The Art of Getting Into a Hole

The painting is by Adolf Eberle (1843-1914), and is entitled “A Successful Hunt”.

Eberle painted a lot of dachshund art.

The Germans are very precise about chest measurements in working dachshunds as they understand that for a dog to be a "gebrauchshund" (i.e. a "useful" hunting dog), it cannot be too big to fit into a tight den, nor can it be so nose-dead as to be unable to find in the field.

Along with size and nose and gameness, a German working dachshund, or Teckel, has to show that it is also not gun shy.

What is most remarkable about the FCI working Teckel standard is how very precise it is about chest size -- perhaps a reaction to what happened in England and in the U.S., where dachshund chest size was allowed to balloon up to the point that show dogs now have chests as deep as the keel of a boat.

The ideal chest size of a working dachshund is just under 14 inches in circumference for a Standard Teckel (35 cm or 13.75 inches), while a Miniature Teckel has a chest of 30-35 cm (11.81 inches to 13.75), and a Rabbit Teckel has a chest of under 30 cm or 11.81 inches.

This 14 inch chest measurement is the same size cited as ideal for working terriers by Barry Jones in the UK, and Ken James in the U.S. and is about the size of the average red fox chest found the world over.