THE DACHSHUND. 221 



and tan color, called in Germany Tiger-dachs; or steel- 

 blue and tan, a magnificent color, but rarely seen. 



Skin. Exceedingly loose. You may take hold of the 

 skin on neck or back and raise it four to six inches; it 

 seems as if the skin were intended for a body twice the size 

 of the one it covers. The loose skin is a great advantage to 

 the dog, as a badger or other animal when attacking the 

 Dachshund will get hold of a mouthful of skin instead of 

 solid flesh, and the dog suffers no serious damage. No 

 other breed of dogs shows this characteristic in such a 

 marked degree. 



Coat. Short and thick. 



Here is the measurement of a Dachshund that I consider 

 as near perfection as has yet been obtained : Head, eight 

 inches long; length, from nose to root of tail, thirty-three 

 inches; tail, eleven inches; tip to tip, forty-four inches; 

 height at shoulder, ten to ten and one-half inches; girth of 

 body, behind fore-arms, nineteen and one-half inches; girth 

 of neck, fourteen and one-half inches; spread of ears, 

 fifteen inches; around main muscle of fore-arm, five and 

 one-half inches; chest, from ground, four inches; weight, 

 twenty to twenty-two pounds. 



Specimens of the Terrier type are, as a general rule, 

 much smaller and of lighter build than those of the Hound 

 type. The difference in shape lies mainly in the head, 

 which in the former is shorter and more pointed, or 

 sharper toward the nose; the ears are not so long; the legs 

 are slightly straighter. In weight, specimens of the Terrier 

 type vary from ten to sixteen pounds. 



It makes no difference, however, whether you send a 

 large or a small Dachshund after a fox; both varieties are 

 equally savage and ferocious in their attacks, and the pluck 

 and grit they exhibit deserve our greatest praise and 

 admiration. 



Much has been written of the Spiel-dachs, or Toy 

 variety of the Dachshund. In former years he was valued 

 by the ladies in Germany as the Pug is at the present day 

 in this country. The Spiel-dachs was nothing else than a 



