65 Fun Facts About Dachshund

The name Dachshund is German for what?

Badger dog is the literal meaning of Dachshund: Dachs is the German word for badger and Hund the word for dog, the two joined into a single compound noun.

In modern Germany, what short name is most commonly used for the Dachshund?

Dackel is the everyday German name for the breed; the full word Dachshund is rarely used in ordinary German speech, and it was the English-speaking world that kept the formal name.

The Dachshund's short legs come from which inherited form of dwarfism?

Chondrodysplasia, a dwarfism that shortens the long bones, gives the Dachshund its legs; an extra copy of the FGF4 gene, a retrogene, drives it in short-legged breeds.

The miniature Dachshund was bred to hunt what?

Rabbits were the quarry the miniature Dachshund was bred for, with a chest small enough to follow them into their warrens, while the standard size took on larger burrowing game.

What is the Dachshund commonly nicknamed in the British Isles and Australasia?

Sausage dog is the everyday nickname in Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, earned by the long, low body; North Americans prefer wiener dog, after the frankfurter.

Which British monarch was famously enamoured of Dachshunds?

Queen Victoria kept Dachshunds from the 1840s, after Prince Albert brought the breed over from Germany; her enthusiasm helped make the dogs fashionable in Britain.

Which name did early 18th-century German books use for the breed?

Dachs Kriecher, meaning crawler after its quarry, is the name early 18th-century books used for the breed; the alternative, Dachs Krieger, meant warrior.

How heavy were the original German Dachshunds compared with today's full-size dogs?

Heavier, at 31 to 40 lb (14 to 18 kg), was the weight of the original German Dachshund; the modern dog descends from its crook-legged rather than straight-legged variety.

In packs, Dachshunds were known to hunt game as large as wild boar and as fierce as which animal?

The wolverine, a notoriously ferocious mustelid, was among the quarry packs of Dachshunds were set on, along with wild boar; singly they trailed wounded deer and bolted foxes.

The Dachshund's flap-down ears were deliberately bred in for what purpose?

To keep grass seeds and dirt out of the ear canal is the purpose of the long, drooping ears, which close over the opening as the dog pushes through undergrowth and into tunnels.

What is one practical purpose of the Dachshund's famous curved tail?

To help haul the dog out of a burrow is one use of the curved tail: a hunter could grab it when the dog was stuck underground, and its upward curve also shows above long grass.

Which of the three Dachshund coat types is the oldest?

Smooth-haired is the original Dachshund coat, from which breeders developed the other two varieties; it needs the least grooming, a quick rub-down with a hound glove.

The rough-coated Dachshund may have been crossed with which hard-coated breed?

The Schnauzer is one suspected ancestor of the rough coat, along with the Dandie Dinmont and Scottish Terriers, all hard-coated breeds whose wiry hair gave the tunnelling dog extra protection.

Which German field marshal of World War II was known for keeping Dachshunds?

Erwin Rommel, the 'Desert Fox', was known for keeping Dachshunds; the breed had long served political cartoonists as shorthand for Germany itself.

The Dachshund was chosen as the first official Olympic mascot for which Games?

Munich 1972 introduced the first official Olympic mascot, a striped dachshund; the marathon route through the city was even laid out to trace the dog's outline.

What was the name of the Dachshund mascot of the 1972 Summer Olympics?

Waldi was the name of the 1972 mascot, a dachshund in pastel stripes chosen for the breed's reputation for stamina; Schuss, a skier figure, had served Grenoble 1968 only unofficially.

Which designer, also responsible for the Lufthansa logo, created the 1972 Olympic Dachshund mascot?

Otl Aicher, who led the 1972 Games' design programme and its pictograms, created the mascot, modelling it on a real dachshund called Cherie von Birkenhof.

Which two colours were kept off the 1972 Olympic mascot's stripes over Nazi associations?

Black and red were deliberately left out of the mascot's stripes and of the whole 1972 design scheme, because the Games' designers wanted nothing to recall the Nazi colours of Berlin 1936.

The 1972 Olympic mascot represented three athletic qualities: resistance, tenacity and what?

Agility completes the trio of qualities the mascot stood for, with resistance and tenacity, all traits the organisers attributed to the dachshund; some two million pieces of mascot merchandise were sold.

In the US and UK the Dachshund is classed among the hounds, but how does the FCI classify it?

In a group of its own: the FCI gives the Dachshund Group 4 entirely to itself, while American and British clubs show it among the hounds.

What are the Dachshund's disproportionately large, paddle-shaped front paws suited for?

Digging is what the big paddle-shaped front paws are built for, shovelling earth aside as the dog tunnels after its quarry; its loose skin also resists tearing in tight burrows.

Which coat variety is the most common in Germany?

It was also the last of the three coats to appear in breeding standards.

Why did the Dachshund Club of America remove the term 'double-dapple' from its standard in 2007?

The gene commonly causes blindness and deafness when a dog inherits it from both parents, so the Dachshund Club of America dropped 'double-dapple' and uses only 'dapple' in its standard.

