Dog takes on cougar at Black Butte Ranch

Judy Osborne opened the door of her Black Butte Ranch home at about 6:30 a.m. on Monday, November 10, to let her mini-doxie dog out. It met up with a cougar.

According to a note attached to the bulletin board at Black Butte Ranch, Osborne said that the cat was only about 20 feet from their front steps. Maxine, the dog, not much bigger than a shoebox, took off after the mountain lion. Osborne screamed, "so loudly that she knocked her husband, Owen, right out of bed."

The dog stopped when she yelled and the cat ran off. Lucky dog.

The feisty little dog is of a breed defined by the American Kennel Club as Dachshunds that are between 10 and 12 pounds and about a foot in length. A standard Dachshund generally is 16 pounds or over.

The Dachshund was originally a German dog, referred to by many as a "wiener dog." It's name literally means, "badger dog," and it was bred in the 18th-19th centuries to be elongated in order to dig into the earth, forcing a badger from its hole. The breed obviously has a tendency to go after fierce creatures that could tear a dog apart.

They are a very loyal dog, generally identifying with one person to the exclusion of others. The AKC lists the Dachshund as the seventh most popular breed of dog in America.

For more information on Dachshunds, visit http://www.dachshund-dca.org.