Half-dog high and a dog-and-a-half long

Recently, a little miniature Dachshund has come to our park. His name is…bugger…I’ve forgotten but he’s a funny little thing.

As you can see by the photo he is sort of tan and greyish with a dappled pattern. He’s only a pup so he’s full of beans and scared of no one and no dog even those three times his size, which given he’s only a couple of inches off the ground includes pretty much every dog at this park.

The standard Dachshund was originally bred to hunt badgers, and that’s what their name means in German: “badger dog”. The smaller variety, called the miniature dachshund, was bred to hunt smaller prey, like rabbits.

They come in short hair, long hair and wire-haired coats, and I guess this little fella is a short-hair.

Because of their funny shape, dachshunds are often referred to as ‘sausage dogs’. Like all breeds, their body shape was developed for a purpose; that is, to burrow deep into holes after badgers and rabbits. They have a deep chest which enables them to store air in their lungs for long pursuits. They also have unusually big paws for digging and an enlarged nose area all the better to sniff out prey in dark burrows.

Someone famous once said "a dachshund is a half-dog high and a dog-and-a-half long". Quite funny and spot on!

I like him even though he can get a bit too ‘in your face’. He’s constantly licking my chops, and launching his wee body at me. I reckon he must run on supercharged Everyready batteries.