Are Dachshunds Still Used For Hunting?
When you think of a hunting dog, do you ever picture a Dachshund? The original purpose for creating the Dachshund Breed was for hunting the pesky badger.
The badger was considered a major pest for eating people’s crops. Hunters needed to have a dog that was low to the ground and able to dig through small holes to get to their prey.
Dachshunds are intelligent dogs. They were raised to be brave and tough, in order to win a battle with a badger. Hunting badgers was very dangerous work, especially for such a small sized dog. You can read more about the History of the Dachshunds here.
The Dachshund Name:
The name Dachshund (pronounced: Dahks-hunt) means “badger dog.” In German, dachs means “badger,” hund means “dog.” Some other proper names in Germany are Dackel and Teckel.
England was one of the first countries to turn the dachshund from a hunter to a favored pet. The dachshund was brought to the United States in the 1870’s, but more as a pet instead of a hunter.
Are Dachshunds Still Used For Hunting?
Yes, Dachshunds are among the Top 10 Dog Breeds For Hunting. Many hunters in Europe use the Dachshund dog breed to track and hunt, while only some hunters in the USA use doxies as hunting dogs.
Some hunters use a pack of dachshunds to hunt down their prey. This gives the hunter the advantage as the dogs will hunt together, then split off to dig down into different entrances of the animal’s burrow.
Are Dachshunds Good for Hunting?
In the past, it was mainly the standard-sized Dachshund that was used for Badger Hunting. The Miniature Dachshund came along later on and was used for smaller game like rabbit, squirrel, and prairie dogs. Nowadays, Hunters in the USA and Europe are using Miniature and Standard Dachshunds for badger hunting. In the Western part of the United States, dachshunds have also been used to track down wounded deer (Blood Tracking).
Hunters use a transmitter collar to help keep track of their hunting dachshunds while they are underground. When using this special tracking collar, the hunter has a more accurate location to dig and help flush out the hunted animal.
Different Dachshund Coats:
Did you know that there is an actual purpose for the different Dachshund coats?
Short-Hair Dachshunds:
The dachshunds with the short-haired coat made it harder for their prey to bite down and hold on. This made it easier for the dog to hunt and tumble with it’s prey.
Wire-Hair and Long-Hair Dachshunds:
Since the dachshunds were lower to the ground, the short hair doxies tended to get more scratched up by the sharp prickers and branches while hunting in the wooded areas. Hunters introduced the wire-hair and long-hair dachshunds to keep their skin more protected from the debris of the forest floor.
Why Are Dachshunds Good Hunters?
Lungs: The Dachshund dog breed has a large lung capacity despite it’s short stature. When the dachshund digs into the small animal burrow, he can continue to breath with less risk of getting stuck. Larger lung capacity also allows the dog to hunt and fight with their prey for longer periods of time. Ever notice when playing with your dachshund, they literally have endless energy?
Senses: The Dachshund is a type of “hound dog,” so they can track the scent of their prey (called: spoor sense) and are able to hear and feel ground vibrations (reverberatory sense).
Training: The hunting dachshund is trained to track the animal, chase the animal into its burrow, dig down into the hole after the animal, and drag it out for the hunter to make the final kill. Their main purpose is to retrieve the animal for the hunter, not to fight the animal to the death. Badgers can be a pretty fierce animal, so it made sense that hunters would use a pack of several dachshunds on the hunt for a badger.
Claws: Dachshunds are awesome digger dogs. They have to dig deep into an animals narrow burrow during the hunt.
Bark: Dachshund Owners are very familiar with that special doxie bark. While hunting, the dachshunds used their loud bark to help the hunter locate the hunted animal.
Dachshund Falconry:
When I was researching this topic, I found this to be so interesting! Dachshunds and Hawks (or Falcons) work together as a hunting team. How cool is that? In the United States, Dachshunds are used to hunt alongside hawkers or falconers for small game like rabbit and squirrel.
While rabbit hunting, the doxie is used to run after the rabbit and the hawk will follow up with the final catch of the prey. When hunting for squirrels, the dachshund is trained to chase the squirrel up the tree and keep it in the tree for the hawk to catch.
Check out the Teckel Club for more information and pictures.
Crusoe’s Hunting Journey:
I had to add a little cuteness to this blog post, here is little Crusoe on YouTube.
Do Dachshunds Hunt Foxes?
Yes, Dachshunds are used for fox hunting. A trained hunting dachshund can chase a fox out from their underground den in no time. While the miniature doxies can be used to track and chase down the fox, the larger standard dachshund can be used to fight and defend if needed.
What Animals Can Dachshunds Hunt?
