THE DACHSHUND 



311 



A greai '-ontrovers}^ has raged for some 

 years o\-er this standard of points which 

 treats the Dachshund as a " hound " pure 

 and simple, and entirely taboos the " terrier," 

 but at the time of its inception it was un- 

 doubtedly a useful guide for all interested 

 in the breed. 



Where I think the Dachshund Club made 

 a great mistake was in not approaching the 

 German Teckel Club, when it was formed 

 some years later, and when it drew up its 

 standard description of the points of the true 

 type of Dachshund, 

 and then revising the 

 Enghsh standard to 

 accord with the Ger- 

 man version. The 

 Dachshund is a Ger- 

 man dog — practically 

 the national dog — 

 and the Germans 

 should know better 

 than we do the type 

 best fitted for the 

 severe work wliich 

 the dog is expected 

 to perform, and 

 which even the Ger- 

 man show dogs per- 

 form to-day. 



Unfortunately the 

 English club appar- 

 entl}' made no effort 



to this desirable end, and it was only in 

 the year of grace, 1907, that a select 

 committee, appointed by the two clubs 

 that now look after the interests of 

 the breed, agreed to re\nse the English 

 standard to bring it into line with the 

 German. This is a step, though a late one, 

 in the right direction, but it will take years 

 perhaps to eradicate the evil done to the 

 breed by the misconception of the true 

 type. 



I cannot do better than give the standard 

 of points formulated by the Germans, 

 which will very soon, I trust, be the standard 

 adopted by the authorities in this country 

 for the guidance of breeders and judges of 

 the Dachshund. 



Some illustrations of typical specimens of 



DACHSHUND ALEXANDER SCHNAPPS 



SCHNAPPS ALEX. 



the breed accompany this article, and these 

 should be studied in conjunction with the 

 description of the points which follows. 

 Especial!}' I would direct attention to Ch. 

 Snakes Prince (p. 307) as being regarded on 

 both sides of the Channel as eminenth' 

 tj'pical. A German authority, Herr E. von 

 Otto Kreckwitz, having seen the illustration 

 of this dog, wrote that he " never saw a 

 Teckel nearer to my ideal than Snakes 

 Prince, if his weight were only 18 lb. instead 

 of 22 lb. His perfect back, the enormous 

 bone, deep breast, 

 length of head, and 

 depth ; everything is 

 complete." 



There are, strictly 

 speaking, three varie- 

 ties of Dachshund — 

 (rt) the short-haired, 

 (b) the long-haired, 

 and (c) the rough - 

 haired. 



Of these we most 

 usually find the first- 

 named in this coun- 

 try, and they are no 

 doubt the original 

 stock. Of the others, 

 though fairly numer- 

 ous in Germany, very 

 few are to be seen in 

 this country, and al- 

 though one or two have been imported 

 the type has never seemed to appeal to 

 exliibitors. 



Both the long-haired and rough-haired 

 varieties have no doubt been produced by 

 crosses with other breeds, such as the Spaniel 

 and probably the Irish Terrier, respecti\-ely. 

 In the long-haired variety the hair should 

 be soft and wavy, forming lengthy plumes . 

 under the throat, lower parts of the body, 

 and the backs of the legs, and it is longest 

 on the under side of the tail, where it forms 

 a regular flag like that of a Setter or Spaniel. 

 The rough-haired variety shows strongly a 

 terrier cross by his " varmint " expression 

 and short ears. 



The Germans also subdivide by colour, 

 and again for show purposes by weight. 



