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Wiener dogs, wieners, wienies, hot dogs, Datsuns, dash-hounds, or dachshunds — whatever you prefer to call them, they certainly are unique, fascinating, and endearing little creatures.
It has been my observation that many dachshund fanciers do not know the full history of the breed, so I thought I would write down on this page what I have learned over the last few years. It should be noted that much information in the dachshund's past went unrecorded at the time, so there are some conflicting stories. But after reading a great deal of sources in both English and German, of which only a few I worked in some quotes from, I have tried to piece together the past as accurately as possible.
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"A Mischievous Family"
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Painting by Carl Reichert.
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origin and history
The dachshund  can be used as both a terrier and a hound, although traditionally it has most often been used as and was invariably always considered a terrier. "That it is used occasionally as a hound in the sense that it follows rabbits and hares by scent as does a beagle does not alter the fact that it is essesntially a dog that goes to earth and is therefore a terrier. Its name of badger dog is all the evidence needed on that point. That it can be made use of as a beagle does not alter the fact that it is properly an earth dog, any more than the occasional use of fox terriers for rabbit coursing makes them whippets." (Denlinger) So why are they almost always thought of as hounds these days? For one, in the 1870s when they first became popular in England, a kennel club there did call the breed dachshunds, but they unfortunately translated it from the German as "badger hound", which was incorrect; "Hund" in German simply means "dog" and is not meant to convey a type of dog or the use of a dog. Thus the label of "badger dog" erroneously became that of "badger hound" in the English-speaking world, and most people today — even most breed clubs, which should know better — believe they are actually hounds. For two, because of this misnaming, people began to breed them to have more hound-looking features than they had had in the past. "The desire for hound-like type in [d]achshunds would never had originated if the natural vocation of this breed (underground work) had not been overlooked. The consequences of this erroneous idea will be that well-bred [d]achshunds will be regarded as a terrier cross, and that it will be next to impossible for many dog fanciers to get a clear idea of the real type of [d]achsund." (Greenburg)
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"Proto-dachshunds", the tachskriecher (hound type) with crooked front legs
and the tachskrieger (terrier type) with straighter front legs.
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Drawings by Hanns Friedrich von Flemming from Der vollkommene teutsche Jäger, 1719.
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The immediate precursor to the dachshund breed proper had its origins at the beginning of the 1700s in France. The Germans quickly took up interest in the use of this particular type of working dog, which they called the Bracke. It took less than a century for them to create the dachsbracke, and then soonthereafter the dachshund (also called the tachshunt, dachskriecher, tachskriecher, dachskrieger, and tachskrieger, and later diminutively the dachsel, dackel, tackel, deckel, and teckel). The breed was originally created in order to hunt badgers, but it wasn't long before they were bred smaller for hunting smaller game.
Dachshunds were first imported to the United States about the same time they started to become popular in England. Their primary use as hunting dogs in North America lasted for literally only a couple of years; they have otherwise always been primarily pets on this continent.
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Dachshunds, a black/red pointed with straighter front legs and
a black/red [pointed or KSES] extreme white with crooked front legs.
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Drawings by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, 1793.
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structure
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Traditional/Working dachshunds.
Ilka-Tieplitz, Altremplin-Reinecke, Gretl-Reinecke, Schaula-Reinecke, Aberdie-Reinecke, Wally-Reinecke, Ermelin-Reinecke, Augustine-Reinecke, Tiger-Reinecke, and Berolina-Barby.
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Pictures from the magazine
(Jagdzeitschrift) St. Hubertus.
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There have always been two different structural types of dachshunds (although they have been very intermixed for the last century): the hound type and the terrier type. More will be written on their structural differences in the book, but you can see some visual examples on this page.
During the 1700s, there were many dachshunds with both crooked front legs and some with straighter front legs. Most often those with straighter front legs were of the terrier type and those with crooked front legs were of the hound type. You can see these basset hound-like front legs in some pictures here. By the mid-1900s, the demand for dachshunds with truly crooked front legs had ceased. A hundred or so years earlier, it had been argued that dachshunds with straighter front legs were superior to those with crooked front legs, as the latter, while they throw dirt more out to the side when digging, were slower and less powerful than their straighter-leggèd counterparts. Whether this is true or not, to my knowledge it has gone unproven, but nonetheless the crookedness began to be bred out, although truly mainly for beauty/show reasons.
There are, in general, three different types of toplines (backs/backlines) in dogs: arched or roach-backed (convex), flat or straight, and sagging or sway-backed (concave). A roach-back has always been preferred for working purposes, as "the arch contributes strength to the spine" (Denlinger). (However, this arch over the kidneys and back end should not be confused with a humpback, where a hump is present in the middle of the back.) The flat back is preferred in modern beauty contests, but it is a weaker and therefore more problem-prone back, and for work it was discouraged, as it does not transmit nearly as much power or have as smooth a motion as the former. The sagging back, or sway-back, is disliked in both older and modern beauty contests, is quite weak, and is useless for work, as the spine in such a configuration gives very little support. "The lightly curved, powerfully arched backline in the kidney section" is therefore best for a decent dachshund, and further, "[a] correctly-arched back appears to be shorter than a level one." (Denlinger)
In modern times, there has also been a shift in the structure of the back legs. In modern show dachshunds, the thigh bone, shin bone, and tarsus/meta-tarsus are typically at close to right angles from each other, whereas in a traditional, correct dachshund, the shin bone and tarsus/meta-tarsus are closer to 135° in relation to each other. The show configuration, like a flat topline, is a disabling configuration that transmits less power than it should, and it also requires more effort on the dog's part to move.