Dachshunds can hunt squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, groundhogs (woodchuck), and fox. They can also sniff out wounded deer. Some hunters use dachshunds to hunt opossum, raccoons, and pheasants. In the past, they were even used to track wild boar, Yikes!
My dachshund little bit has just recently become a hunting terror ! He killed my chickens 4 of them when I replaced them he killed again . A fox has nothing on this lil Wiley dog he literally used has nose to push apart the boards on chicken coop door! Today we let him in after a rest room break out doors and he brought in a mouth full of entrails.! I am afraid he will try to take on something that will hit him. This behavior just stated. He is just over a year old. Is this common?
Hi Rita! Oh my goodness, you do have a natural hunting doxie on your hands! They are super motivated when it comes to getting what they want…including scratching up their own snout to squeeze through small openings. They are very clever indeed.
Yes, I have heard of dachshunds going after chickens – a lot! I’m sorry your poor chickens didn’t make it. You may have to put another fence surrounding the chicken coup area to help keep your dachshund away. Or, when your doxie is outside, he could be on a dog line. I have my dogs on a dog line when they go potty outside because we have close neighbors, and all they want to do is wander into other people’s yards – so a dog line helps keep them in my yard and out of the road as well.
You could talk to your vet and consider getting him fixed to see if that would ‘lessen’ the behavior. It won’t take the behavior away, but could cool it down a bit.
Also, providing more doggie chews / toys that he can release his hunting instincts on may help.
Hey dachshund friends. We are keeping wire haired dachshunds – some times referred as teckels. They are intelligent, stubborn, comical, devoted pets and pretty passionate hunters. They exterminated the foxes, martens and rats that have been preying on our chicken flock. Well one also once exterminated the chicken flock :), but it was the roosters fault. He attacked her when she was a puppy and she held a grudge. We should have seen it coming. After the incident we bought a distinctly different colored breed of chicken and had no problems. Well we also remade the chicken coop and fencing, so this helped a lot as we well.
Usually we use them as scent dogs on a blood trail of roe, deer and wild boar or in case of wild boar they can also sniff them out and drive them out of the woods or cornfields. If the prey is too powerful – old boar, they will not be too concerned with the “little haired wolfs” barking around them and stay in their position not feeling threatened, so by going against the wind the hunter can approach guided by their specific barking.
Its a great breed to hunt with if you know how to use them and read their body language. They have their limitations of course – high snow or swamps – even thou they are not afraid of water and some love to take a swim. They also hate snakes, not sure if its a general trait, or if its only ours. They were bitten and in return killed several vipers – since the dogs are small they were usually bitten in the chest or face. Luckily they always recovered with little help, since the european viper does not have a strong venom.
They love to dig, so if they do not have enough exercise they can cause destruction in your garden.
Hi there, Wow! Thank you so much for all of this info on our Dachshund Hunter fur-friends.
my ozzie just started chacing squrriels, and i dont like that. he already killed one and took it to my bathroom. now i dont known what to do?
Hi there, Wow, sounds like your dachshund has a real drive for hunting. I would recommend always having your doxie on a leash or a dog line when outside (mainly in a dog body harness – in case Ozzie runs really fast to prevent neck injury). My dogs live in town and they are always on an extended dog line when they go outside to potty or play. They aren’t allowed to roam without being on a line to safe guard them from cars and other animals.
Here are some helpful YouTube videos that can help with Controlling Prey Drive:
Can you stop a dog from chasing and attacking or killing other animals? YES!
by Jamie penrith Taketheleaddogtraining
Controlling Prey Drive by ACE Academy for Canine Educators
My black and tan dachshund loves to hunt squirrels and foxes. I have seen him chase large foxes out of the garden, he is fearless. He can sense when a fox is in the garden too and will jump up out of his sleep barking to get at it. He loves to go to the woods and chase squirrels and will even try to get up the trees at them. He is a wonderful pet and companion but there is no denying his true origins as a hunting dog.
Hi Maria, Wow! Your Dachshund really is a true hunter. To go after a fox, that is really fearless! It sounds like he really enjoys it – what an awesome doxie! Thank you for sharing.
I rehomed a little 13 pound cream piebald dachshund when she became paralyzed in the back end. It has happened twice and she has healed! Last summer she and I hunted rats in my garage. She had great fun. If they were caught in the trap but not dead she would quickly dispatch them. She practically climbed the ladder to the trap I had on top of a cupboard.
Hello, I’m so glad that your dachshund has healed from her back issues – twice! That’s very impressive. I bet she did enjoy hunting the rats. She should promote her rat hunting business in your neighborhood. I’m sure she has excellent hunting skills.