Dachshund
The name is German for badger dog, and the shape is the job: long enough to go down a set and stubborn enough to face what is waiting at the bottom.
Overview
The Dachshund was bred in Germany to go down a badger set and fight what it found there, which is the entire explanation for the shape: long enough to work a tunnel, short legged enough to fit it, and brave to the point of recklessness. The name means badger dog.
It comes in two sizes and three coats, and the short legs come from an FGF4 retrogene, the same mutation behind chondrodystrophy in other breeds.
Temperament
Bold, stubborn and comic. Dachshunds are affectionate with their own people, wary of strangers, and they bark a great deal, which the tunnel work selected for.
They are among the least biddable breeds. Training relies on food and repetition rather than any wish to please, and house training is often slow. They can be snappy with unfamiliar children and they are more terrier than hound in attitude.
Care and grooming
Smooth coats need a weekly rub down, longhaired need brushing twice a week, and wirehaired need brushing plus hand stripping a couple of times a year.
Intervertebral disc disease is the defining health problem. Studies put its prevalence in the breed at 15 to 30 percent, and the FGF4 retrogene behind the short legs carries an odds ratio for disc disease above 50. This is not a rare complication, it is a likely event.
Living and exercise
Forty five minutes to an hour a day on the flat. Three things reduce the disc risk meaningfully: keeping the dog genuinely lean, preventing jumping on and off furniture, and using a harness rather than a collar.
Ramps and steps are worth buying before they are needed. Twelve to sixteen years is normal, and a great many of those years are shaped by whether the back holds.
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