Dachshunds could face breeding ban in Germany - here's why

[Coventina]

Dachshunds could face a breeding ban in Germany after a draft law looked to prohibit the spread of various canine characteristics, the country's kennel club has warned.

The latest draft of the Animal Protection Act aims to clamp down on torture breeding - the reproduction of dogs with traits that cause "pain, suffering or damage".

As part of the proposal, it lists a number of "symptoms" that should not be reproduced, including hairlessness, reduced life expectancy, abnormalities of the skeletal system and teeth malformations.

Germany's Kennel Club (VDH) has warned that this could affect the dachshund - and a number of other breeds - due to their short legs being classed as an "abnormality".

https://news.sky.com/story/dachshunds-could-face-breeding-ban-in-germany-heres-why-13102742

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Maybe breed standards should be modified to allow for healthier dogs?

[whathehell]

1. Yes, I think breed standards should be modified

I love dachshunds, but if their breed characteristics are causing "pain suffering or damage", or shortening their lifespans, then, no, that shouldn't continue.

[Tickle]

16. I have a dachshund and I have

had those dogs in my life since 1970. I don't deny what you said but watching their weight helps tremendously.

[whathehell]

18. That's good to hear..

I really like dachshunds and wouldn't like seeing them disappear as a breed.

[Freethinker65]

2. My dachshund was always a healthy weight, and lived 19 years.

Last edited Thu Mar 28, 2024, 08:24 AM - Edit history (1)

The last few years he was most likely deaf and nearly blind and suffered from periodontal disease, but he had far fewer problems than many of our friends' dogs of other breeds suffering from hip dysplasia, benign cysts, skin and digestive issues, etc.

[pstokely]

10. you didn't let him jump off places did you?

or run down stairs?

[Freethinker65]

11. He knew his limits.

He would jump to get on the sofa to look out the window and bark at whatever passed by. He would jump to get on low cushioned chairs for a nap. He never attempted, that I ever saw, to get atop a kitchen counter nor table (my in-laws dachshund was able to do that and still lived to be over 15 until it suffered a stroke). We had carpeted stairs and he definitely slowed down as he aged. I, myself have slowed down.

Dachshunds ARE said to suffer from degenerative disc disease more often than other breeds because of their spine (length relative to height) and inbreeding. We were concerned about that and went with a small local breeder that would use sires from other breeders and kept records to prevent/lessen inbreeding. We actually got to meet our dog's "Mom" and "Dad" .

If I ever get another dog, it would most likely be from a rescue shelter.

[senseandsensibility]

3. The first dachsund I met was when I was about 7

She was a neighbor and family friend's pet named Gretta. I loved her. She always seemed healthy to me and I played with her a lot. It took me a few years to get that they had named her Gretta in homage to her German heritage. RIP, Gretta.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. By that same standard, shouldn't MAGAts also be banned from breeding to avoid reproducing their unattractive traits?!

[Aristus]

6. All of their traits are unattractive traits.

n/t

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

9. Kinda goes without sayin!!

[Raine]

5. I had two Dashshunds that were brothers

their owner died and I was going to foster them but ended up keeping them.🐶 🐶 I loved those dogs so much. 💕 They didn't have hip or spine problems like so many do and lived to be quite old. Unfortunately they ended up developing diabetes and both died the same year one at the beginning and the other at the end of the year. I still miss them. 😢

[Aristus]

7. My very first dog was a dachshund.

She had much longer legs than were considered typical for dachshunds. She lived a long, healthy life, and never got hip dysplasia.

[pstokely]

15. The really tall dachshund?

[pansypoo53219]

8. ban short cats.

[shanti]

17. Absolutely

I always feel sad when I see pics of them.

[MurrayDelph]

12. I've had (and still do have) several Dachshunds

They have all been rescues or hand-me-downs.

My first, when I was a teenager, was a brown purebred shorthair whose owner had passed, the widow was moving into an apartment and remembered my dad telling the original owners that if they ever didn't want her, we'd take her. So we did. Blossom had a stroke at age 14.

My next was a black purebred longhair whose owners had moved away and left her behind. Our neighbor's adult daughter took her in but couldn't keep her and our neighbor remembered we'd just lost a dog. We went over to the neighbor's house, I saw it was a dachshund and it was love at first sight. We lost Sarah at about age 14.

Ten years ago, after losing Sarah, we adopted Gracie, a Dachshund/Terrier mix from a breed rescue. She is still (knock wood) the healthiest dog we've ever had.

Four years ago, a friend told us about a bonded pair of purebred shorthair adult boys whose owner had passed away, and the widow as a hospice nurse wasn't home enough to give them the attention they needed. So we took them in. Two years ago, we lost Felix to cancer at age 12, but his life-partner Brutus is still enjoying life despite having Cushing's disease. At least, when he doesn't piss off Gracie.

Now, if you want to talk about dogs that shouldn't be bred, we would have to include Tilly, the English Bulldog we rescued two years ago (and had fixed as soon as we could).

[a kennedy]

13. The wiener dog is one of my most favorites, had three.......

[Greybnk48]

14. Out neighbors had two Doxies and they both had back issues when they were old

because their spine could not support their weight with the stubby legs.

Anecdotally, our son had a Dachshund and Beagle mix (Deagle) that an area breeder was working on to make their legs a little longer and back less vulnerable to disc injury. In the case of my son's dog it worked as she looked just like a Doxie, but a little taller.

The Beagle made her a bit mouthy though, lol!

[DFW]

19. Unfortunately that is one thing German bureaucrats are very good at:

Thinking up lots of rules, never weighing the consequences, getting people to enforce them who didn’t make them, and neither agree or see the sense in them.

These are the kind of people who nearly got Denmark to withdraw their application to join the EU. The EU made a rule that you couldn’t call an apple an apple if it was under a certain width. Danish apples are usually under that width, so the EU told them they were not allowed to call their apples “apples.” The Danes then said that maybe this is not the sort of group we want to join, after all. The EU relented, and decided to let the Danes call their apples “apples” after all. But who thought up such a stupid rule in the first place? When career politicians and bureaucrats make up rules and laws that will never affect them, and they never listen to those who ARE affected, this is the result.