Alpine Dachsbracke

Breed Rating

Breed Details

General

The Alpine Dachsbracke is a short and sturdy dog breed that originated in the Alpine mountains of Austria where it is also known as Alpenlandische Dachsbracke. This breed can be dated back to middle of 19th century when Dachsbrache dogs were bred down in size by crossing the larger dogs with Dachshunds. It is a breed of scent hound that is used to track and retrieve animals for hunting.

This dog breed closely resembles the Dachshunds except that the Alpine Dachsbrackes have longer bodies and legs. Typically the dog can be from 13 to 16 inches in height and 33-40 pounds in weight. They have strong, muscular and sturdy body that helps these dogs to endure high altitudes of Australian Alps. Their double coat is short and dense, with a very thick top coat. It is smooth to touch except for the tail that has longer hair and is bush like. Coat colours include red, brown and black with or without markings.

This dog breed is NOT recognize by AKC. However UKC and FCI recognize this breed.

Color

Permitted colours for this breed are deer red, black and red.

Coat

The breed has a double coat that is closely fitted to the body. The under coat is soft while the top coat is thick, short and smooth.

Personality

Fearless, friendly and intelligent, this dog is more commonly used in hunting than as family pet. It is effectively used to as tracking hound to track down the wounded deer and scenting hound for fox and hare. This dog is a very good companion and can endure harsh terrain and high altitudes. Though not very fast, it is known for stamina, endurance and power. It can follow a scent trail for long time without getting tired. This breed is not aggressive and does not harm the wounded prey. This trait makes these dogs very popular among hunters. As for family pets, they are generally good with all the family including children. They can get along with other dogs and pets though they do have a strong prey drive. Early age socialization and training will keep their prey drive under control when with house pets.

Care

The smooth and short coat does not require any extra grooming other than brushing twice a week and bathing once a month. The dogs' ear should be checked for infection and its nails be kept trimmed.

Training

The Alpine Dachsbracke is an intelligent dog breed. It can learn fast but needs a firm trainer who can establish himself as packleader otherwise, they may become headstrong and not respond to training as they should.

Activity

This breed is a working dog but when kept as family pets, it can adapt to apartment life as it is relatively active indoors and does not require a yard to play in. The dog however, do require to be taken for exercise twice daily along with some play time.