What is the German name for the smallest Dachshund size, recognised by the FCI but not in the US or UK?

Kaninchen is the FCI's smallest class, for dogs of 3.5 to 5 kg (8 to 11 lb) bred to go to ground after the smallest burrowing game; American and British clubs recognise only standard and miniature.

What are Dachshunds that fall between miniature and standard size unofficially called?

Tweenies is the informal American term for Dachshunds too heavy for the miniature class yet lighter than a standard; no kennel club recognises the in-between size.

How much does a full-grown standard Dachshund typically weigh?

16 to 32 lb (7 to 14.5 kg) is the standard Dachshund's range under the AKC standard, which puts miniatures at 11 lb and under once they are a year old.

Some kennel clubs, such as Germany's, separate miniature from standard Dachshunds by measuring what?

Chest circumference, measured once the dog is 15 months old, is how the FCI and Germany's breed club separate the three sizes; the AKC relies on weight instead.

Which essayist would 'rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club' than get his Dachshund Fred to obey?

E. B. White wrote that line about his dachshund Fred, who appears in several of the essays collected in One Man's Meat and The Second Tree from the Corner.

In a 2008 Pennsylvania study, what share of Dachshunds had bitten or tried to bite strangers?

20% of Dachshunds had bitten or tried to bite strangers in the 2008 University of Pennsylvania owner survey, which rated the breed the most aggressive of those studied.

The AKC standard says a Dachshund is 'clever, lively and courageous to the point of' what?

Rashness is the word: the AKC standard calls the Dachshund 'clever, lively and courageous to the point of rashness', and adds that any display of shyness is a serious fault.

The Dachshund's long spine makes it prone to which condition, affecting 20-25% of the breed?

Intervertebral disk disease affects an estimated 20–25% of Dachshunds, whose discs tend to calcify early; the trait is highly heritable, and Finland and the UK have run X-ray screening schemes.

Which university's vet hospital developed percutaneous laser disk ablation for Dachshund back disease?

Oklahoma State University's veterinary hospital pioneered percutaneous laser disk ablation, in which a laser fibre is passed through a needle to vaporise the disc nucleus before it can herniate.

A Dachshund crossed with a Corgi, as kept by Elizabeth II, is called what?

Dorgi is the name for a Dachshund–Corgi cross; Elizabeth II kept several after one of her corgis mated with Princess Margaret's dachshund Pipkin.

Where did the Dachshund rank among AKC breeds in 2024?

6th was the Dachshund's place in the AKC's 2024 registration rankings, behind the French Bulldog, Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever among others.

Why does the Dachshund Club of America oppose 'wiener racing'?

Injury risk to backs and use by greyhound tracks are the club's two objections: it fears the sprint strains the long spine, and dislikes tracks using the races to draw crowds to their facilities.

Which city hosted the Wiener Nationals, wiener dog racing's de facto national championship?

San Diego hosted the Wiener Nationals each December as part of the Holiday Bowl festivities, with the Wienerschnitzel hot-dog chain sponsoring the dachshund sprints.

How long is a typical Dachshund race?

25 or 50 yards is the usual course, short enough for a dog bred for burrows rather than sprints; many entrants wander off to greet rivals instead of finishing.

In earthdog trials, Dachshunds enter tunnels to locate an artificial bait or which live, caged animal?

Rats, kept safe in a cage behind bars at the end of the tunnel, are the quarry in earthdog trials; the dog must reach them and then bark, dig or scratch at the bars for a set time.

Which artist lived with a Dachshund named Lump and painted his portrait on a dinner plate at their first lunch?

Pablo Picasso painted Lump on a dinner plate the day the dachshund arrived at La Californie in 1957 with photographer David Douglas Duncan, and the dog appears in his Las Meninas variations.

What does the German word Lump, the name of a famous artist's Dachshund, mean?

Rascal is what Lump means in German; the Stuttgart-born dog had been bought as a companion for Duncan's Afghan hound, which treated him like a toy.

Which playwright kept two Dachshunds named Bromide and Quinine, commemorated with statues at Melikhovo?

Anton Chekhov, a physician as well as a writer, named his dachshunds Brom and Khina, Bromide and Quinine, after two staple drugs; bronze statues of the pair stand at his Melikhovo estate.

What were Andy Warhol's pair of Dachshunds, one of whom joined him in ads and on trips to Europe, called?

Archie and Amos were Andy Warhol's dachshunds: Archie, acquired in 1973, was carried to interviews and parties and sat for Warhol's portraits; Amos joined the household a few years later.

Whose dachshunds Wadl and Hexl killed one of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's golden pheasants?

Kaiser Wilhelm II's dachshunds Wadl and Hexl ran loose at Konopiště during a visit to Franz Ferdinand and killed one of the archduke's prized golden pheasants, to their host's fury.

Which US president kept a Dachshund in the White House?

Grover Cleveland kept a dachshund during his years at the White House; he served two non-consecutive terms, 1885–89 and 1893–97.

What was the name of Jack Ruby's Dachshund, which he often referred to as his wife?

