Teckels - The Good, the bad and the ugly

[willie_gunn]

Thanks for the reply. How many teckels does he run in the pack.

Did you ever get to see them, how well do they pack in?

As I recall he has about a dozen.

They acted pretty well as a pack…..in the show ring. Once outside they seemed to independently assume the standard Teckel “nose down” profile!

Sadly I didn’t get a photo of the entire pack, only some of the “characters”

 

[Rebel]

As I recall he has about a dozen.

They acted pretty well as a pack…..in the show ring. Once outside they seemed to independently assume the standard Teckel “nose down” profile!

Sadly I didn’t get a photo of the entire pack, only some of the “characters”

View attachment 243591

View attachment 243592

View attachment 243593

Thanks, they're fine looking teckels as well

 

[Keith Edmunds]

When it comes to very versatile working breeds with global applications that spans across different cultures, laws and terrain much of what we consider to be 'Good', 'Bad' or 'Ugly' really depends on your own personal perspective and requirement.

As we have seen from some of the posts - the 'driving' attribute is absolutely essential in many cultures and not required at all in others. Having a dog that will locate a line, follow it with absolute determination, catch up with the quarry once held up in some cover, then have the balls to move that game (in the case of a boar) and keep it on the move - with continuous voice throughout.....Is not really a requirement for many UK stalkers. However, it could be?

The 'tracking' attribute is what most in the UK purchase a teckel for and for this, I think it is fair to say, they are very good. On the continent, achieving the Schwhk/20 or similar is not seen as a 'big deal'. Here in the UK, there are not many dogs that have passed a 1000 metre trail, aged 20 hours. The process is often one of 'training' and many good handlers, especially in Germany will pass this exam with a dog before it reaches 18 months. In reality, in the UK, as we do not 'drive' our big game and do not shoot at moving targets, the vast majority of shot deer are very easy to find. Most of the deer photographed with a dog beside it were not particularly difficult to find but......the companionship of having a deer stalking buddy is very important to many stalkers and having the dog there for a bit on extra insurance, in case something goes wrong is the role of most dogs here in Britain. Those dogs still need regular testing at long, old trails - something not always practised.

Teckels 'can be' good earth dogs but they must be selected from the right lines and even then, they must be encouraged correctly, from a young age. Only one of ours naturally went to ground (at 8 months) but I must add, none were encouraged to do so - with the correct entering, it might have been a different story.

Teckels make great house dogs, fun pets, good house guards, don't take up much space and don't cost much to feed.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

Here's another little videom from my Serbian friend Mihajlo showing a keen little teckel in the boar pen.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

And another from a friend in Bosnia, this bitch was young and still learning the ropes. I helped import a super bitch to Wales, out of the bitch in the video - a really nice bloodline to have here in Britain.

 

[VSS]

one has bumped a deer on the run out to the fallen deer. That resulted in a lovely piece of roe-driving, yip yip yip, going out 900m on the GPS doing a large loop and the dog finally returning. Not everyone's cup of tea but the owner knows the risk and it put a smile on his face.

When that happens, how do you stop it crossing your boundary and simply becoming yet another out-of-control dog loose in the countryside?
There seems to be a considerable contrast in opinion about what constitutes acceptable dog behaviour between some of the posts in the current thread, and posts in this one:

Idiots that own dogs.

As usual out stalking yesterday and pulled up to glass some ground. We could see the back of an animal over a rise in the ground so waited a while to see what it was. Not long and a big red dog came into view pulling a Muntjac about. This was happening half a mile from an FC wood and 200 yds...

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

One rule for us, one rule for them?

 

[Keith Edmunds]

When that happens, how do you stop it crossing your boundary and simply becoming yet another out-of-control dog loose in the countryside?
There seems to be a considerable contrast in opinion about what constitutes acceptable dog behaviour between some of the posts in the current thread, and posts in this one:

Idiots that own dogs.

As usual out stalking yesterday and pulled up to glass some ground. We could see the back of an animal over a rise in the ground so waited a while to see what it was. Not long and a big red dog came into view pulling a Muntjac about. This was happening half a mile from an FC wood and 200 yds...

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

One rule for us, one rule for them?

