If you speak another language, you know that there are some words that just defy translation. Jagdpassion is probably one of them. To the best of our knowledge, it means an intense desire to hunt. It’s a word often used with the Deutscher Wachtelhund (pronounced Walk-tell-hund) or German Spaniel (also called the “German quail dog” in its native Germany). This energetic breed has such an exquisitely sensitive nose that she is proficient on both dry land and marshy areas, in dense brush and standing water, and blood trails. The dogs hunt with a high nose and hunt naturally in an arc pattern, but will put their nose to the ground to follow foot scent when an animal is close. Unlike hounds,  they can be called off a trail and will return to their master.

The breed’s forefather, the now-extinct Stoeberer first mentioned in the early 1700s, was said to have a nose at least as sensitive as the Bloodhound’s. Impressive.

The people who protect members of a safari or locate problem animals threatening villages – professional hunters – are fond of this breed, and Germans insist that the Wachtelhund should only ever be in a sportsman’s hands. Understandably then, Wachtelhunds are owned and sold almost exclusively to foresters and professional hunters in Germany.

As of 2010, there were only nine Wachtelhunds registered in the U.S, but the breed is recognized both by the FCI and by the United Kennel Club as the Deutscher Wachtelhund.

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