Rubble’s only aim is to flush vermin from holes in the ground.
which I have shot, he will retrieve it. We were sitting on the riverbank under a glowing moon when something splashed in the water, which was low as the tide was out. I looked expecting a duck, but couldn’t see anything. Rubble squared up beside me and began to check things out, when below us was a large otter, which could obviously scent us but not see us. It was standing looking up, a very unusual sight. He stood a few moments until my German comrade opened up like a mastiff and took off down the riverbank into the water after it! It took some shouting to get him back but he did in the end! Rubble is a large Teckel, with very broad shoulders and a deep chest and, unusually for his type, is very biddable and well behaved. He was sired by a lovely German dog, Bruno, which I saw working back in September, and very much the old Rominten Del Lago type. He is also an obedient, laid back character but very much the genuine Iron hearted Dachshund when it is required. Rubble has only been with me a short while, but in that time we have had much sport. He is as fond of duck hunting as blood tracking and will slip into a fox earth like a rat up a drain pipe. As is their wont, Rubble’s only aim is to flush vermin from underground and that suits me perfectly, as have the time or inclination on a day’s hunting to be carrying all manner 102
of tools to retrieve a dog from deep under the ground! I will happily leave that to the terriers and terrier men. Teckels are not terriers, while terriers are not Teckels.
What one Teckel lacks, another makes up for He has caught rats, flushed all manner of game birds, hunted rabbits, foxes and mink and trailed deer scent which I have left sometimes for up to 48 hours and together with my little Oscar, they make a great team. What one lacks, the other makes up for, and while Rubble may not be as fast as Oscar, he
is more precise and slower with his nose and checks less when following a scent but can be slower to keep up. Together the pair make for some enjoyable sport. While during the time Poppy has been duck hunting and learning from her kennel mates all about country pursuits, a small puppy has been born in Mannheim, Germany to Eyka Vom Linteler Forst. Sired by Sig Sauer of the Bismarck Eiche, ‘Cider’ has hit the ground running. In Germany, at only 10 weeks old, Cider has already tagged along with Julia Szeremeta to a driven fox hunt, a driven boar hunt and has some experience on the blood trail of a shot boar. When she reached the end of it she looked the boar in the eye and placed her paw on his snout as if to say no genuine Teckel bows down in the sight of a wild boar! This weekend Cider will attend a working test in Germany to ensure steadiness to shot, along with some other formalities, before I travel to Mannheim in January under the guise of a shooting weekend. If a Teckel decides to end up back at my house there is not much I can do: I am hunting for the future. Merry Christmas once again to the readers, contributors and team at Irish Country Sports and Country Life magazine, and may the New Year be a good one full of sport. Good Hunting.
Only 10 weeks old but no genuine Teckel bows down in the sight of a wild boar dead or alive!
Winter 2018 Countrysports and Country Life