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impossible to get anything from them but that 'most of the winners at the best German shows are identically of the same type as our winners, but, in some instances, a little less heavy."

And

On the other hand, it is certain that dachshunds perform the terrier duties of going to ground after foxes and badgers, and should be terriers according to nomenclature, if not by nature; but they qualify their subterranean duties by a certain marked reticence in attack, and by a disposition to bark rather than bite. the hound is apparent in the character of their head and ears, their hunting methods, their gregarious instincts, the carriage of their tail, and the music they give in chase; whilst you have only to set them on higher, straight, hound-like legs to make them very handsome hounds of accepted type.

The dachshund came to us from Germany, where it divides the affection of the dog-loving classes with the Great Dane, and is the subject of a stud book and special study. There are several varieties of the breed: dogs with straight as well as crooked legs; dogs varying much in weight; coarse-framed and fine-built dogs; wire-haired dogs; long, silky-haired dogs, and dogs with short, soft, sleek coats like satin; dogs with sterns that may almost be described as feathered, and dogs with slim, tapering tails; not to mention dogs of all colours, from black and tan to the lightest red, including in the gamut grey, chocolate, pied, and dappled. In short, the race of German dachshunds differs as much in its physical characteristics and constitution as do our English tribe of terriers. And for the faults of the breed, they seem to be much more prevalent in its native land than in England, for we read of pig snouts, short underjaws, apple-heads, deep-set or goggle eyes, roach backs, ringed tails, fore legs, knock-kneed, and long, well let

down hind legs-points out of keeping with the true type. In this country the type is, by common consent, much more level than in the Fatherland, and although our bench will produce you plenty of criticisms in detail, and some hyper-criticisms, taken as a whole the breed, as developed by British fanciers, is as uniform as any of our indigenous species of dogs.

As a sporting dog the dachshund is gifted with a marvellously acute scent, and is a fine, if unavoidably slow hunter. When in company he gives tongue, but not so freely and melodiously as other dwarf huntinghounds, and generally restricts himself to a series of short, shrill barks, though now and again you may come across a musical performer. It has great tenacity and perseverance, and has been known to keep digging at a quarry gone to ground for thirty-six hours; but when it comes to the pinch it lacks the tigerishness of the fighting terrier. In America, where dachshunds are used for sporting work, they have been found admirable for tracking wounded deer, rabbit-hunting, partridge and squirrel "treeing," rat and cat killing, and one, which surely deserves immortalisation, is reported to have bayed a bear till its master arrived to shoot the fearful wild beast.

In England dachshunds have been used for hunting badger with considerable success; they have grand digging powers, and are very keen to go to earth. But whilst they will bay a badger underground, they require a "bit of grit" in the shape of an English terrier to be working with them to bring the badger to book if he is obstinate. And they will often come away with hardly a scratch from an encounter that has been calamitous to their allies.

The civilisation and domestication of the non-sporting life to which the badger-dog has, in the majority of

cases, been consigned in this country appear to have changed his character, for he bears a very peaceable one, and is accounted genial. Otherwhere we read of him as being singularly quarrelsome, exasperatingly disobedient, and terribly destructive of such articles as can fire his blood-as, for instance, a fur rug or a sealskin. jacket. But he also has the reputation of possessing unparalleled courage and endurance, and these outweigh the faults "of which he is full." In Germany the gamekeeper exhibits towards him something of the ultra-affection which the miner or mill-hand of the north of England displays for a winning racing-whippet, or an Arab for his horse; and it is exceedingly difficult to buy a trained dog of the right sort.

I have received the following notes upon dachshunds from fanciers of the breed which cannot fail to be read with interest :

MR. A. C. DE BOINVILLE.-I am satisfied with type as long as we in the fancy can breed dogs like Ch. Snakes Prince or Berta. At the present time a good stud-dog, imported from abroad and of the type of Rother Beelzebub, would be very useful. There seem a number of good-very good-bitches, both brood and show, but a sad want of sound stud-dogs, with plenty of strength of jaw. However, in Champions Wirral Hollybranch and Hollyberry we have a pair of beautifully-shaped dogs, deep in chest, and as sound as the proverbial bell. Their breeder and owner will remember with pride the year 1903. Put Snakes Prince's head on Wirral Hollybranch's body and you would have a perfect dog. Referring to the "terrier" type of dachshund, I know of none in this country. I believe that the German gentleman who officiated at the Alexandra Palace as judge some two or three years ago brought over half-a-dozen and they all went back to their Fatherland. On the other hand, I am told that most, if not all the winners in Germany are of the same type as our dogs over here, and this in my mind settles the question as to which is the correct type. Although the illustrations I have seen of the German dogs make them appear rather snipey, I see no terrier type about them. They have been called the "maid of all work," which really is the best definition of a dachshund, and

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