View attachment 1715224838 We always had dachshunds growing up as a kid. I’ve had two now as an adult.
There are a few things to know about the breed for sure.
1. They are brave, truly fearless, but often to the point of being obnoxious. If not socialized VERY WELL this can and does lead to them being insanely aggressive to larger dogs. Out of nowhere, faster than lighting, they will take off after, and attack larger dogs. To avoid this, they must be taken out and exposed to strange dogs regularly. Having another large dog at home won’t work.
2. “They are hard to house break” that is partially true. The truth is they know you want them to go outside, but they don’t care. If it’s raining, ain’t happening, morning dew on the grass? Ain’t happening. Too cold or snow? Pffft, ain’t happening. Or if you piss them off? Yea, they will piss and **** in the house out of spite. You can easily teach them to ring a bell hanging on the doorknob when they want to go out, but that is only if they aren’t purposely waiting for their chance to stick it to the man via a turd.
3. They have to have their teeth cleaned every 12-18months. They have a habit of holding chewed food in their cheeks. Hours after they are fed, you’ll look over to see them chomping on the little snack they “saved”. They will also instinctively try to “skin” things like tennis balls, furry toys, etc. They use their tiny front teeth leaving them with all these fibers lodged between their teeth right at the gum line, or under it. This causes SEVERE gum disease, SEVERE bad breath, and if unchecked, infection that can make its way to their sinuses and kill them. Their teeth is often the cause of their irritability when they become seniors, they are hurting, and are in no mood to put up with your ****.
4. As stated earlier, their backs. This also goes back to the whole bravery thing. It doesn’t matter where they are, sleeping on the back of the couch, being held while you are standing, or at the top of the stairs..they hear a knock at the door, their toy squeak, etc, they will launch off like a rocket and hit the ground running. This is hell on their backs as they age, and leaves them in pain and paralysis.
5. They bark, a lot, at everything. It’s not really a bark as it is them alerting you, like a popping bark.
6. They are gluttonous. If allowed to, they will eat themselves to death. I don’t mean figuratively, I mean literally. You have to give them measured food. And once they taste table scraps, game over, like feeding a gremlin after midnight.
7. They can get out of any yard. They are highly intelligent problem solvers. They will find a way, be it brain or braun, if they want out, it happens. Luckily the small shock collars work really well, but they learn it’s the collar, and if they aren’t wearing it, all bets are off.
8. Also they do have high prey drive. Squirrels, birds, and unfortunately sometimes cats(strange cats anyway), although usually they are very friendly to cats. Using a flirt pole really really works at keeping them healthy and keeping their drive satisfied.
All this aside, they do make great pets and are great with kids and other pets in their family. They are incredibly athletic despite their body composition and have unique personalities.
The pic is Elvis, chasing the flirt pole.
