"Sausage dogs" in decline in homeland

Germans are turning their backs on dachshunds, the short-legged, long-bodied "sausage dogs" which are as much a national emblem as beer and lederhosen.

The German Dog Association (VDH) says only 7,158 dachsund, or "dackel", puppies were born in the country last year and the birth rate has dropped by about 35 per cent in the last decade.

"Dackels are in decline because German owners have a far wider range of breeds to choose from than they did 20 years ago," said Birgit Buttner of the VDH. More>>