Sunday, June 23, 2013

Another Litter

These are longhaired working mini- dachshunds, descended from Teddy Moritz's dogs, like the late Diamond Lil but with a different coat; these will resemble short legged tazis. Watch this space.

Babies
Relatives, hunting with Teddy:




3 comments:

Teddy said...

Thanks for posting the pics of Brian's litter. He's now a convert to hunting dachshunds.

Retrieverman said...

That would have to be a fast dog to catch a gray fox on the ground. Normally they shoot up trees before you get a good run.

Retrieverman said...

I must confess a fear I have.

I am not frightened of rottweilers or other large dogs, but miniature smooth dachshunds freak me out. The other sizes and coats, especially the long-haired ones, which remind of some kind of nineteenth century toy spaniel, and the wire-haired ones, which don't have the same look, really don't.

My grandmother had a little smooth dachshund that was her baby, and the dog was a notorious biter. She bit me so many times, that even now when I am near a dog that even looks like her, I get very nervous.

This dachshund was a replacement for the smooth standard my dad had growing up. This dog was the ultimate hunting dog. He would tree squirrels, run rabbits with the beagles, and keep the local feral cat population under control.

He was a smooth standard red, the kind that is most popular in English-speaking countries. He was just a pet line dog, not a Teckel at all.

But he was obedient, not at all stubborn like the breed sterotype. He could be told not to bark, and he wouldn't make a sound. And unlike beagles, which are very much scenting savants and are not disposed to taking direction, he would respond to hand signals. He could be put in any kind of cover to bolt out the rabbit, and in this way he was much more useful than the beagles. However, because he was a smooth, the briers tended to cut him up more.

He slept with my dad every night, and when they'd get up in the morning, my grandmother would fix them both a breakfast of French toast.

Because he was just a pet line dog that just happened to have had a lot of working instincts intact, he was actually not structurally sound. He could be put out of commission for weeks whenever his discs started to act up-- a major problem in dachshunds of that type.

My dad can get misty eyed talking about "Old Hud" ("General Huddles Sherman," named in part for my dad's favorite general in the Civil War.)

He was just a good old dog.