It is sometimes said (incorrectly) that before the food was called a “hot dog,” it was called a “dachshund sausage.” It’s said (incorrectly) that the term “dachshund sausage” dates to the 1860s.
 
The term “dachshund” (the dog breed) is itself sparsely attested in English in the 1870s. The term “dachshund sausage” became popular in the 1900s and the concept of connecting the extra-long dachshunds and sausages was well-illustrated in the widely read newspaper cartoons of the 1900s period. The term “hot dog,” however, had been in use since at least the mid-1890s and has nothing to do with any particular breed of dog.
       
 
Wikipedia: Dachshund
The dachshund is a short-legged, elongated dog breed of the hound family. The breed’s name is German and literally means “badger dog,” from (der) Dachs, badger, and (der) Hund, dog. While classified as a hound in English speaking countries, some consider the classification to be in error, speculating that it arose from the fact that the German word hund is similar to the English word hound. In fact many dachshunds, especially the wire haired sub type, exhibit behavior and appearance that is far more similar to the terrier group of dogs. The standard size was developed to scent, chase, and flush badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature was to hunt rabbits. Due to the long, narrow build, they are sometimes referred to as a wiener dog. Not withstanding the German origin of the dachshund’s name, within German-speaking countries the breed is known—both formally and informally—as the Dackel or Teckel.
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Nicknames Doxie (US), Dackel or Teckel (GER, FR), wiener dog/hotdog (US), sausage dog (UK/AUS/NZ), Teckel (NL), Worshond (S.A.), Jamnik (PL), Tax (SWE)
 
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Main Entry: dachs·hund  
Pronunciation: \ˈdäks-ˌhunt, -ˌhund; ˈdäk-sənt; especially British ˈdak-sənd\
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from Dachs badger + Hund dog
Date: 1882
: any of a breed of long-bodied, short-legged dogs of German origin that occur in short-haired, long-haired, and wirehaired varieties  
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
dachshund
[Ger. = badger-dog.] 
One of a German breed of short-legged long-bodied dogs, used to draw badgers; a badger-dog.
c1881 M. ARNOLD Later Poems, Poor Matthias, Max, a dachshound without blot.
1888 MRS. H. WARD R. Elsmere (1890) 285 The sleek dachshund..sat blinking beside its mistress. 
       
12 August 1875, Burlington (Iowa) Weekly Hawk-Eye, “Dogs of Great Britain,” pg. 9, col. 6:
The Bellington terriers commanded from 100 pounds to 5 pounds, of one species called Dachshund, black and tan, three commanded 1,000 pounds, and the rest ran from 100 pounds down to 5 pounds.
 
9 September 1876, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “The Live Stock Show,” pg. 3:
The “Forest and Stream” prize to “Alleen,” owned by Frank Roan; prize for Dachshunds to Dr. L. H. Twaddell’s “Unser Fritz.”
 
11 April 1878, Baltimore (MD) Sun, pg. 4:
...dachshunds from Germany.
 
15 June 1902, New York (NY) Times, pg. 5, col. 1:
One of his sons, who had settled in New York, sent him two dachshund pups. I remember how Crawford would sit sunning himself on his porch the whole day, with one of these dogs like animated sausages, on each side of him.
 
Chronicling America
20 May 1906, New York (NY) Tribune, Sunday Magazine, pg. 7, col. 1:
If Professor Garner’s disciples learn monkey talk so that they are really at home in it, they will hear al lthe original jokes, including those about boarding-house pie and dachshund sausages perpetrated by the Simian Fords of the jungle. 
 
Chronicling America
5 March 1907, San Francisco (CA) Call, pg. 8, col. 3:
Germany is willing to take our word for the healthfulness of fresh meats, but insists that the canned product still have to prove an alibi. In view of the fact that dachshund sausages are accepted as readily in this country as any other brand, this seems a trifle ungrateful on the part of our German cousins.—Los Angeles Express.
   
9 July 1908, New Oxford Item (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), pg. 7?, col. 2:
Who cares now for a silky King Charles or a stately wolf-hound?  The craze is all for your slouching bull-pup or wiry fox-terrier or alien Dachshund, shaped like a sausage and sold by the yard.—Saturday Review.
 
1 March 1930, News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, MI),  pg. 1, col. 6:
The dachshund, or “sausage hound,” is a most interesting specimen. 
 
1 June 1949, San Antonio (TX) Light, pg. 15A, col. 6:
And who is the wienie tycoon (well known to baseball fans) who won fame and fortune by making the dachshund sausage what it is today?
 
3 August 1952, Corpus Christi (TX) Caller-Times, pg. 12C, col. 8:
Some people call them frankfurters, some call them Dachshund sausages, but whatever you call them, hot dogs are a great American institution.