Rabbit

[Frzframe]

I was reading a book <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm15.gif" border=0> about dachshunds and it said they come in three sizes the third being rabbit. Does anyone know about this size? I was just wondering?
~Shonda

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Frzframe on October 03, 2000 at 09:54 AM</font>

[Heather]

I have never heard it mentioned on this board, but I am sure there is someone here who could advise.

[Krista]

Check the book, I bet it was written in Europe or some other foreign locale. Someplaces have three different size distinctions.

Here in the US, we have only two -with a gap between them.

Minis =11lbs or less
Standards = 16 lbs or more

--of course we have many dachsies here that fall betweeen those two limits. While the standard does not recognize that, most of us dachsie lovers refer to them as "tweenies."

I bet they called them Rabbit, since that was what they bred that size to hunt -probably like US minis if I was guessing.

[dutchman]

Check out the following web page for information on the European dachshund size standards including the rabbit. http://www.dachshund.bc.ca/mainpage.html select Breeds from the menu Frame. It's a fun site so check out the whole thing while you are there.

Tom

[wireweiners]

In Europe and the countries that use the FCI rules, dachsunds are sized by chest circumference rather than weight like they are here. Each size and coat is considered a separate variety so dachshunds have their own group with 9 dogs competing. Here, the open class is divided by size with dogs weighing 11 lbs or less at one year of age eligible to compete in the open standard class. Any dog weighing more than 11 lbs. must compete in the open standard or in one of the other classes such as Americanbred. At the big specialties, such as the National and the Mini Roundup, they weigh all the open mini entries as they go in the ring. If your dog weighs more than 11 lbs, too bad.

[Cindi]

Wireweiners, I know you have standards http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif so I'm going to 'weigh' in here. (By the bye, wireweiners and I are friends so she knows I'm not being nasty<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm35.gif" border=0> ) For those who don't show, at Mini Roundup all dogs are weighed and only the silly would take a dog that is oversize there. However, at the National (and all other shows) there are LOTS of other classes to be entered if your miniature is oversize. Only those who wish to be weighed should enter the Open Miniature class. Those of us who 'occasionally' have oversize dogs can enter the Bred By class, the puppy class (if they fit in that class), the American Bred, etc.
Sometimes I wish that the dachshunds here were measured by chest but I do NOT wish they were separate breeds as they are in other countries. That would mean there would be no breeding allowed between the sizes or coats. I want to keep that option available!

[Tina]

According to FCI standards the Rabbit, in German Kaninchen, is a dachsie whose chest circumference is less than or equal to 30 cm, measured earliest at the age of 15 months. A Miniature is a dachsie with chest circumference 35 cm or less. The measure is taken at the level of the elbows and the tape measure is tightened so, that only the bones are included, not skin. In practice I have seen in many dog shows how dachsie owners try to "help" the judge to get the measure down to the magic number, so the difference between the variations is not clear. In all Nordic Countries, including Finland, it is allowed to cross these two variations, in Finland and Sweden only within the same coat-type nowadays, and the puppies are registered according to the bigger of the parents. The final decision of their breed is made at a dog-show, when they reach the age of 15 months. The same practice is applied to those puppies, whose parents belong to the same size variation, they can also be transferred to another "breed" according to their actual size. This may sound somewhat obscure, but it helps to keep the breeding basis wide enough in these "small breeds".