I noticed in one of the photos by K9 that he had what appeared to be a Dachshund. I am curious if these dogs are used afield in Europe. I have two Dachshunds and the wander my deer hunting woods with me and show genuine interest in tracking but they have not been trained for hunting. Just curious if these dogs are popular in Europe.

Don't know about Europe, but we used one extensively in Africa, actually a Dachshund X Fox Terrier...
My wife with Gemsbok and Tracking Dog...he did a GREAT job!

And another successful recovery for the Little Dog;

Ingwe

Any dog that can handle a badger, can also handle a Gemsbok!

Dachshunds are fairly popular here in Sweden, and they are far cry from the dachshunds that I had met in Canada and the US when I lived in both of these countries.

Here, the breed is a serious hunting dog! Stop laughing -- they really are! They cannot go very fast, so the deer (roe deer mostly) are not pushed fast, nor are the deer afraid of them. I have watched roe deer calmly wait for an approaching dachshund, and they let the little beasts get within 20 or 30 m before moving away -- in no way were the deer panicked or stressed. In fact, I could have sworn that the deer were teasing the dogs... It is a very nice hunt because you see many deer, and you get a chance to pick a good one out because they are focused on the dog (we usually use shotguns so we pass up anything but close shots -- another reason that you see many deer in a day to keep your interest up).

Also, the dachshunds I have met here in Sweden are tough little buggers, but far better behaved than the dachshunds I knew in Canada and the US (perhaps due to "hunting stock" vs. "pets/show stock", I don't know). No offense intended, but I used to deliver stuff door-to-door in Canada and met many nasty nippy little #�%"&! dachshunds that I wanted to punt into the next yard! I am sure that they are not all like that, but all the ones I met were...

John

jpb; I think you are right; Dachshunds on this side of the pond are bred to be cute little lap dogs,no one has given thought to seriously hunting them for generations....
My first dog was a Dachshund, a largish ( 24 lb) female who loved to roust out rabbits...and was mean as a snake...the only one Ive ever met stateside that I would pit against a badger....
Ingwe

Doxies are great. And most of them are tougher than they look, or than you'd ever expect. Maybe deer don't think they're tough either. I think they'd make good tracking dogs for wounded deer.



Here's a story I wrote about ours back in '05. I won an award for this: Good-Bye to a Family Friend -- best newspaper column in the state. Warning: many people have needed a hanky.

She was more than a "family friend." That's what the editor put into the title. She was a lap dog, but also a relentless hunter -- a real groundhog dog. These dogs can kill a groundhog, and no doubt much larger critters. There's no quit in them.

We have another one now, a red one. Great dogs.

Steve

We had a female dachshund whose parents were imported from Germany. The father was a gebrauchsieger (sp?) who had been used on over 100 badger and over 80 foxes. The mom was not titled but from good hunting champion stock in Germany. The breeder in New York was German with family there who bought and sent him the parents. I got the pup through Herb Hasseman up in the SFO Bay area, who knew the breeder. The breeder, by the way, was well-known in the NY state area and his dogs were called in by Fish and Game to track wounded deer - I wish I could recall his name. There were articles written about him and his dogs.

She was smaller, with a tucked up stomach and comparatively longer legs than typical American dachshunds. She was a tracking fool, and I trained her to blood track as well as scent track. She loved to flush pheasants out for me on Grizzly Island, but it was tough for her to retrieve a full-grown rooster.

She was a tough little bugger, but unfortunately was unaware of her small stature and her neck was snapped by a German white haired pointer she chose to fight at a NAVHDA event beofre anyone could break it up.

we used to use beagles for running deer when I was young as they would not push the deer as hard as a walker and you had the chance to head them off at the pass. I have two dachshunds now, a piebald female who would not do well on the show circuit. He hind end is higher than her front end and she is a bit out of alignment! On the other hand, I have male who was in show business as a pup and he is built for speed, a very nice looking brindle. both dogs love trailing along with me in the woods and are tough on rabbits and squirrels. they insist on riding on the four wheeler, not running next to it. their portability makes them easy to take along in the boat or car. they really are great little dogs.

That fits with my observations -- every dachshund I have met is CERTAIN that they are the world's largest, toughest dog! Guess you have to be when you have 4 inch legs...

Sorry to hear you lost your dachshund!

John

I have one now a red short haired,hes a bit long legged also! his nose is always in the air senting, hes caught birds in the yard here, but is just a pet! one of the best dogs I have ever owned!
John

Me too on the loss- but 4 inch legs???? Man, that's a marathon-class mini-doxy !

My mini thinks he is a great grouse/caribou dog- and he isn't half-bad at that. Bears, well that's another story- he doesn't like them. Here is what I got when I tried to pose him with a small black bear I shot this past weekend. He wouldn't let me catch him for a second try either- he went rabbit ( hare) hunting on his own until I was done dressing/packing-caught up to me at the truck 3K away.... The Lab, meanwhile, stayed close and "protected" me.. When I got the bear home and laid it out on a table to skin it, the Lab went into his "bear growl" mode. The Weasel gave a casual glance - " Oh- that old thing!" - and went off to visit Emma, the neighbor's dog.