THE DACHSHUND. 77 
considerably more. The leather is very thin, and the hair cover- 
ing it fine, soft, and glossy. The eyes are of medium size, bright 
and intelligent, without any visible “haw;” rich brown in black 
and tan dogs, and pale brown in the tan variety. Lips short and 
without flew. 
Neck and Body.—The main characteristics of these points is 
their length in proportion to height and bulk. The general 
appearance is weasel-like, and the whole length from tip of nose 
to tip of tail should be four times the height, in this proportion 
resembling the Skye terrier. The neck is rather long, but not in 
proportion to the body, and it should be free from throatiness, 
tapering gradually from the skull to the chest. The brisket 
projects considerably, and is only from 24 to 3 inches from the 
ground. The chest is round and short: in the back ribs, while the 
loin is arched and strong, the flanks being tucked up in a very 
peculiar manner, giving an elegant curve to the hinder parts. 
Shoulders strong and their points wide apart. 
Legs and Feet.—A good deal of controversy exists on the 
proper formation of these parts. Many good judges contend for 
fore-legs so crooked as to be clearly rickety, while others prefer a 
leg of more useful formation. The excuse for the crooked leg is 
that it compels a slow pace, and that it allows the dog to scrape 
the soil back between the bowed fore-legs when digging in a 
badger-earth. My own belief is, that the bandy-leg has no such 
advantage; but it must be admitted that the German fanciers, 
as a rule, ‘go in” for this peculiar formation. In any case, the 
legs should be strong in bone, and so short as to lift the breast- 
bone only for the distance above mentioned from the ground. 
Even if bandy, the elbows should not turn out nor in, the latter 
point being a special defect, but they must stand well out from 
the body, so as to be, on the average, 6 inches apart, while the 
knees should not be more than 2} inches; the closer the better. 
From the knees the feet turn outwards again, and are often 4 or 5 
inches apart at the ground, but from pad to pad should not be 
more than 3} inches. This formation is strongly commented on 
by German fanciers. In spite of their peculiar shape, the fore-legs 
must not be weak, and, in particular, the knees must be strong 
and the pasterns large in bone. The feet are rather large, but the 
