At best, the pictures and descriptive words can be interpreted with certainty only as defining the dogs' functions on a badger. Artists capable of depicting dogs with anatomical fidelity have always been rare, and that woodcuts do not lend themselves to fine reproductions of coat distinctions. It is well to consider that these illustrations were made before the days of photography. Illustrations dating from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries show badgers hunted by dogs with elongated bodies, short legs, and hound-type ears, some with the bent front leg of a basset, some with the head of terriers, and some with indications of smooth and long coats. A parallel is suggested by the current use of the name rabbit dog in various parts of this country for dogs of various breeding, used to hunt rabbits. In medieval European books on hunting, dogs similar only in possessing the tracking ability of hounds and the proportions and temperament of terriers were called badger-dogs or dachshund because they were used to follow badger to earth. The name Dachshund (Dachs, badger hund, dog) at once reveals and conceals the origin of the breed. Today, the dachshund enjoys great popularity and is known for its loyalty as a family pet. In Europe during both World Wars, it was recognized as the national dog of the Teutonic Empire and, because of its German ancestry, was mistreated and even stoned in the streets. The dachshund was bred as a hunting dog and is known to have existed before the 16th century. Admitted to the AKC Stud Book in 1885, their popularity in America was immediate and enduring. The dachshund has long been a national symbol of Germany, so closely associated with the fatherland that American fanciers took to calling them Liberty Hounds due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. By the late 1800s, the process of standardizing the breed according to size, coat, and color varieties was well underway. Packs of Dachshunds, according to breed authorities, were often used on wild boar. Dachshunds of various sizes were bred to work on different kinds of the quarry. In addition to the breed's short, smooth coat, selective breeding produced types with wire coats for work in thorny brier patches and long coats for cold climates. The little dog's surprisingly loud, houndy bark is also a throwback to his working roots: It allowed the dachshund's above-ground human hunting partner to mark his hound's underground location. The cleverness, courage, perseverance, and strength that are hallmarks of today's dachshund were first bred into his long-ago ancestors to best equip them for battling a deadly foe. And for a dog of any size, weighing anywhere from 25 to 40 pounds, with razor-sharp teeth and claws. "Dachshund" is a German word meaning "badger dog," and the breed's German history goes back 600 years.
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