Teckel Temperament

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Rebel

Well-Known Member
Hi,

I always enjoy the discussions on here on teckels.

Plenty of knowledgeable owners who are happy to share.

How would you describe your teckels temperament and personality?

I keep a few teckels with very different personalities even from the same litter.

I have a couple who will kill you with kindness, always willing to please.

Others are indifferent to attention happy to be doing their own thing, not bothered with affection.

I heard someone recently describe their teckel as having the personality of a grumpy old man.

Also the dogs can be a bit tetchy around each other and i always have to keep an eye on them and keep on top of them. Or they will fight. I hunt mine as a pack, so not ideal. Do your dogs get on? How do you manage them and try and get them to get on better?

Be interested in hearing your experience.

Thanks
 
My two sibling guys are chalk and cheese, Otto is the full time boss, right up until Mr grumpy (Franz) emerges when tired out, but fights are limited to a few seconds without bloodletting, (Thankfully), Franz is the neck warmer, Otto is the tummy rubber picky uppy guy. Both are prey drive to the max & will kill anything.
 
They use them for badger work underground in Germany etc , They tend to be noisy , much easier to run down than a pointer . Kieth Edmunds is the man to speak to , he successfully talked me out of ever getting one with his honesty LOL
You never can 100% profile a breed as dogs like people are different but knowing the different lines is something to find out about . I buy Labs from one breeder evert time , i know what they like and what they dont like when looking
 
Bowland blades said:
They use them for badger work underground in Germany etc , They tend to be noisy , much easier to run down than a pointer . Kieth Edmunds is the man to speak to , he successfully talked me out of ever getting one with his honesty LOL
You never can 100% profile a breed as dogs like people are different but knowing the different lines is something to find out about . I buy Labs from one breeder evert time , i know what they like and what they dont like when looking
Click to expand...
Keith is my boys Kennel. :thumb:
 
You takes your chances ! Lol

Their is no rule as to what they will be like

I’ve two from the same lines
One is a cuddler , very loving wants to play but has big prey drive
The other pretends he’s cuddling you so he can fall asleep without missing you moving
He’s a fecking demon and hates labs , tried to kill a boxer once cause it was annoying him
Kills any animal he takes a fancy to.
Great house dog though
 
Cute, amusing, adorable and on occasions an absolutely ****! Last night he ran in following a shot and caused me to sadly loose a deer. The prey drive is staggering and at times like last night can be difficult to control. I will however say that last night was his first outing after 2 weeks off due to grass seed surgery and I should have known better. You take your luck when you choose from a litter - we went with a quiet, interested and good nosed dog (I laid out a blood trail for the 2 pups to follow and he was spot on) but when hunting, he’s a very different animal to the neck/lap warmer my wife enjoys most evenings. I love him to bits but at times totally despair. I think that sums up Teckel ownership🫤

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In one sense, we have always been very lucky that the global gene-pool is enormous and blood has flowed across the planet pretty much sine day 1.......the late 19th century.

That breadth of gene pool gives enormous variation and is brilliant from a breeders perspective as a line-cross can do as mush good as an outcross if you are trying to create something specific within the boundaries of a breed.

Our first two German imports have prey drive, determination and, not forgetting....independence.......far greater than anything I had experienced in a dog breed. They also fought each other on the day we collected them at 4 months - and have done on/off since. Both are extremely affectionate in the house - that too has caused a fight.

The Scandi lines (that also flowed through Italy via kennels del lago prile and della val vezzeno) tend to be a little softer and easier. They suit my personality better and are less like coiled springs (or coiled vipers).

I also have a lot of time for some of the show lines that are generally much easier on the nerves and, these days, thankfully, very well put together physically.

Since we got our first dachshund in 2009 there has been some very positive changes with a lot of today's litters showing a nice blend of show and work blood moving away from the dreaded polar opposites that you see in some breeds. To that point, I have just checked the current litters on 'Champdogs' and 70% of the litters are a mix of show/work lines.
 
Just to add another thing - and something that took me some time to realise and appreciate.

Being small, you can easily kennel quite a few of them.

