What’s Standard About Standards?

Show ring folks often seem to think "the standard" for their breed was hand delivered by the Gods rather than written down by nameless, faceless people, often with little experience working their breed.

A lot of folks also seem to think the "standard" for their dogs is the same from one nation or Kennel Club to another, and from one year to another.  

Sometimes that's true, but often it's not.  There's not much standard about standards! 

Take the Dachshund or Teckel. This is not a new breed.  

The FCI notes that:

“The Dachshund, also called Dackel or Teckel, has been known since the Middle Ages. From the Bracken, dogs especially suitable for hunting below ground were consistently bred. From these short-legged dogs, the Dachshund evolved and is recognised as one of the most versatile hunting breeds. He also shows excellent performance above ground, hunting while giving tongue, flushing and tracking wounded game. The oldest Club devoted to the breeding of Dachshunds is the ‘Deutsche Teckelklub’ e.V., founded in 1888.”

Right.

Not said:  In 2017 the FCI changed the Dachshund breed standard.

What happened in 2017? 

The FCI Dachshund or Teckel “standard” seemed to massively increase the allowed chest size for a full-sized Dachshund from 35 cm to as much as 47 cm -- an up to 34 percent increase.  For Americans used to imperial measurements, that's a chest size that's been increased from 13.75 inches to 18.5 inches.  The human equivalent is a fashion designer redefining the ideal female form from a 32 inch chest to one over 42.8 inches.  

Some difference!

What was going on?

The good news is it’s not bad news.

The simple story is that the FCI failed at a core part of its own job.  

As the FCI itself notes, one of the main functions of the FCI Secretariat is “To update, translate and publish the breed standards into the four FCI working languages (English, French, German and Spanish).”

But guess what?  They didn’t get it right in English, the most common tongue shared across both Europe and the world of dogs.

It seems the German standard had the word “uber” in it, a very important word in this instance.  “Uber 35 cm” means *over* 35 cm.

The FCI standard change was to put an *upper* limit on what was acceptable (47 cm) in an effort to weed out and discourage the proliferation of dachshunds (many from America and the UK) with enormous battle-keel chests.

Good news!

Look at the pictures below, from Frank J. in Germany.  These are from back in 2006.  At the time I noted that:

“Frank reports that his dachshunds have a chest of 35 cm (13.78 inches). The Germans are very precise about chest measurements, 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 has to show that it is also not gun shy.”

Right.  A useful dog.

Frank's dogs had no problems working Badger or Red Fox or American Raccoon or Raccoon-dog (Tankuki).  

But can a dog with an 18.5 inch chest follow a Red Fox into a narrow pipe?  Nope. The Fox can go where the big-chested dog may not be able to follow. In the field that can be a problem, even if it isn't in the show ring.

But to be fair, dachshund means BADGER dog, and a badger hole is generally larger than a naturally-dug fox earth.

Also, to be fair, Dachshunds or Teckels come in three sizes, so suitable-sized dogs are still found in the gene pool as "miniature" dachshunds.

So has anything been lost?  

Not apparently

That said, there are two lessons here:

1) People make mistakes, and that’s true in everything from translation to taxes.  “Measure twice and cut once” is the maxim of every carpenter.

2) “Standards” change all the time, and are not even standard across registries.

For the record, the AKC standard for a standard dachshund puts the upper weight limit at 32 pounds, not 19.842 pounds or 9 kilos as in the older FCI standard.  As for chest size in the AKC, there is no limit at all.

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By the way, look at this excellent presentation.  Quarry treated with respect, and the dogs show the kind of training that comes with effort and love. This is how you do it; modeling respect, knowledge, training, and civility.  This is how you keep hunting legal.  You want terrier work banned?  Do what too many British hooligans have done; the exact opposite. The Swedes, Norwegians, and Finns are typically paragons of civility as well.  Let us praise the good!