What is a dachsund?

A dachshund is a dog - with a long body, and very short legs. The breed's name is German and means "badger dog". These dogs were bred to scent, chase and hunt badgers and other small animals. They have a long narrow build - that in Australia they are referred to as "sausage dogs".

In America they are referred to as "Dackel" or Teckel"

We can't recall really why we chose a dachshund in 1971 as a pet for our family - we wanted a loving small dog, and somehow found our way to some kennels not far from where we now live in Wynnum.

We bought our first dog, a standard size, short haired chocolate dog, which had been deemed unsuitable for the show ring, because he had an undershot jaw. (His top and bottom jaw overlapped, which made him likely to lose points in the show ring and make it difficult to win.

Our children were aged 4 and 2 at the time, and Koko was a tiny bundle that we carried home in a cane shopping basket. He was great with the children as a puppy and we all settled well into our new home in Brisbane. We watched as this little scrap played with the children and grew into an adult dog.

As it turned out we had to return to Sydney to live for a while, and of course he came with us. In the rented house in Sydney we had no fence - so for 6 weeks he spent a lot of time on a rope on a line, but he did seem to mind. When we moved into a larger house he had more roaming space, but of course, like "dachies" do, he preferred to spend time with us.

Soon we were on the move again, back to Brisbane and we lived in the northern suburbs from then on. It was while we were living in Everton Hills that we first had a little trouble with him. Perhaps as the children grew older they were less gentle with him, but he started to snap at them. We made a rule that if they had children over to play Koko would be removed from the yard - kept inside, or, that an adult would stay with himand the children to ensure that the play was kind to all.

All the neighbourhood children were asked NOT to turn up in our back yard, but to knock at the front door to let me know they wanted to play, and that's the way the rules stayed. Except for the one incident that caused us much grief.

The little boy next door was playing in his yard with a wine bottle cork and in his play it ended up in our back yard. Koko grabbed it and ran, and the little boy climbed over the fence to fetch his cork. He grabbed Koko and wrenched the cork from his mouth. Koko was not happy and relatiated, biting at the boy and causing a small/minute three corner tear on his face.

I was a night duty nurse at the time, and asleep while all this took place. When I heard the story later when I awoke, I went next door to speak to the family and find out the damage done, but the boy's mother refused to speak with me. Within a couple of days we received a note from our neighbour to avise that she was taking legal action against us. She advised the Pine Rivers Council whose officers came to destroy the dangerous dog.

Koko wagged his tail and greeted the council officers, and we had sought legal advice too, so there was a stand off, and in the end the council officers left Koko with us.

The saga went on for a long time.