dachsunds

[seanF]

Hi Folks, I read the forum often but never join in. However I do need some info. hopefully some folks can weigh in on.
just did a search for blood tracking dogs in order to learn what I can before buying a new pup. If I follow through on this idea, the new pup will be primarily a companion for fishing, walks and watching tv. Seems as though a dachshund might be the best choice for me. Two questions that maybe some of you could weigh in on. 1. Standard or Mini? I would prefer the smaller dog in the house. 2. Does anyone know of pups with tracking/hunting parents in the midwest? I live in central il.(while I'm sure the eastcoast whirehaires are worth every penny, they are way out of my budget)

[NY Yankee]

I wouldn't buy a wiener dog on a bet! Nasty little hateful dogs. I think they are all mad because of the trick that got played on them with the short legs. That and they are always under your feet. Yuck. I would go to the pound and get a mutt with the size you like. A beagle mix, terrier mix, shelty, something like that. Make it a good friend first then work on the scent tracking.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have a Toy rat Doxie (Toy rat terrier & Dachsund) Great little dog. She is 1.7 years old and I haven't started Her on blood trailing yet, but She does like going after tree rats.

Both breeds are hunting dogs, So I would bet She will make a great tracker w/ some training.

[suburbanirma]

Shaun Webb has a nice article on blood trailing in the Winter 2010 TradArchers' World magazine. It features dachshunds, mostly. Tom

[BlacktailBowhunter]

I actually bought a couple of Jagd Terriers for this very purpose. However, they could not be kept in the suburbs.

If you go with a working breed of dog, you may want one that was breed for pet quality and not hunting.

They will keep there hunting instincts and can be called on for them, but a dog from a line of hunters can be hard to keep.

The Jagd's are a solid blood tracker as they are one of the few terriers that actually track instead of just catch the scent in the air by circling down wind of an area.

Just about any dog can be trained to blood trail from what I understand. Pick a breed you like and train that dog to track blood.

Good luck.

Paul

[RonD]

I have two miniature dachsunds, one black and tan and the other red, both are the short haired variety. Of the two my red dachsund is more of the hunter. To date he has killed two squirrels in the backyard. I have never tried to tak him hunting or tried training him to hunt. Excellent little house dogs with their own unique characters.
NY Yankee, you must be familiar with the New York City variety with the Blumberg syndrome. Dogs are usually hateful when they around hateful people.

[hova]

i have a mini dash , full on purebred , and she is so spastic , she doesnt understand sit or any command. she is very small , but still on the large end of mini.


she has recently had a herniated disk in her neck repaired , only to have her back degenerate. she has always been fed premium food , vets every 6 months , etc. well taken care of , never hunted or allowed to jump , and still have problems..

we had 3 others from the litter as well , but ended up finding them all homes when they were about 2. if i were you , i would look at full size , ant try to find one that is a slight mutt. the purebreds are known for being constantly spastic.


i will say one thing , when she goes in the back yard , you know right where the bunnies squirrels and mice have ran. she even went down a mole hole once and dug it out. so as far as that goes , they are very smart dogs , but the health and temperament were way off for me.


if youre intent on a dash , like i said try to find one bred for temperament , or get a mild mutt mix. all the dash mutts i have seen had a much calmer sense , and actually took direction.

just for reference , i am currently looking for a rescue brittany. i couldnt see the point in spending the money on a dog that cant even get in the car or on the couch...


good luck , keep us updted./

[DXH]

Dachsunds are great dogs if properly socialized, but they do have short man complex. I used to hate them, but my ex girlfriend had two minis and after living with them for a year and a half I love them. Her male thought he was part retriever, he even learned to swim and tried to retrieve some geese lol.

If you want one to use as a tracker dog I think you will be happy. They were orignally bred to hunt badger... But remember you must train them properly as they are very head strong, and the im getting a badger attitude is still in them  

[Longbow338]

I would start by reading Tracking dogs for finding wounded deer by John Jeanneney.  For an on lead tracking dog the dachsunds are some of the best most prefer the German wire-haired.

[Possum Head]

Ron D,I about busted a gut at your Blumburg comment!!I was once an owner of one with no problems.Like DXH,need socializing.Had a bad one go thru my tennis shoe one time,yes my foot was in it.

[Buckwheaties]

I love my Dachshund,Had her since she was a pup. Had her spayed and she is the best dog I've ever owned. My best friend. Never a medical problem with her in 10 years. Have never hunted her but she has the nose of a hound,(amazing)I'd bet that if I trained her as a pup she would blood trail.I'm a believer in "a dog is a reflection of the owner". Mine's name is "Sweet" and she really is..

[R.W.]

A beagle could be trained to blood trail quite easily, and this breed is not too large.
Most are quite sociable and not overtly aggressive if properly socialized.
And they have short hair, so their shedding isn't as big a cleanup problem as, say, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever's hair is.
And, as one poster mentioned, there are always a lot of mixed breed dogs who are in need of a full time home, that are in the pounds, and shelters.
Being a mixed breed doesn't mean they can't be trained.
Good luck in your search for a hunting companion.
R.W.

[Coiloil37]

I've got two miniature's, a male and a female ages 5 and 3. Love them, absolutely love both of them. We also have a 4 year old basset and the three of them are the funniest, best little house dogs I've ever know. The daschunds have a heck of a personality. There also very smart but strong willed. They aren't the kind of breed that "wants" to please like a lab. You have to be firm enough to train them and make sure they know who's in charge. If you can handle that they pick up on stuff very quickly, good at problem solving and the two I've got are great little hunters. They catch squirrels and gophers, this year I decided to throw them on a blood trail (after I found the deer, and had taken it home) I put all three of them on it at the same time which might not have been the best idea but they followed the blood without once losing it, for about 150 yards right to the gut pile. I say get one, you won't regret it.

