From badger hound to family companion
German hunters developed the Dachshund for the chase, breeding it down from dwarf mutations of taller hounds such as the Schweisshund – a bloodhound type – and the Bibarhund. By the eighteenth century, careful selective breeding had shortened the legs enough to produce the standard Dachshund much as we would recognise it today.
Bred for the burrow
Standard Dachshunds were used in packs to hunt wild boar, and to go to ground after badger, cornering their quarry for the hunter. German foresters then bred the size down further still, to create a miniature small enough to enter a rabbit hole, track a wounded deer or work a fox. Germany has traditionally categorised its Dachshunds by the size of hole they can enter: the standard, and the miniature, which splits further into the "dwarf" (a chest of around 30 cm) and the "rabbit" (around 35 cm).
A breed that weathered the World Wars
The breed became hugely popular in both America and Britain, ranking among the top ten breeds before the First World War. Numbers fell during both World Wars, simply through the Dachshund's association with Germany, but had recovered again by 1940.
From Dash to the long-haired club
The first Dachshund registered with the American Kennel Club, back in 1885, was a black-and-tan dog named Dash. Breed clubs for the different coats followed in their own time: the smooth club first, the wire-haired club in 1927, and the long-haired club – for the variety we breed at Bilkau – in 1929.
The Dachshund today
Today the Dachshund is loved the world over, far from the German forests of its origin. It is that same clever, courageous character, wrapped up in a flowing long-haired coat, that first won our hearts at Bilkau.