Sheba was Jack Ruby's favourite dachshund, whom he called his 'wife'; he left her in his car outside the Dallas police basement when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald in November 1963.

A Dachshund named Maxie tried to wake his dead owner, actress Marie Prevost, inspiring a 1977 song by whom?

Nick Lowe turned the story into 'Marie Provost', released on his 1977 Bowi EP and again on Jesus of Cool, with its line about a winner who became a doggie's dinner.

Adele's Dachshund Louie is named after which musician?

Louis Armstrong is the namesake of Adele's dachshund Louie, a nod to the jazz trumpeter and singer whose 'What a Wonderful World' topped the UK chart in 1968.

Valerie, an 8-pound Dachshund, made headlines in 2025 after surviving 529 days lost where in Australia?

Kangaroo Island, off South Australia, was where Valerie vanished from a campsite in November 2023; Kangala Wildlife Rescue volunteers finally trapped her in April 2025 after more than 1,000 hours of searching.

What was the peak weight of Obie, the Dachshund famous for his obesity?

77 pounds was Obie's weight when his new owner, a veterinary technician in Oregon, took him on in 2012; a strict diet and skin-removal surgery brought him down to about 28 lb by 2013.

In which year did the Slinky Dog toy, later famous from Toy Story, first go on sale?

1952 was the year Slinky Dog went on sale, after Seattle's Helen Herrick Malsed sent James Industries the idea of joining a dog's front and back halves with a Slinky; she earned royalties for 17 years.

In The Secret Life of Pets, who voices Buddy, the laid-back miniature Dachshund?

Hannibal Buress voices Buddy, the languid dachshund who uses a kitchen mixer as a massager, in the 2016 Illumination film that opened the franchise.

General Claire Lee Chennault's Dachshund Joe became the mascot of which famous World War II unit?

The Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group flying P-40s for China in 1941–42, adopted Chennault's dachshund Joe as mascot; he later filled the role for the China Air Task Force.

The wife of Fallingwater's owner, Liliane Kaufmann, was a well-known breeder of which Dachshund variety?

Long-haired dachshunds were Liliane Kaufmann's speciality; she bred and showed them, and a children's book, Moxie, about one of the Fallingwater dogs was later sold at the house.

What did JFK name the Dachshund puppy he bought in Europe in 1937 for his girlfriend?

Dunker was the puppy Kennedy bought on his 1937 European tour for girlfriend Olive Cawley; he gave the dog away before sailing home after it set off his allergies.

Which newspaper magnate eulogised his dead Dachshund Helena in his own column?

William Randolph Hearst mourned his dachshund Helena in his syndicated 'In The News' column, an unusually personal piece from the San Simeon press baron.

Which rock musician owned a pair of Dachshunds named Duke and Baron?

Lou Reed owned the dachshunds Duke and Baron; the Velvet Underground founder shared them with his second wife, Sylvia Morales, whom he married in 1980.

What were the names of David Hockney's Dachshunds, painted for the book Dog Days?

Stanley and Boodgie were David Hockney's dachshunds; he painted them dozing on cushions in dozens of small canvases that became the 1998 book David Hockney's Dog Days.

What was the name of Carole Lombard and Clark Gable's Dachshund?

Commissioner was the dachshund Carole Lombard and Clark Gable kept at their ranch in Encino, California, where the couple lived from their 1939 marriage until Lombard's death in a 1942 plane crash.

Which social-media Dachshund wrote the bestseller Adventures of the Wiener Dog Extraordinaire!?

Crusoe, the self-styled Celebrity Dachshund, fronted the 2015 book, a New York Times bestseller; the Ottawa-based dog also collected a Shorty Award and the 2018 People's Choice Animal Star title.

What term do German hunters mainly use for the working Dachshund?

Teckel is the hunters' word for the working Dachshund in Germany and gives the national breed club, the Deutscher Teckelklub of 1888, its name; it is not a separate hunting breed.

Where did the Dachshund rank in the AKC's 2018 registration statistics?

12th was the Dachshund's rank in the AKC's 2018 registration statistics, a year in which the Labrador Retriever topped the list for the 28th consecutive time.

Dachshunds are 2.5 times likelier than other breeds to develop which congenital heart defect?

Patent ductus arteriosus, a fetal vessel between aorta and pulmonary artery that fails to close after birth, is 2.5 times likelier in Dachshunds than in other breeds; it is usually corrected surgically.

What did an analysis of 42,855 German Dachshund breeding records find as inbreeding rose?

Smaller litters, more stillbirths: as the inbreeding coefficient rose across 42,855 German litters, average litter size fell and the share of stillborn pups climbed; very young and elderly dams also had smaller litters.

What unusual trait can the dapple gene give a Dachshund's irises?

Blue or patched 'wall' colouring in one or both irises can come with the dapple gene; the AKC standard treats wall eyes as a serious fault except in dapples.

On the intelligence-of-dogs ranking, Dachshunds obey a trained command what share of the time?

50% or more is Coren's threshold for the 'average working/obedience' tier, where The Intelligence of Dogs places the Dachshund at 49th, learning a new command after 25 to 40 repetitions.