The Dachshund in Politics
The broad influence of the dachshund has not been
limited in scope to the artists and intellectuals discussed above.
The dachshund has been a favorite of nobles, national heroes,
generals and politicians for centuries. Once Cleopatra introduced
Rome to her short but able hunting dogs, owning a dachshund became
almost de reguer for European nobility throughout the ages.
It is well known that throughout the 14th, 15th, and 16th Centuries,
the Catholic Popes in Rome kept hundreds of dachshunds in kennels,
and bred them for use as "altar-dogs" in Catholic ceremonies.
U.S. General
George S. Patton (l), shown here with his wire-hair dachshund
Ryan, peeking out from behind General Dwight D. Eisenhower (center),
and General Omar Bradley (r), inherited his love of dachshund
from "Ike" Eisenhower. Eisenhower, sadly, stopped keeping
dachshunds prior to his election as President, and there has never
been a presidential dachshund in the White House.
Britain's
Queen Victoria, who, despite her productive reign, left her greatest
legacy in the unfortunate form of puritanical prudism, was well
known for her love of dachshunds. She declined to breed
her personal dogs, however, because she refused to recognize the
possibility even that her dogs might copulate without offending
the royal sensibilities (during her reign, Britain criminalized
male homosexuality, but the Queen refused to sign into a law a
bill outlawing lesbian conduct, because she refused to acknowledge
that it ever occurred). In this early eaxample of daguerotype
photography, the Queen is shown on one of her more cheerful days,
in the company of her royal dachshund "Boy," of which
a bronze statue was later erected at Windsor castle. Hunting
dachshunds were bred in royal kennels throughout Victoria's reign.
As a consequence of Queen Victoria's affection for the breed,
dachshunds became a favorite for women of fashion to parade
around London's Hyde Park during the late 19th Century.
Perhaps the most famous dachshund lover of all, though,
was the "litle corporal" Napoleon
Bonaparte, himself a diminutive leader of great passion and
persuasion. Napoleon, derived from the French words "nabot"
and "lion," translates literally as "dwarf lion,"
indicative of the ferocity and stature of both the man and his
dogs. In this early painting of the emporor as a young man,
his trusty dappled long-hair dachshund Grenouille stands attentively
beside him.
Later in life, Napoleon acquired a taste for smooth-hair
dachshunds, like the one included in this later portrait, a female
named Faussete, which was probably tan or red in color.
Napoleon loved these dogs passionately, and kept dachshunds with
him his entire life. Although he was a fierce warrior general,
and he respected the strength and tenacity of his dogs, Napoleon
refused to take his dachshunds into battle, for he loved them
so and could not bear the thought of losing them to the hand of
an enemy. Having owned several dachhunds over his life,
Napoleon was known to weep for days when they died.
The modern conception of the "napoleon complex"
(a short man with too much to prove) actually derived not from
Napoleon the man, but from one of the last dachshunds he owned.
This dog, which, in a stroke of narcissistic vanity, he named
"Napoleon," like many dachshunds was oblivious to its
tiny stature. The dog was known throughout the Mediteranean
island of Corsica, where Napoleon spent his waning years in exile,
for its fierce unprovoked attacks on large dogs, and its unwillingness
to stand down in any battle. When Napoleon the man died
as an old man on the island Corsica in the Mediteranean Sea, Napoleon
left clear instructions that his surviving dachshunds, when they
too passed on, should be entombed with him, and they were.
This is a picture of the tomb and final resting place of Napoleon
Bonaparte and his beloved dachshunds, which lie at rest within
the pedestal feet of the sarcophagus.
Page 3 Dachshunds in Literature
Page 5 Dachshunds in Philosophy
Page 6 Dachshunds in Politics
Page 9 Andouille The Ultimate Dachshund Himself!