend to think of as the Glory Days of Dachshund breeding, studying, research and showing. I've the honor of speaking with a few of those pioneers who worked diligently to produce the best miniatures they could.

From about 1941 to 1961 miniatures barely stood a chance in the show ring. Going up against magnificent standards. It was believed at first that a small bitch could not whelp without risking her own life and that even then the puppies may grow to be the size of standards. Many very good miniature Dachshunds went unused.

It was a woman named Mrs. Smith-Rewse, the owner of one of England's largest kennels of longhaired, standard Dachshunds that challenged this belief with her own testing. She bred the smallest of her of Dachshunds that appeared from time to time in her litter to the smallest she could find. Not only did they whelp easily but their offspring remained small.

Her small standards were bred to pure miniatures and found the same results. The offspring were also superior to pure miniatures and many breeders began to follow her lead.

The best of the breeders, in my opinion, looked at the whole dog. Breeding was not the politically incorrect hobby or work it is today.

In 1951, Dr. Bill Nixon bought his first Dachshund. Dr. Nixon is a geneticist and the problem of breeding miniatures intrigued him and he set off to improve both breeding practices and quality of miniature Dachshunds.

I can't list here all the breeders and their kennels that contributed to some of the best miniature Dachshunds ever produced. For those interesting in continuing to add to their knowledge of Dachshunds history, genetics, good breeding practices as well as bad, I encourage you to really get to know the breed and the people behind the dogs. I enjoy the older books that seemed to be written for a dog owner or lover with a brain.