The Westphalian Dachsbracke (FCI No. 100) is a small, short legged scenthound, a breed

Dog breed

Dog breeds are groups of closely related and visibly similar domestic dogs, which are all of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris, having characteristic traits that are selected and maintained by humans, bred from a known foundation stock....

 of dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

 originating in Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

, a region of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The Westphalian Dachsbracke was used in Sweden to develop the Drever

Drever

The Drever is a breed of dog, a short-legged scenthound from Sweden used for hunting deer and other game. The Drever is descended from the Westphalian Dachsbracke, a type of German hound called Bracke...

.

Appearance

The Westphalian Dachsbracke (Westfälische Dachsbracke) is a smaller, short legged version of the Deutsche Bracke

Deutsche Bracke

The Deutsche Bracke is a breed of dog originating in Westphalia, a region of Germany. The Deutsche Bracke is of the scenthound type, used for hunting both large and small game...

, and very similar in size and appearance to the Drever

Drever

The Drever is a breed of dog, a short-legged scenthound from Sweden used for hunting deer and other game. The Drever is descended from the Westphalian Dachsbracke, a type of German hound called Bracke...

 (FCI No. 130), but 2 cm shorter (the Drever was first registered in Sweden in 1910 as the Westfälische Dachsbracke; the name was changed in 1947.)

The Westphalian Dachsbracke stands about 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 ins) high at the withers

Withers

The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of a four-legged animal. In many species it is the tallest point of the body, and in horses and dogs it is the standard place to measure the animal's height .-Horses:The withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the...

. It has medium long drop ears, short legs, and a long tail which is set high and carried up. The coat

Dog coat

Dog coat can refer to:*rug , jacket or blanket for a dog*coat , dog's fur or hair...

 has short fur, usually tricolor (red to yellow with a black saddle), with white markings called Bracken marks - a white muzzle, chest, legs, collar, and tip of the tail, and a blaze on the head. The chest is more narrow than the Dachshund's chest, and the legs are longer.

History

Dogs of similar type are seen in very old European paintings, though the Westphalian Dachsbracke was first described as a variety of German Hound in 1886. It was recognized by the Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen

Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen

Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen is Germany's Kennel club for dogs and represents the world federation Fédération Cynologique Internationale....

 (German Kennel Club) in 1935 with its current name, and by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale

Fédération Cynologique Internationale

Fédération Cynologique Internationale is an international federation of kennel clubs based in Thuin, Belgium. The English language translation, World Canine Organisation, is not often used.Its goals are described in Article 2 of their regulations:...

 as breed number 100 in Group 6 (Scenthounds), Section 1.3 (Small hounds). The Westphalian Dachsbracke is the ancestor breed of the Swedish scenthound, the Drever

Drever

The Drever is a breed of dog, a short-legged scenthound from Sweden used for hunting deer and other game. The Drever is descended from the Westphalian Dachsbracke, a type of German hound called Bracke...

. Of the major kennel clubs in the English-speaking world, only the United Kennel Club

United Kennel Club

The United Kennel Club is the second oldest all-breed registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States and the second largest in the world. According to the website, the club records 250,000 registrations annually. The UKC is not part of the International Canine Organisation, Fédération...

 in the US recognises the Westphalian Dachsbracke, in its Scenthound Group

Scenthound Group

Scenthound Group is the name of a breed Group of dogs, used by kennel clubs to classify a defined collection of dog breeds. Dogs listed in a kennel club's Scenthound Group may not all be of the same type of dog.- Scenthound type :...

. The Westphalian Dachsbracke also may be recognised by any of the many minor registries, rare breed groups, hunting clubs, and internet dog registry businesses under its original name or varriations on the name. Hunting use of the Westphalian Dachsbracke has been mostly supplanted by the Drever, and the Westphalian Dachsbracke is seldom seen even in its home country; purchasers of dogs represented as Westphalian Dachsbracke should research the dog's background, especially if it is registered with one of the minor clubs that require little to no documentation before accepting a dog or litter for registration.

Names and etymology

Dachs is German for badger

Badger

Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...

, a term used for hunting dogs with short legs. The name Dachsbrache may reflect that the Dachsbrache dogs were bred down in size by crossbreeding long-legged Bracken with the Dachshund

Dachshund

The dachshund is a short-legged, long-bodied dog breed belonging to the hound family. The standard size dachshund was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature dachshund was developed to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits...

. Historically, the term Bracke was used in German to mean the scenthounds. Brack is an old Low German

Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

 word for a coastal marsh periodically inundated by storm surges with salt water-the English word brackish. In Europe, scenthounds are usually separated into running hounds (free running packs, which either drive the game back to the hunter, or the hunter follows as they run, or the hunter waits until the dogs' cries communicate that game has been found and held, and then goes to that spot) or leash hounds (which follow the game or track wounded or dead game while being held on a leash by the hunter.) The Bracke are usually used as running hounds, in packs, to hunt rabbits or foxes in a type of hunt called Brackade. The Dachsbrache are used for hunting today mainly in Scandinavia and in alpine regions.

The Deutsche Bracke

Deutsche Bracke

The Deutsche Bracke is a breed of dog originating in Westphalia, a region of Germany. The Deutsche Bracke is of the scenthound type, used for hunting both large and small game...

 (German Bracke, also called the German Hound, Fédération Cynologique Internationale breed number 299) is another breed of Bracke, the first one registered as a separate breed, in 1900. The Alpenländische Dachsbracke (Alpine Dachsbracke, breed number 254) is from Tyrol, in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. The Drever, breed number 130, is also called the Swedish Dachsbracke.