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Schaula-Reinecke
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Picture from St. Hubertus.
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sizing
The weight of dachshunds has varied greatly over the last three centuries. The bracke and dachsbracke weighed roughly between 30 and 40 pounds. Later on in the dachshund breed proper, when they were used almost exclusively for badgering, the ideal weight for them was thought to be no lower than 20 pounds for males and 18 or 19 pounds for females, as a lower weight would not be able to take on or drag out a badger. When dachshunds were made smaller for fox hunting, the ideal weight for the task in Europe was thought to be between 10 or 11 to 14 or 15 pounds (a little smaller in North America), although in the case of foxing, some believed weight was inconsequential compared to the importance of structure. Dachshunds were further miniaturized to 7 pounds and fewer for hunting rabbits. Later, when the intermediate size was exported to North America, it was found they were about the right size for hunting woodchucks.
These days in North America, dachshunds rarely exceed 30 pounds (unless overweight) or fall behind 6 pounds. Before about 1950, the larger ones were most common and therefore obviously most preferred, although in recent decades, it seems like they have been nearly completely displaced by the popularity of the smaller ones.
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Stromer-Stromernest
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Picture via Der Dachshund.
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coats, colors, and patterns
Dachshunds were thought to originally all be shorthaired, but that may or may not be the case. Again, so little historical information exists that it is difficult to tell for certain.
The earliest account of a wirehair dachshund I am aware of is from 1793. By 1820, there are known accounts of longhair dachshunds. (And as an aside, I learned something recently - no British breeds were used in dachshund creation, which would entirely make sense.)
Based on historical accounts, it is believed that all coats, colors (possibly excepting cream and therefore blush), and patterns that are present in the modern dachshund have been present in the breed since the 1830s. The most favored working coats were the coarse wirehair and the shorthair. The most favored colors, for reasons of lines/lineage as well as of contemporary beauty, were dark, unshaded black/red ASPSes and black/red pointeds. Pointed chocolate/reds apparently came in third. The majority of dachshunds at the time also had minus factors, usually on the chest.
Dachshund breeders over a century ago were known for breeding a particular size, coat, color, and sometimes pattern. Except breeding for a particular size or coat, the rest are rarely the case today.
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Hound-type dachshunds: Three shorthairs, one wirehair, and the brindle and dapple patterns.
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Drawings by Dr. H.G. Reichenbach, 1836.
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the modern transformation
Before the late 1800s, dachshunds, as well as dogs of most other breeds, were bred based on their physical and mental soundness and, most especially in the case of dachshunds, their working drive. The idea of beauty came last on the list, if it was even considered at all. (And by some, it wasn't.) In the 1880s and especially 1890s, most people started becoming more interested in the beauty of dogs as opposed to the correctness and ability of dogs. "From 1895 on, [...] an unfortunate trend began to make itself apparent. Some breeders began to seize upon characteristics of the breed and over-emphasize them. Length began to be sought after as a special virtue in itself and exaggeration was obtained. The same was true of depth of chest [and shortness of leg]." (Denlinger) "[Chests should not be deep like a keel.]" (Asbeck) It was also at this time crooked front legs started to be bred out, and straight, extremely short front legs became "all the rage".
Since that time, many different dog breed organizations have existed, and each has promoted its own preferred dachshund "look". That typical look has unfortunately generally managed to devolve into what was described in the paragraphs on structure: stumpy-leggèd, flat-backed, generously-chested, slender-faced, and perhaps too long-bodied. To this day at most dachshund beauty contests, called conformation shows, those features are prized, although the dogs of that type are often useless as serious hunting dogs for reasons of both modified structure and oftentimes modified temperament and lack of drives. "The [d]achshund is [now] such an exaggeration that it is much easier to show by reproductions of old photographs what the best dogs look like[.]" (Denlinger) One master breeder, who for a time bred in order to win those conformation shows, remarked of the exaggerated new type, 'They would chase a cat into the haymow and then bark until someone came to carry them down the steps. Their chests were so deep that they struck the lower step before their short legs could reach it.' (Engelmann) He also put it best when he said, "Those breeders who [seek] only dogs that [meet] their ideals in conformation [have] a much easier task than those who [seek] good hunting temperament combined with the physical structure that is the most practical for a hunting dog." (Engelmann)
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A traditional dachshund (Schlupfer-Euskirchen)
versus a modern show dachshund (Baubles of Oakcrest).
Note the differences in the leg lengths, back leg angles, toplines, etc.
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Drawing and photo by unknown authors via Der Dachshund and This is the Dachshund, respectively.
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