To be brutally honest...in that situation, I doubt if the dog could be stopped. I think it is fair to say that a dog of the 'right' bloodlines, once fired up, on a trail and once they start to 'open-up' you are probably left waiting. A lot will depend on the intensity built-up within the dog. I have stopped my dogs a few times when I have called them immediately that the tail goes up and the head goes down and the first 'yip' is uttered, but it can be all a mater of timing. You cannot undo 150 years of performance breeding too easily. If your dog is of that type - keep it on a lead when in an areas with a lot of temptation.

They can, over time, become desensitized. If they experience deer/hare every single day, they can learn that a trail just isn't worth the effort - but if a proper game driving dog regularly meets up with a shot deer/boar/hare at the end of a trail - he will always believe that it is good to just keep on that trail - reward is just around the next bend.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

To be brutally honest...in that situation, I doubt if the dog could be stopped. I think it is fair to say that a dog of the 'right' bloodlines, once fired up, on a trail and once they start to 'open-up' you are probably left waiting. A lot will depend on the intensity built-up within the dog. I have stopped my dogs a few times when I have called them immediately that the tail goes up and the head goes down and the first 'yip' is uttered, but it can be all a mater of timing. You cannot undo 150 years of performance breeding too easily. If your dog is of that type - keep it on a lead when in an areas with a lot of temptation.

They can, over time, become desensitized. If they experience deer/hare every single day, they can learn that a trail just isn't worth the effort - but if a proper game driving dog regularly meets up with a shot deer/boar/hare at the end of a trail - he will always believe that it is good to just keep on that trail - reward is just around the next bend.

A dash of show-blood can make all the difference and take that extreme edge off but....It will also limit the tenacity and determination.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

A dash of show-blood can make all the difference and take that extreme edge off but....It will also limit the tenacity and determination.

I will add to the above that, here in the UK so many 'teckel' owners do not know if their dog contains showblood, hardcore working lines, medium drive working lines etc. There is an enormous amount of BS on Facebook where, for example, the owner of one show/work bred teckel with hardly an ounce of prey-drive will advise all and sundry on how easy the teckel is to train, giving a very unrealistic espectation for someone about to buy a pup from hard Eastern Europe lines.

The breeding/pedigree can tell you an enormous amount and the expected character and it can vary a real lot in this breed - from 1-100% - A very broad spectrum across the globe.

 

[gelert]

They are fastly becoming the go to popular dog to have. Dare I say overtaking the BMH craze that seemed to grab every other stalker a few years ago.
Sadly all the popularity comes at a price and it wont be long before greed will **** the breed up in the UK.
I got mine for the pricey sum of £400 from Nick Vallentine some 8 years ago, and quite honestly couold count on one had the number of breeders at that time. No it seems they are definitely on the increase in popularity, maybe because they just are a quirky little dog, and in fairness once you get one you'll always want another.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

They are fastly becoming the go to popular dog to have. Dare I say overtaking the BMH craze that seemed to grab every other stalker a few years ago.
Sadly all the popularity comes at a price and it wont be long before greed will **** the breed up in the UK.
I got mine for the pricey sum of £400 from Nick Vallentine some 8 years ago, and quite honestly couold count on one had the number of breeders at that time. No it seems they are definitely on the increase in popularity, maybe because they just are a quirky little dog, and in fairness once you get one you'll always want another.

I think it is fair to say that 'working-bred' dachshunds did increase in popularity but I see that levelling out now.

The big difference between the Dachshund and the BMH is that the Bavarian certainly was a real novelty and a rarity. The dachshund on the other hand has been with us since the 1850's and has been 'popular' since the 1870's. There used to be a misconception that the 'teckel' was new to the UK - the main problem was and still is our use of the word 'teckel'. What didn't help was when the UK Teckel Society published............ "Teckels were first founded in this country by Mr Richard Brydges-Price in the 1970's when Xitty Vom Heiligenkopf and Rastus worked alongside him at Petworth".........With all due respedt to Brenda, the late Trevor and Nick, it probably felt like that at the time.

The truth is that dachshunds from working lines have entered the UK since the 1850's and I doubt that there was a decade since that quality working dachshunds didn't enter the our country. The biggest early influence probably came Veroni Sandstrom's 'Sports' kennel, going back to 'Tossan Fran Feltet' from the 1920's through to the 1940's. There were also a number of good working dogs that came from Konigshufen kennel in the 1930's and 40's. So many of our UK kennels were built from these foundations.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

Just take a look at the number of English Champions (ENG CH) in this pedigree dating back to the 1919.................Nothing new in the dog world!