Being a 'versatile' breed means that, over the years, some rather diverse working tests have been created for them and there has been a good network of clubs and owners across mainland Europe and beyond.

It has not been uncommon for breeders to regularly enter their dogs in working trials throughout the year and some of these dogs amass many national and international awards.

However, I have leant and been told that one 'watch-out' of this system is that some of the 'super-heroes' with maybe 10 CACIT and 15 CACT actually do little more that go from the kennel to the van - from the van to the working trial - back in the van - back in the kennel...........Until the next trial. What are these dogs like to actually live with? What are they like in a real working situation?

There is one very well known sire who earned 17 CACIT and 19 CACT at the fox trials. He was out of very succesful trialling parents. His sire, from memory had 20 CACT's and 15 CACIT's at the fox trials. This bloodline is still very much sought after today. However, I was once speaking with a well respected Hungarian breeder and he wasn't at all impressed with the dog in question. He said he was a loony in the kennel and just spent his life travelling Europe from one fox trial to another - apparently hardly ever seen proper days foxing where skill-sets other than sheer toughness are required.

Food for thought.
 
Thanks Keith for the comprehensive and interesting reply. As always you are a fountain of knowledge on the breed.

I always wondered about those certs and the value of them. Performance in the country is the best judge of a dog. Do some countries/organisations only permit the breeding of dogs who pass these tests?

As you said is this resulting in litters being bred from dogs who might not have the required temperament .

Is money also a factor and something that could be affecting the working ability of the breed? Are some breeders breeding litters for the 💵 and at the expense of temperament and working ability.

Thanks for all the replies.
 
Rebel said:
Thanks Keith for the comprehensive and interesting reply. As always you are a fountain of knowledge on the breed.

I always wondered about those certs and the value of them. Performance in the country is the best judge of a dog. Do some countries/organisations only permit the breeding of dogs who pass these tests?

As you said is this resulting in litters being bred from dogs who might not have the required temperament .

Is money also a factor and something that could be affecting the working ability of the breed? Are some breeders breeding litters for the 💵 and at the expense of temperament and working ability.

Thanks for all the replies.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I think that, on the whole, the working test structure is a great thing but it doesn't always tell you everything, the achievements have to be overlayed with dogs character. You also have to look at the dogs ancestors and progeny. It is also useful to know how each countries point scoring system works, especially on earth dog trials - some (full contact) trials used to favour a neck grip over flushing - some vice versa.

I don't personally think money/pricing is having a negative impact. We 'play' in an arena where hunters will happily spend an absolute fortune on coats, boots, rifles, scopes, trucks - but question why a pup should be over £1000.

As far as 'working ability' is concerned, again, for me it all depends on what you want/expect the dog to do. Many strains of working teckel are absolutely brilliant and finding quarry and sticking with it - through hell and high water - for as long and far as it takes. If that's what you want then I think the 'working ability' of the breed is very good.
 
finnbear270 said:
Keith, My two "Thugs" :lol: :fox: would revel in any "Full contact" trials,
Click to expand...
Yes I know and, you know what, if you look at the 100 years plus of 'performance breeding' it almost seems wrong not to allow them to reach their full potential. I think yours would probably love a days boar hunting too :)

We bought the dam of your two because she was line bred to Skuleskogens N Boris. Chatting to, who I believe is the current German authority on the breed, he had this to say about Boris....

"Boris was the first dog I saw from Sacndinavian lines that was able to really dominate the fox in the trial. I saw him in 2006 in Komlo, Hungary and also in Becej, Srbia the same year. On both days Boris achieved CACIT and worked with brain and power and was constantly pushing him to the end of the chamber, then flushed him out. In his performance there was not 1 second that the dog was not attacking the fox with huge enthusiasm."
 
SikaSeeker said:
I can’t agree with you on that, a mediocre terrier can be made look good working a fox. Why aren’t teckels used by terrier men in UK and Ireland?
Click to expand...
Coz they ain't twigged yet?
Commonly and incorrectly pronounced "Dash - und" in this country, Now where do Badgers live? Hmmn, Yes, below the surface of the earth in setts ... German for Badger ... Dachs ... German for Dog .. Hund, Dachshund, Badger - dog.
 
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