Pocketsized dynamite
Thinking of taking on a teckel? They are very appealing little scent hounds, but Robin Scott says don’t be fooled by looks
Do working dogs take after their owner? Some reckon they do but if the pair curled asleep at my feet are anything to go by, I’d have to disagree.
Suppose it were true. If so, it would be Sam the labrador that comes closest to mirroring my temperament: patient, steady, relaxed, quiet and trusting. Or so I like to think. And he too enjoys having his ears tickled.
Doogie, on the other hand, brings a number of less than endearing characteristics to the mix. He’s a lovable little ruffle nut but the lad’s an attention seeker, demanding, destructive and, worst of all, noisy. Very noisy.
Decibels
Of course all dogs bark. But not in the way a wire-haired teckel goes about it. When this little hound fires up his high-pitched yip jangles the nerves and sets your teeth on edge. Thankfully I’m not a tightly strung sort of guy, otherwise I’d have been on prescription medicine long ago.
It was my pal Paul Leeming from Aberdeenshire who sold me the idea that a teckel would make a great pet, companion and worker to take stalking. That was seven years ago. “There’s a lad up here who breeds and works a lovely line of working dogs. I’ve got my name down for one of his next pups, so if you’re interested… ”
The phone rang months later. It was Paul. “The bitch has whelped and I’ve picked two. Yours is a dog.” Just as well I trusted Paul to make the choice.
By pure coincidence I’d already booked to fish in Scotland and the dam conveniently gave birth eight weeks or so before I set sail on the 500-mile journey. Needless to say it wasn’t a big deal to forgo a day on the North Esk in Angus and drive another 60 miles to meet Paul and Val at their farm, and collect the pup. Paul had chosen well. What a cracker!
Doogie settled into his box on the back seat of the truck and slept all the way back to the rented riverside cottage. No car sickness,
and he wasn’t at all phased when gently introduced to both Sam and his dad, Sooty. In fact he took to them in an instant. Clearly he didn’t lack confidence.
True vocation
We stopped off at the River Tweed for a few days on the way south where the pup came nose to nose with his first salmon but his lack of interest strongly suggested fishing wasn’t going to float his boat in the way it did the two labs. Instead it was the heavy scent of rabbits on the riverbank that fired him up and riveted his attention. It still does whenever we go fishing.
Scent and the ability to follow a trail is this breed’s forte. And Doogie’s nose, I have to say, is exceptional – more so than all the labradors and spaniels I’ve owned. When he picks up a ground scent and his nose goes down, it stays down. Naturally, the fresher the scent, the faster he goes. And for a dog with such little legs he covers ground all too quickly. You might hear him in one corner of a field when he takes off after a hare, but by the time you get there the ‘yipping’ will have moved to the other end of the farm. I discovered the only way to catch him was to jump on the quad and give it full throttle. Now, when he hears the approaching engine, he breaks cover to hand himself in.
Cold scent isn’t too much of a problem either. Time and again I’ve watched from a convenient hilltop and seen him ‘track’ my sister as he follows every twist and turn of the route she took on an earlier walk. It doesn’t matter which field or bit of woodland she might be working in, he always finds her.
Excitable
Trouble is, Doogie’s status as a ‘dog for stalking’ is compromised by his insistence on yipping constantly at high C and legging it every time he scents or sees a deer, hare or rabbit. In fact, he puts everything in the area on high alert the moment the back door opens and he realises he’s going for a walk. He simply can’t contain his excitement. And to compound the problem he hates the sound of shot. I suppose my mistakes in early training are to blame for some of these faults but the boy isn’t entirely useless: on the few occasions we’ve lost a deer in thick cover Doogie has never failed to find it, and quickly.
OK in terms of total outlay (initial cost, £5,000 on fixing a slipped disc, destroyed dog beds, food and other vet bills) you might say those few carcass ‘finds’ of his have proved very costly things. But I don’t begrudge a penny of it – the little horror has brought so much fun and happiness to friends and family alike. Characterful sums him up perfectly.
Would I take on another working teckel? Yes, but, if there is to be a next time, only after taking lessons beforehand from an expert trainer to avoid repeating the mistakes. As the saying goes: once bitten, twice shy.
“For a dog with such little legs he covers ground all too quickly”