 

[mr. NRB]

A dash of show-blood can make all the difference and take that extreme edge off but....It will also limit the tenacity and determination.

I think we’ve all seen what show blood has done to working terriers. Come to think of it we’ve all seen what show blood has done to all working dogs.
If you can’t handle a Teckel don’t get one. They are what they are.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

I think we’ve all seen what show blood has done to working terriers. Come to think of it we’ve all seen what show blood has done to all working dogs.
If you can’t handle a Teckel don’t get one. They are what they are.

Sorry NRB but you have perfectly proven my point with your reply....

Firstly, a teckel is a dachshund therefore a 100% show-bred dachshund could, quite correctly, be called a teckel and is in much of the World.

More to the point, I will assume that you mean 'working dachshund' when you say 'teckel'.

I openly ask you this......Would you personally know the difference between a 100% working-bred teckel and one with an infusion of show blood? If you were on a driven boar hunt, would you be able to tell which of the dogs contained show blood?

What about all of the show/work blends that have many CACT's under their belt? How do you rate those? In the book 'The International Working Teckel' there was an excellent chapter on two boar hunting dogs - excellent boar drivers and boar trackers - they have a degree purposefully infused show blood in their pedigrees. There are working teckels all over the globe that are a mix between show and work lines, purpose bred that way and are doing a great deal of work each season.

We have bred 2 litters with an infusion of show blood. From the first of those litters 4 of the 5 went to deer managers and are doing very well indeed - just as well as the 100% working litters indeed one of the pups is the best worker we have bred to date.

Constructive criticism is fine but it needs to be backed up with facts.

 

[pj1]

I am fortunate to own a teckel with as Keith would say an “infusion” of show blood. The breeder honestly had no clue about working teckels and looked at me very strange when I said it would be a stalking companion. Only yesterday he proved his worth. Fallow doe shot at about 70 yards. Was seen the run uphill with a few more and they all disappeared. We waited 25 mins and I put his harness and line on. He’s now accustomed to this and he switches from deer indicator to tracker. We found the shot site with some blood but then nothing in the direction in which I thought they had all run. He pulled me through brambles I had to push down with my sticks they where so thick and in completely the wrong direction. But I’ve learnt. Trust the dog. And low and behold fifty yards in what I thought was the wrong direction was my fallow doe.
Show blood in the right proportion and used for the right reasons I think is brilliant. He’s the right shape to be fit for purpose. Not too long. Has loads of drive but is also biddable. (Sometimes)

 

[finnbear270]

(Sometimes), Think I'm in for a double dose of that over the next few months, as they come out of the puppy stage into young adults.

 

[Ratel]

(Sometimes), Think I'm in for a double dose of that over the next few months, as they come out of the puppy stage into young adults.

Just the same as kids in their early teens." I know better than you mate and I'll do what I want to, not what you tell me". Mine at twelve months knows the words and the whistle but...... A hare or deer scent is much preferable to mine.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

(Sometimes), Think I'm in for a double dose of that over the next few months, as they come out of the puppy stage into young adults.

You've two very fine little hounds coming your way. Two set off for pastures new this morning. Sad to see them go but.....33% less poo

 

[Keith Edmunds]

I am fortunate to own a teckel with as Keith would say an “infusion” of show blood. The breeder honestly had no clue about working teckels and looked at me very strange when I said it would be a stalking companion. Only yesterday he proved his worth. Fallow doe shot at about 70 yards. Was seen the run uphill with a few more and they all disappeared. We waited 25 mins and I put his harness and line on. He’s now accustomed to this and he switches from deer indicator to tracker. We found the shot site with some blood but then nothing in the direction in which I thought they had all run. He pulled me through brambles I had to push down with my sticks they where so thick and in completely the wrong direction. But I’ve learnt. Trust the dog. And low and behold fifty yards in what I thought was the wrong direction was my fallow doe.
Show blood in the right proportion and used for the right reasons I think is brilliant. He’s the right shape to be fit for purpose. Not too long. Has loads of drive but is also biddable. (Sometimes)

Great result - a proper worker and a handsome devil to boot...........The dog not you.

His son is doing pretty good too I believe

 

[finnbear270]

You've two very fine little hounds coming your way. Two set off for pastures new this morning. Sad to see them go but.....33% less poo

Wondering how they are progressing, any signs they will gel as a pair?, or will there need to be a little "Distance" tween?