Descriptions of the short-legged hunting dog appeared even in the Middle Ages. However, considering today's criterias, we can only talk about the 'dachshund'  starting from the end of the 19th century, when breeding to create the standard for the type, commenced. Later on, the standard was recognised, requiring uniform appearence of all dogs.

Short-legged dogs can also be noted on embossments in ancient times. They do not have much in common with today's basset hound though, but it proves the long lasting existence of short-legged dogs.

Depictions show quite a range of colours, shapes and various coats. These are dogs with short-, long-, and mixed-lengthed coats. In 1716, Hoberg depicts them to be: "short, with long bodies and small bent legs, being gray or black."  In 1746, Döbel describes the badger-dog the following way: "there are even two from that kind, but I prefer those black, brown and red ones, of which the legs are curved a little and are smaller in height." A lot of different names were used at these times: "groundhound, den-hound, fox-hound, badger-dog...". These were all ancestors of today's "dachshound", eventhough they did not quite look alike. The final blood line that led to the breed probably came from these dogs.

The characteristics of today's types chrystalised during the second half of the 19th century. Diezel notes in his book titled "Hiederjagd" (Hunting for small game) : "the badger-dog is the most lovable member of the species of the dogs with no doubt. They are extremely faithful, gentle and obliging, at the same time they are very clever and always ready to learn. They always keep the rules of being house-trained and are very respectful to others. They guard the house faithfully and reliably. The badger-dog is also an indispensable partner of hunters, in other words, it is a sort of universal dog."

The "Deutscher Teckelklub", The German Basset Hound Club was founded in Berlin, in 1888. It helped further developing the breeding of the type and organised dog shows, as well as established the standards for exams. Since 1889, it also has registered pedigrees.                     

In 1891, on a large scale Dog Show in Amsterdam, 300 dogs were shown. The two World Wars resulted in sensitive losses and set breeding back. Fortunately, the 'badger-dog' always had some enthusiastic fans, who were not afraid of starting fresh, or making personal sacrifice eventhough circumstances had been rather adventurous. According to The International Cynological Federation, the badger-dog is a German dog. In the meantime, badger-dog clubs have been founded, all over the world.

The 'dachshund' is bred today with three different types of coat (in length). These are: short, long and mixed versions. There are also three different types in size: 'normal', 'dwarf ' and 'kaninchen'. The difference is in the diameter of the ribcage and the bodyweight. The size of the ribcage of the 'normal' type exceeds the 35 cm and the required bodyweight should be about 7-9 kg. The 'dwarf ' badger-dog's ribcage cannot surpass the 35 cm and its weight can be up to 4 kg, while the smallest ones' (kaninchen) ribcage must be less that 30 cm in diameter and less than 3 kg in weight.

Based on Wolfgang Ransleben's The Dachshund.

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