The Dachshund. 527 



very like him, perhaps it was the turnspit, was 

 known in the East long before the Christian era. 

 Old Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures, some of 

 them 2000 B.C., depict a dog much after his stamp, 

 but whether he was then used as a sporting dog or 

 as a companion, or to assist in culinary operations, 

 we are not told, all we know is that at the court of 

 King Thothmes III. he was a favourite. Since 

 that period he has undergone many modifications. 

 Even within the past quarter of a century, since his 

 association with our English dogs, his character 

 has changed somewhat. In Germany, Belgium, and 

 other parts of the Continent, from whence he came 

 to us, he is used as a sporting dog, to draw 7 or drive 

 the fox and badger, but here he is for the most part 

 used as a companion and for exhibition purposes, 

 and his rapid growth to popularity is evidence of 

 his excellence in both respects. Still, even our 

 English dachshunds will do their work well when 

 properly trained to the duty. 



Comparatively few of our dachshunds have any 

 chance of showing how good they are at sport. 

 If properly entered they have no equals at their 

 legitimate game of going to ground to fox and 

 badger, when the latter have to be dug out. I do 

 not for a moment suggest that he will bolt a hunted 

 fox as quickly as a huntsman's terrier that is not his 



