To the reader who contemplates possessing one or more Dachshunds a word of advice may be offered. Whether you want a dog for sport, for show, or as a companion, endeavour to get a good one—a well-bred one. To arrive at this do not buy from an advertisement on your own knowledge of the breed, but seek out an expert amateur breeder and exhibitor, and get his advice and assistance. If you intend to start a kennel for show purposes, do not buy a high-priced dog at a show, but start with a well-bred bitch, and breed your own puppies, under the guidance of the aforementioned expert. In this way, and by rearing and keeping your puppies till they are of an age to be exhibited, and at the same time carefully noting the awards at the best shows, you will speedily learn which to retain and the right type of dog to keep and breed for, and in future operations you will be able to discard inferior puppies at an earlier age. But it is a great mistake, if you intend to form a kennel for show purposes, to sell or part with your puppies too early. It is notorious with all breeds that puppies change very much as they grow. The best looking in the nest often go wrong later, and the ugly duckling turns out the best of the litter. This is especially true of Dachshunds, and it requires an expert to pick the best puppy of a litter at a month or two old, and even he may be at fault unless the puppy is exceptionally well reared.
To rear Dachshund puppies successfully you must not overload them with fat—give them strengthening food that does not lay on flesh. Lean, raw beef, finely chopped, is an excellent food once or twice a day for the first few months, and, though this comes expensive, it pays in the end. Raw meat is supposed to cause worm troubles, but these pests are also found where meat is not given, and in any case a puppy is fortified with more strength to withstand them if fed on raw meat than otherwise, and a good dosing from time to time will be all that is necessary to keep him well and happy.
Young growing puppies must have their freedom to gambol about, and get their legs strong. Never keep the puppies cooped up in a small kennel run or house. If you have a fair-sized yard, give them the run of that, or even the garden, in spite of what your gardener may say—they may do a little damage to the flowers, but will assuredly do good to themselves. They love to dig in the soft borders: digging is second nature to them, and is of great importance in their development.
If you have not a garden, or if the flowers are too sacred, it is better to place your puppies as early as possible with respectable cottagers, or small farmers, especially the latter, with whom they will have entire freedom to run about, and will not be overfed.
If you intend to show your puppies, you should begin some time in advance to school them to walk on the lead and to stand quiet when ordered to. Much depends on this in the judging ring, where a dog who is unused to being on a lead often spoils his chances of appearing at his best under the (to him) strange experiences of restraint which the lead entails.
During the past five-and-twenty years the names of two particular Dachshunds stand out head and shoulders above those of their competitors: Champions Jackdaw and Pterodactyl. Jackdaw had a wonderful record, having, during a long show career, never been beaten in his class from start to finish, and having won many valuable prizes. He was credited with being the most perfect Dachshund that had ever been seen in England, and probably as good as anything in Germany.
Ch. Jackdaw was a black and tan dog, bred and owned by Mr. Harry Jones, of Ipswich. He was sired by Ch. Charkow, out of Wagtail, and born 20th July, 1886. Through his dam he was descended from a famous bitch, Thusnelda, who was imported by Mr. Mudie in the early 'eighties. She was a winner of high honours in Hanover. The name of Jackdaw figures in all the best pedigrees of to-day.
Ch. Pterodactyl was born in 1888, and bred by Mr. Willink. He was in a measure an outcross from the standard type of the day, and his dam, whose pedigree is in dispute, was thought to have been imported. After passing through one or two hands he was purchased by Mr. Harry Jones, and in his kennel speedily made a great name in the show ring and at the stud, and was eventually sold for a high price to Mr. Sidney Woodiwiss, who at that period had the largest kennel of Dachshunds in England.
"Ptero," as he was called, was a big, light red dog, with wonderful fore-quarters and great muscular development. He also possessed what is called a "punishing jaw" and rather short ears, and looked a thorough "business" dog. He had an almost unbroken series of successes at shows in England, and being taken to Germany (in the days before the quarantine regulations), he took the highest honours in the heavy-weight class, and a special prize for the best Dachshund of all classes. This dog became the favourite sire of his day and the fashionable colour.
The black and tan thereupon went quite out of favour, and this fact, coupled with the reckless amount of inbreeding of red to red that has been going on since Ptero's day, accounts largely for the prevalence of light eyes, pink noses, and bad-coloured coats of the Dachshunds, as a class, to-day.