THE DACHSHUND, OE GERMAN BADGEE DOG. 153 



origin of most of them is very dubious. The only reason for breeding them 

 is that white dogs are easier kept in sight when hunting a covert. But the 

 qualification for hunting above ground is not at all the criterion of the dachs- 

 hund class. 



The legitimate colours of the dachshund may be divided into four groups : 



1. With tan marks: Black, chocolate, light brown, hare-pied; the brighter 

 varieties often showing a blackish stripe along the back, and black ears; 

 eyes, rich brown, never brighter than the tan marks ; nose and nails black ; 

 no white. 



2. Whole coloured : Black, chocolate, light brown, hare-pied ; and also the tan 

 varieties, red, tan, ochre, fawn, sandy ; the brighter varieties often with a darker 

 stripe along the back ; ears and muzzle also often darker than the body ; no tan 

 marks ; eyes, rich brown or light brown, never brighter than the colour of 

 the coat; nose and nails, black, no white. In bright tan and sandy dogs 

 the nose and nails should be at least much darker than the coat, and never 

 fleshy. 



3. Bluish varieties : Slate, mouse, silver-grey, either whole coloured or with 

 tan marks ; eyes, bluish or colourless (wall-eyed) ; nose and nails blackish, fleshy, 

 rosy ; no white. 



4. Variegated varieties (tiger-dachs) : Slate, mouse, silvery-grey, with irregular 

 black, chocolate or, tan stripes and blotches, with or without tan marks ; eyes, at least 

 one of them, bluish or colourless ; nose and nails, fleshy or spotted ; white marks on 

 throat and breast are not objectionable in the tiger-dachs. 



In judging dachshunds no difference should be made between the four groups of 

 colours, except when there were two dogs of equal merit ; there the black-tan dog 

 should be preferred, or that dog would have developed the marks most exactly in 

 the richest tone, and with no white at all. 



Size, symmetry, and quality. The height of an average specimen is from 9in. to 

 lOin. at the shoulder; the weight should be from 151b. to 171b., bitches being 

 always smaller than dogs of the same litter. I have mentioned already that the 

 class will most probably embrace dogs from 91b. to 201b. weight, owing to the 

 different sized dogs used to hunt underground by our sportsmen. In a regularly 

 built dog of 171b. weight I found these proportions : head, from nose to occiput 

 over the skull, Sin. ; neck to shoulders, 4f in. ; back, 15in. ; stern, Sin. ; distance 

 from ground to brisket, 2|in. ; from ground to elbow, Gin. ; to shoulders, lOin. ; 

 to hip, lOfin. 



In judging dachshunds it must be borne in mind that the frame of these 

 dogs has preserved pretty well all the proportion of a large or middle-sized dog, 

 only the legs are shortened ; while in the terriers all parts of the body have been 

 reduced equably. A cross with the terrier will be directly indicated in the offspring 

 by alteration of the peculiar proportions of the dachshund, and therefore the 

 badger dog cannot be called " dachs-terrier," it not being a cross. We must also 

 notice that the reduction of the legs is not quite equal in all parts of the legs, but 

 is chiefly limited to the bones of the forearm (radius and ulna) and those of the 