[LC]

I went through this last year myself. I highly recommend the book mentioned above. In the end I couldn't justify the money for a full breed tracker for no more than I get to hunt "close" enough to home to use it. I ended up with a mutt ½ beagle ½ jack russell. Now I was sure she absolutely had no nose as she would bounce around till she found a piece of hot dog thrown on the floor as a pup. For the heck of it I tried training as per the book. It was like it triggered something in her brain as that's what I'm suppose to do! Several months of light training and this fall I shot two does with my bow that I was able to put her on! Man she's in a zone when she knows what we are gona do! Now I have no idea if she has the tolerance for a long difficult track but then again you don't know that about a full breed either however most reputuable dealers have a guarantee. With that said if I was planning on relying or using it alot I would go with a dealer if not give the dog you have or want a chance!
As for the size of the dog again the book makes good arguments for all sizes, but  I ♥ my small mutt she fits right in my lap!

[Karebru]

Maybe Marty will chime in about his Beagle, Peanut. I think he has a bow named after her.
I don't hunt with mine, but I've owned many other breeds and will never go back.    

 

[Jesse Minish]

We (my wife) have a mini dachshund and if I had my way I would feed it to my lab. I cant tell you how many times Ive got up in the morning for work and stepped in poop  :mad:  Every one Ive been around likes to crap under beds and couches to avoid going out side.

[eidsvolling]

I would strongly urge you to get in touch directly with John Jeanneney.  His contact info is on his web site at    John Jeanneney  .

You won't find anyone more knowledgeable about blood trailing generally, and about blood trailing with dachshunds, on this side of the Atlantic.  And he is a heckuva nice guy and very willing to help neophytes.  His book is a must-have item if you're interested in blood trailing wounded game.

[montucky]

here's the deal

TEddy Moritz of Mahwah N.J. breeds the best dachsunds for hunting in the U.S.  I have been a falconer for about 20 years and she is known well in the falconry community as THE breeder as many falconers use them for rabbit and squirrel hawking.  I have been out hunting with some of them...pound for pound all I can say is OH MY GOD!  After you hunt with one...it will change your life.  

I use a German Wirehaired Pointer for my tracking...he is my bird dog, but I have used him to recover two of my friends wounded deer.  The "Drahthaar" or the pure german GWP was originally bred for this sort of dual purpose and is shows...my Drahthaar is so good at it, it is sort of shocking to watch..almost scary he's so good at it... and is a true gamechanger as it basically means nothing can get away that has a mortal wound.  The difference between pure trackers and a breed like a drahthaar is that when the deer or pig has been found, the drahthaar will take them down.  But I love watching dachsunds hunt... holy smokes they are gamey little SOB's - love em!

I would encourage every single big game hunter out there to look into training their current dog...or getting into a breed developed to track/hunt fur....

some links about Moritz
 http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2010/02/hawking-with-teddy-moritz-hunt-hard.html

 http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2007/09/varmints-beware  

her contact info
Moritz Teddy., Rabbit Dachshunds., Miniature., Smooth, long or wire-haired.  200 Midale Mtn. Rd., Mahwah, NJ  07430.  (201) 818-0362.

[dan d]

I had a dachshund, loved that dog now I have a shi tzu, (I'm sick of doggie haircuts !)  my next one will be another dachshund !  Mine had a great personality, all my friends loved that thing, in fact they would bring him frenchfries from the local fast-food joint, he loved frenchfries !

He reminded me of my hunting beagles in so many ways, in fact you had to keep an eye on him or he would be tracking a rabbit and off to the woods !  I never used him for hinting, but he had a nose on him, like I said, my next house dog will be a dachshund !  

In my former bow life with training wheel's I used to go visit Claude Polington of Oneida bows and he had a curled hair dachshund, that dog had a great personality and was in the bow shop all the time, I guess I've been lucky and not really seen one with bad personality, but I imagine there out there Lol
Dan

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Sean, I sent you a reply to your email with some info.


Wow!  Must be a real difference between the "hunting" and "pet" type dachshunds from some of the responses.  Our Oskar is a 100% hunting bred dog, and he was easier to house train than our beagle, probably in line with our rat terrier, certainly easier than my wife's basset hound.

As to personality, he is a sweety, when hunting he's all business, but he NEVER and I repeat NEVER has bitten anyone.  I will not tolerate it and if he ever gets that idea we'll have a discussion.  Not at all snippy or aggressive with our other 3 dogs.  I was worried as he is the first intact male that my wife or I ever owned, but have had no major issues with that and he is past his "teenage stage" now at 18 months old.

As to mini or standard.....you'll find more true hunting bred dogs in standard size (this should be between 15-20 lbs or so) than in mini simply because the primary size of hunting dogs in Europe is standard.  There are some good mini hunting dogs, but they are harder to come by.  All of the breeders I know of breeding for blood tracking are producing standard sized dogs.

As to coat type....long, wire, or smooth....it is the DOG UNDER THE COAT, not the coat that defines a true hunting Teckel.  Don't let anyone feed you a song and dance line of bovine scatology otherwise.  Our standard (19lb) smooth has tracked for, literally, hours in temps below 5F and never showed cold.  Prey drive keeps a dog warm, not coat type.

Ryan