Dachshund history: from German badger hunters to global icon

Part 1

What the name dachshund actually means

Dachshund is a German compound word: Dachs means badger, and Hund means dog or hound. Put together, it means badger dog, and the name describes the job the dog was bred to do, not just its shape. In modern Germany, dachshunds are more often called Dackel in everyday speech, while working hunting lines are known as Teckel.

In English-speaking countries you have probably heard your own dog called a wiener dog or a sausage dog.

Part 2

How the breed changed shape over the centuries

References to badger dogs and hole dogs appear in Germany as early as the late 1500s, though those dogs did not look much like the breed you know now. The first description that matches a modern dachshund appeared around 1700, describing a dog low in stature with a long, slender body and slightly bent front feet. The original German dogs were also considerably larger than today's standard dachshund, weighing between 31 and 40 pounds, and they came in both straight-legged and crook-legged versions. Today's dachshund descends from the crook-legged type.

Through the 1700s, German foresters and hunters bred the type with increasing consistency, aiming for a dog built to fight badgers underground. By 1879 breeders in Germany had settled on a list of desirable traits, the foundation of the breed standard still used today. In 1888, German breeders formed a club, sometimes called the Tekel Club, and set up a stud book that only accepted dogs without major faults.

• Short, curved legs let the dog fit into a badger's burrow.
• A deep chest and long ribcage gave the dog the lung capacity to keep fighting underground for hours.
• A well-angled shoulder created a prominent breastbone, called the prow, giving the front legs the range of motion needed for digging.
• Floppy ears kept dirt and debris out of the ear canal while the dog worked underground.
• A curved tail let hunters see the dog in tall grass and pull it out of a tunnel if it got stuck.

The smooth coat is believed to be the original dachshund coat. Longhaired dachshunds came from selective breeding among smooths with varying coat lengths, while wirehairs arrived later, in the 1800s, after breeders crossed in rough-coated terriers. German records show the first description of a wirehaired type in 1812, a longhaired type not long after, and portraits of all three coats by 1836.

In the 1800s a boom in Germany's rabbit population led breeders to develop the miniature dachshund. The first miniatures were registered in Germany starting in 1902. In the United States, kennel clubs recognize standard and miniature dachshunds, while some European clubs also recognize a rabbit-sized dachshund in between.

Part 3

The breed's rocky reputation during the world wars

The last German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, owned two dachshunds named Wadl and Hexl.

During the First World War, anti-German feeling ran high, and some dachshund owners renamed their dogs liberty hounds to avoid trouble in public. Others called their dogs Badger Dogs instead. One breeder of the period was harassed so often over his dogs that he eventually shot every dachshund in his kennel.

The damage to the breed's popularity showed up in the numbers: only 23 dachshunds were registered with the American Kennel Club in 1923, the year the name Dachshund was officially restored. By the end of the 1930s, registrations had climbed to more than 3,000 a year, helped along by soldiers who brought dachshunds home from Germany as pets.

Part 4

Dachshunds step into the spotlight

If you want a single moment when the dachshund became a global icon, it is 1972, when Waldi became the first official mascot of an Olympic Games, at that year's Munich Olympics. Designer Otl Aicher created Waldi to represent resistance, tenacity, and agility, and he modeled the design on a real longhaired dachshund named Cherie von Birkenhof. Aicher deliberately left black and red out of Waldi's color scheme to avoid any tie to the Nazi party, part of what organizers called the Rainbow Games. The route for that year's Olympic marathon was even laid out to trace Waldi's outline through the city.

Dachshunds had already found their way into famous households well before Waldi. Queen Victoria owned a dachshund named Dashy, and later owners included Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Pablo Picasso, David Hockney, and Andy Warhol.

Part 5

How popularity has shifted over time

Dachshund registrations tell their own story of ups and downs: from a low of 23 in 1923 to more than 3,000 a year by the close of the 1930s. The breed's standing has stayed strong since then; the American Kennel Club ranked dachshunds 9th among its breeds in 2022, and more recent AKC figures place them 6th out of 210 recognized breeds.

Part 6

What this history means for owners today

Centuries of breeding for badger hunting shaped the dog you live with now, whether or not your dachshund has ever met a burrow. The long ribcage, the deep chest, the short curved legs, and the bold, independent streak that can make training a challenge all trace back to a job description written in German forests. Knowing where these traits come from can help you set realistic expectations for training and everyday care.