Earlier this year I decided it was time to get my dog, Ninja, a playmate. Ninja is my mutt that I had gotten from the Humane Society a few years ago; however, I decided I wanted to try something different. I have never had a purebred dog, and I have been wanting a certain one in particular for quite some time. The thought of having a dachshund running around in my house filled me with pure joy. Dachshund had always caught my attention when it came to deciding what pet I wanted. Their irregular shaped bodies, or as Henry Mencken would say, “Dachshunds: A half-a-dog high, and a dog-and-a-half long,” made me fall in love with them even more. Since I have had Buster, I have never really taken to the time to learn where they originated or what …show more content…
The dogs of medieval Europe were noted to have the tracking ability of hounds and the proportions and temperament of terriers, much needed to pursue their main quarry of badgers. Dachshund is the German name for “badger dog.” The dachshund was said to have been bread from dwarf mutations of taller hunting hounds like the Schweisshund, or bloodhound, and the Bibarhund, a German Pinscher. By the eighteenth century the hunters in Germany had successfully shortened the legs by selective breeding, thus creating the standard dachshund. Standard Dachshunds were used in packs to hunt and catch wild boar and to get into badger dens. Dachshunds would chase the badger out of the den and corner it for the hunter. This helped the hunters because then the badgers were not attacking their horses. The Germans then went on to create even smaller versions of the dachshund. The reasoning behind the miniature version was so that they could fit into even smaller badger holes. In Germany they categorize the dachshund by the size of hole it can enter. The first category is the standard dachshund. The second and third are the miniature dachshund which is split into two categories, dwarf dachshund and rabbit dachshund. In 1913, before World War One, they were in the top ten breeds. When