The Dachshund 663 



by reproductions of photographs what the best dogs look like, than to convey 

 a clear impression to any person who has never seen one. His one distinct 

 peculiarity is also that of the basset, the crooked forelegs, which is nothing 

 but a deformity now scientifically bred. That this deformed foreleg is of 

 any practical use in digging underground, we cannot believe. Perhaps we 

 should say that its being better than the short, straight leg of the terriers 

 which go to ground is not our opinion, and we put that idea away with the 

 old-time belief that the loose dewclaw of the St. Bernard helped the dog to 

 walk in, or on, the snow. At the present day, it appears from some recent 

 remarks of Mr. Marples, that there is an attempt at doing away, in a great 

 measure, with the dachshund front by English breeders. He writes as 

 follows : " In these later days, there has been a tendency in England to 

 moderate the crook of the dachshund ... I cannot, however, go so far in 

 the craze for sound fronts as to accept a straight-legged dachshund, as 

 some judges do." In this, Mr. Marples is quite correct, for it is purely a 

 fancy breed, and whether these fronts are deformities, or not, does not matter, 

 usage and standards have made them properties of the dachshund, and it is 

 just as easy to breed sound fronts as straight fronts; that is, legs that are 

 properly crooked, so that the dog stands true on his feet and does not "run 

 over," as a man does who fails to put his foot down squarely as he walks. 

 We recognise it as a part of the breed, while we dissent from the claim that 

 it is essentially useful in digging underground. 



The German standard goes to great length in describing the dachs- 

 hund, indulging in technicalities and minuteness of detail such as we find in 

 no English standard. There seems also to be considerable difficulty in 

 getting a good translation into language common to dog standards. The 

 combination of a dog man who thoroughly understands German and has an 

 equally good English education, does not seem to have been secured for the 

 translation of this standard. The English long have had a short, clearly 

 written standard, but it differs in several points from the German code, 

 and, as the latter is the one in use here, that alone will be of service. We 

 have seen three translations, and the one which seems clearest to the 

 English reader is the one we give. It is better in its divisions into 

 paragraphs, and clearer in its phraseology. The best part of the German 

 standard is the illustrations, which show the ideal, and the faulty, con- 

 formation. 



