We have had three Wire-haired Dachshunds over the years. Their only value, I think, is how fun it is to watch them run. (Biddledeh-biddledeh-biddledeh) Two running together is even better. Yes, I know about them being bred to go down and fight badgers and all that, but really - I haven't been much bothered by badgers, or even ferrets around here for some time now.
So there's the running, and beyond that it's mostly begging and barking at entirely innocent and respectable visitors for no apparent reason. Plus, us waiting for something to go wrong with hips or back and hoping that we don't have to carry a whimpering, semi-paralysed animal across town to be put down. Like I did last year.
There is a Dachshund Club of America, of course, and in their description of what the breed is judged on at shows, they offer these gif's of what their movement should look like. I can't tell the difference, which suggests I should not take on a second career of dachshund-judging.
My sister had a half dachshund/half basenji: Basenji marks and color and dachshund shape, but about half again as long as most. She (the dog) learned how to beg, balancing precariously like a pillar. When she ran downstairs with the rear end slewing back and forth it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteOf course I thought that's what all dachshunds were like, and laughed at the tiny things I saw in the States.
A goofy, but lovable, breed to be sure. When I was a kid our first family dog was a dachshund - "Cleo."
ReplyDeleteIt does seem as though we ought to be providing them with adversaries at the ends of long tunnels, doesn't it? So they could say, "Oh, THIS is what I'm for."
ReplyDeleteSpoonge-Headed ScienceMan
ReplyDeleteA goofy, but lovable, breed to be sure
That is also my experience with dachshunds.
I don't know much about dachsunds, but I do know that there's a certain level of skills-testing for some breeds.
ReplyDeleteConsider Labrador Retrievers. There are shows/competitions which test for Retriever work. One such test is of jump-length off the dock into the water. The dog must return with the item sought, but the length of the jump is measured.
There's also a set of tests that some show German Shepherds must go through. Whether or not they are a good test of the skills GSD's were originally bred for, there is some sort of functional test.
I don't think dachsunds have such a test. Though I can imagine the trouble that might result from a show dachsund having to bring the carcass of an angry critter out of the tunnel and into the show-ring.
(For extra fun, ask what would happen to show Bull-Terriers...)
karrde - that would be AWESOME
ReplyDelete