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CHAPTER XL. 



THE DACHSHUND. 



WITH the exception of the modern Fox-terrier, it is doubtful if the institution of shows has 

 done so much for any breed of dog as it has for the subject of this chapter. The quaint 

 shape and peculiar appearance of the Dachshund rendered him from the first a conspicuous 

 object on the bench, and no doubt greatly influenced many breeders to take up the breed. 

 His admirers for the most part speak very highly of the Dachshund ; but few breeds suffer 

 oftener from the attacks of detractors, who affirm that the terms Dachshund and canine inutility 

 are almost synonymous terms. For our own part, though we do not consider the Dachshund by 

 any means to be the paragon of perfection which he is stated to be in some quarters, we 

 willingly credit him with being a good useful working dog in his own country. Conversations 

 which we have held on several occasions with German sportsmen have convinced us that this 

 breed is largely used in the pursuit of wounded game, and his rather slow rate of progress 

 makes a Dachshund more especially valuable, as it enables the sportsmen on foot to keep 

 up with him with greater facility. 



The name Dachshund conveys to many people the idea that this breed was produced for 

 the purpose of destroying badgers only, and for no other object. As a matter of fact we 

 believe that though many Dachshunds are " hard " enough to attack anything breathing, they 

 arc not as a rule so well adapted for such sanguinary employment as for the more peaceable 

 and less painful task of tracking wounded animals, or beating coverts like an English Terrier. 

 As a matter of fact, we know of an English gentleman, who prides himself upon the " hard- 

 ness " of his dogs, who went in largely for Dachshunds. Six months' experience of the 

 breed convinced him that they were unsuited for the work they were expected to go 

 through in his kennels, and he finally abandoned them in favour of Bull and Wire-haired 

 Terriers. 



As will be seen from what appears below, there are at least two very distinct types of 

 Dachshund ; and the Rev. G. F. Lovell, of Oxford, who is admittedly an English authority on 

 the breed, actually adds a third class to the number. The Toy class which he describes is, 

 we really think, an objectionable ramification of the other two branches, for on the Continent 

 we have seen toys of either type, and have always considered them weeds. The two chief 

 distinctions are the hound and terrier type, both of which arc fully alluded to below ; but it is 

 worthy of remark here that in this country, singular to relate, the former type is supported by 

 the South Country school of breeders for the most part, whilst the Terrier stamp of dog finds 

 admirers in the North. 



Mr. John Fisher, of Carrshead Farm, is at the head of the northern Dachshund world, well 

 seconded by Mr. Enoch Hutton, of Pudsey, near Leeds, who has kindly given us a detailed 

 description of the points of the breed as they appear good in his eyes. In the South the 

 Rev. G. F. Lovell reigns supreme, having for his lieutenant Mr. Everett Millais, of London, 

 though the latter gentleman has devoted more of his affection to Bassets than Dachshunds, as 



