| Golden Gate Dachshund Rescue |
| "Making a Difference, one wiener dog at a time" |
| About Dachshunds |
- If you have lived with Dachshunds before you already
know what a great breed this is. Dachshunds, when
properly bred and raised are outgoing, friendly, confident
and intelligent dogs.
- Dachshunds are bred in three varieties smooth (short
coated), longhair (with hair not unlike a golden retriever)
and wire haired (have stiff wiry hair like a terrier) and two
sizes standard (over 11 pounds) and miniature (11 pounds
and under).
- Despite the smaller size of the miniature Dachshunds they
are NOT toy dogs (which are bred for companionship).
Both the miniature and standard Dachshunds are working
dogs. They have a desire to work and use their natural
abilities and instincts.
- Dachshunds were originally produced to "go to ground"
which means to follow the badgers into the earth. They
were also used to track and do scent work. When you
consider the original purpose of the breed it makes total
sense how and why the Dachshund is the way it is. Think
about how they love to burrow under your covers and push
their way into small spaces. It's because they were
earthdogs. Think about how they love to use their noses
and sniff things on the ground. It's because they are
scenthounds. This is all natural to Dachshunds. It is
hardwired into their makeup to have these traits.
- A Dachshunds working ability can be tested today through
Dachshund Field Trials and Den or Earthdog Trials.
- In field trials, Dachshunds are tested on their ability to track
rabbits (jack or cottontail). The dogs are released in braces
of two dogs (who are drawn randomly) on rabbit scent
lines. The Dachshunds are judged on their ability to follow
the scent line, how committed they are to following it and
working it and how accurate they are on where the rabbit
went.
In earthdog or den trials, Dachshunds are released into
man made dens that contain caged rats at the end. The
dogs must get to the rats in a certain amount of time, and
"work" the rats (bark, claw, scrape, scratch) for a certain
amount of time. The dogs are separated from the rats by
the cage AND bars and are not permitted to get to and hurt
the rats.
Dachshunds with a correct temperament are clever, lively
and courageous to the point of rashness. Dachshunds are
sometimes labeled "stubborn" and "difficult to train", both
labels that are not really fair if you think about it.
Dachshunds are not stubborn, they are simply bred to do a
specific task (go to ground or do scentwork) and when we
attempt to interfere with their work by asking for something
else, it is sometimes difficult to convince them that we are
right. I call this commitment and dedication. Dachshunds
tend to have a pretty strong work ethic and asking them to
stop when they are working can be challenging. So, I will
admit that they can be challenging at times, but all that
means is that we need to be better trainers and more
creative in convincing them that we are worth listening to.
Blaming the animal for our shortcomings as trainers is
unfair and unreasonable.
- If we are going to choose a breed to spend our lives with,
we have to learn to embrace all the traits that come along
with that breed. People tend to love the fact that
Dachshunds are courageous and confident and that they
have a great sense of humor, but then call them "difficult"
when the dog wants to chase a squirrel instead of coming
when called. Not fair, you must accept and respect all the
things that make a Dachshund a Dachshund.
- When trained with positive training techniques that make
sense to the dog they are not that difficult to train. The key
is making it worth the Dachshunds while. Teach him you
are worth listening to and you will have a good relationship
with your dog.
| Serving the San Francisco Bay Area and other areas of Northern California |
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