Dachshund is a German name that means “badger dog” and indeed, the Dachshund that we know of today is originally the chaser and capturer of the ferocious badgers. The Dachshund is irregularly long and narrow in body and oddly short in legs but these differences are what make it a superb under and above the ground hunter. In Germany where it began, this dog expertly and easily crawled in to the burrows of pesky badgers and other small animals; and the result, a good game of below the ground hunting.

This breed is an eager-beaver when it comes to hunting and would never back down at any badger challenge. At home it is a loving, playful, devoted, and loyal little pet that barks and growls at the sight of suspicious people. Having these kinds of deep sense of protectiveness, the Dachshund makes an absolute winner in terms of watching and guarding.

Since they are developed for chasing badgers out of their tiny holes, the Dachshund owns a keen detection of scent, a dauntless spirit, agility, and superb endurance. This dog’s long, narrow, and flexible body is absolutely perfect for invading the deep, dark, and small ground holes of the badgers and bush beating as well during hunting. Although originally designed for fearless hunting, the Dachshund developed a strong affiliation with families that makes it today a fantastic house pet.

Intellect-wise, the badger may not get the highest of marks but it is on its own, uniquely intelligent and capable for comprehending human instructions. In his list of Intelligence of Dogs, Stanley Cohen ranked this breed 49th as evidence of its average ability in terms of obedience and training comprehension. Disregarding these data, however, this breed is still energetic, playful, and head-strong to the point where its training sessions are a challenge for the owner.

There are three varieties of coat for the Dachshund: smooth or short coat, long coat, and wired coat, the first two being the most common and the standard coat for the entire breed while the wired hair is a new addition; in fact, this type of coat is so unpopular to many it is mistaken for another breed often. The dominant color for the Dachshund fur is red, black, and tan but there is also some combination of colors which come in wild boar, chocolate, blue, fawn, and a lot more. The color patterns are also categorized as single-colored or solid, single colored with spots or dappled, and single-colored with any color points, mottle, or pattern.

Because of its peculiarly long and narrow body, the Dachshund is also fondly called wiener dog or sausage dog. However, size does not matter for this breed for it openly accepts and fights the aggression of relatively larger or smaller dogs. Being truly ferocious, valorous, and daring, this dog challenges even the obviously larger- than-thyself breed of dogs.

Tracing back its origin, clearly, the Dachshund is a product of the German’s ingenuity in the breeding world; however, there are engravings that contradict to this account for those evidence suggest the existence of elongated and short-legged dogs during the ancient Egyptian times. More over, just of late, there had been excavated burial urns in Egypt that contains mummified Dachshund-esque dogs that prove the truthfulness of this theory. Whatever its real origin is, however, history makes it clear that the Dachshund are favored animals of the European royalties even then such as the infamous Queen Victoria, who is well-known to have a penchant for these elongated small dogs.

Just like any other dogs, the Dachshund is required to have a daily means of exercise although not as rigorous as the exercise of larger breeds; a mild and fair intensity of activity is enough for them to be exercised physically and mentally. A Dachshund that’s not been cared for and trained properly develops problem behaviors such as: separation anxiety for those often left alone ones which prompts them to chew and bite properties in able to de-stress; vicious and fervent yapping towards strangers, little mischievous children, and other larger or smaller pets; and relentless and undirected running, panicking, and barking. Census has it as well that the Dachshund is rated as the most aggressive among the small breeds, noting that 20% of them have bitten strangers and attacked other dogs and other dog owners.