THE DACHSHUND 237 



due appreciation of their possible powers. Of course, the general 

 scheme of game-preservation and woodcraft in these islands is not 

 the same as in the far larger and wilder lands of the countries where 

 the Dachshund is chiefly valued and used, whilst at the same time 

 the quarry upon which they can be worked is of far more limited 

 character and variety. At the same time, the opportunities for 

 employing them when properly trained are many and varied, as will 

 be seen from the experiences of their working gained in those Con- 

 tinental districts where they are chiefly valued, and which will be 

 described. 



To properly appreciate what well-trained Dachshunds are 

 capable of, it is necessary to have witnessed them at work, and 

 shared in the sport in which their services are brought to bear. 

 Given a concise insight into the manner in which they are employed 

 abroad admittedly under somewhat different circumstances from 

 those obtaining at home the outcome of the training to which they 

 are submitted will serve as a guide to the possibilities of their use in 

 our own lands. 



For the most part the majority of the forests and woodlands of 

 Germany harbour many more hares than do any of our British woods 

 and coverts ; and in districts where the Dachshund is a plentiful 

 feature of the kennels, it is freely employed for the purpose of beating 

 out the hares for the individual gunner, or for general beats, where 

 several sportsmen are concerned. These woodland hares do not 

 strike straight away when started from their forms, but display very 

 much the same tactics as rabbits, dodging here and there amongst 

 the undergrowth where such exists, and confining their course to 

 lesser and more circling limits where the woods are clear and the 

 view of the quarry is more extended. 



Under these conditions the work of the Dachshund upon hares 

 resembles very much that of a steady, slow Spaniel less bustling 

 and headstrong, and running more by scent than sight when once 

 the quarry is sighted. Along drives and paths Dachshunds learn 

 to work the ground on either side, never going deep into cover, but 

 driving the hares to the open ground, where opportunity for shooting 

 is greater. Many Dachshunds trained to this work will follow and 

 retrieve a wounded hare wounded heavily, that is, for it stands to 

 reason that a Dachshund's pace would not be equal to running down 

 one only slightly touched within reasonable limits of time. Still, 

 for all that, these dogs, when keen and thoroughly trained, are quite 

 capable of such work, and many instances of their powers in this 

 direction have come under my personal notice. 



From the humane point of view this is a distinct merit, for the 

 Dachshund is powerfully mawed, and makes no great fuss of cleanly 

 killing a wounded hare and bringing it to bag. Of course we could 

 find very little occasion for employing this breed for similar purposes 



