Anyone have a dachshund?

[compassrose]

I am planning to get a puppy after we move this summer. I would like a female, long-haired mini dachshund puppy (although considering I will more than likely adopt a rescue, she will likely be some kind of mix). I know that dachshunds can be stubborn and may require a longer time to housebreak, but is there anything else I should know? Anyone have doxie stories to share?

(For the record: yes, I plan to get her spayed. Yes, I will crate train. I can also bring her to my office, so I can take her out every couple of hours while she is a puppy.)

Gratuitous cute puppy pic:

[my4girls]

Yes! We have two long haired mini females. They are about as different as could be from each other. 6 yo is so calm and chill. 3 yo is a perpetual puppy. They are both so loving and gentle though and love to curl up on your lap, they're wonderful with our kids (3 very young kids). Housebreaking is a nightmare! 6 yo is still only about 99% there and will always have an accident if we leave her alone in the house. It's total defiance on her part though- they're very stubborn and she hates being left alone so no matter if you just took her out if you leave for two minutes she'll pee. 3 yo is so so bad with it, we just have to take her out she will never go to the door to be let out. She is crate trained though, the older one isn't, we tried but she would flip out we recorded her once and for the hour we were gone she was going insane. We tried everything- we're the crazy people who had a pet psychiatrist come to our house about her aniexty. Didn't work.. She goes to work with DH every day

[jenjen]

We rescued a mix (terrier/dachshund) about 4 years ago when he was 1. He was pretty well house broken but had spent a lot of time in his kennel with his previous owners.

A few things ours does: he does potty in the house if we leave him out and he is mad. Like if I close the door to shower and he wants in, he'll sometimes poop or pee outside the door. So we usually put him in his kennel when we leave. He's pretty protective of me- growls at people he doesn't like that come close to me. He also loves to climb between me and DH when we're cuddling/etc. He loves to burrow under covers- we keep a pillow with a pillowcase in his kennel and that's where he loves to sleep-under the pillow case. He is much harder than our lab but he's so cute it's hard to get mad!

[Deleted]

Yes and we are obsessed with him. We adopted Biscuit from a local Dachshund rescue as a puppy. He is mostly Doxie but is probably mixed with something else (Beagle?) because his legs are extra-long.

Biscuit is our first dog, so we don't have anything to compare him to, but we didn't have a lot of trouble potty training him. He is 1.5 years old now and has a #2 accident in the house every few months or so, but it's our fault if we fail to take him out on a regular schedule. He rarely pees in the house.

When we first got him, we baby-gated him into the kitchen with a pee-pee pad because we could only get home once in the middle of the work day, and we weren't sure he could hold it for four hours at first. After a few months we moved him into the crate during the day, and by 10 months or so he was able to stay in the crate all day.

We originally trained him to sleep in the crate at night, which was very difficult. He cried and barked all night at first. After a few months, he slept in the crate through the night without putting up a fuss. But then he stayed for a few days with my mom and a few days with H's parents within a short period and got spoiled because they let him sleep in the bed. We realized that we were going to have to start from scratch with training him to sleep in the crate at night, and finally we gave in and let him sleep in the bed. I don't know if this makes us terrible dog parents, but he weighs 15 pounds and doesn't bother us at all, so we get a good night's sleep.

We started him in elementary obedience training as soon as he finished his shots, which I highly recommend. It's really about training you to train your dog, and we didn't know what we were doing, so it was very helpful. It also helped him get socialized with different dogs.

Anyway, I have no bad things to say about Dachshunds in general, and we are super obsessed with Biscuit. H and I discuss frequently how adopting him was one of the best decisions we've made. I know that SwizzleStix and bnchanums also have Doxies.

Here's a pic for good measure:

[Deleted]

They will be your best friend for life...he will look at you like you are his world and you melt. They can be stubborn & sneaky too.

My doxie is my world. He loves to burrow in a warm blanket and a $$ doggie bed I bought him with very plush cushions. He will sleep in if he is in bed with you, and longer if he's under the covers.

If he does poop or pee in the house, its either because I didn't take him for a long walk, and I lazily just let him out...or he is separated from me for longer than expected - like if I have a delivery and I don't want him running out of the house...he will poop/pee on the carpet. He also is known to have severe seperation anxiety, and if I go away for a few days (4+) he refuses to eat...and will have bathroom anxiety.
He is a very sensitive dog, and very warm with people and other animals (including cats). I'm not sure why though, but my dog as sweet as he is gets "beat up" at parks...like he is an OMEGA of packs. So I stopped taking him, and stopped him from socializing with other animals...I don't trust other animals with him anymore.

Now you make me want to go home and snuggle my doxie's cold little nose!

[Mrs.Beagle]

Swizzle has one, but I haven't seen her on here yet. Someone get her over here!

[compassrose]

Thanks, ladies! I love hearing these stories. I think my biggest concern is how she will handle it when I leave for long research trips (I'm a scientist), although I don't have any scheduled for a while. Maybe she will be bonded enough to my roommate not to mind too much.

[Awkward]

Do dauchsands have a lot of health problems? I thought I read somewhere that they should avoid going up and down stairs because of their backs.

I think they're adorable but I'm not sure how one would fit in with our current pack of shelties.

[Deleted]

May 11, 2012 9:21:17 GMT -5 compassrose said:

Thanks, ladies! I love hearing these stories. I think my biggest concern is how she will handle it when I leave for long research trips (I'm a scientist), although I don't have any scheduled for a while. Maybe she will be bonded enough to my roommate not to mind too much.

Oh, you are not married? That will make things more difficult IMO. I work long hours and don't know how I would have taken care of a puppy on my own.

[Deleted]

May 11, 2012 9:21:55 GMT -5 Awkward said:

Do dauchsands have a lot of health problems? I thought I read somewhere that they should avoid going up and down stairs because of their backs.

I think they're adorable but I'm not sure how one would fit in with our current pack of shelties.

Yes, something like one in four Doxies develops intervertebral disk disease (IVDD). Our rescue group says that you shouldn't let them go up and down the stairs, jump on furniture, etc. We are bad about this. But our vet says that IVDD is an acute injury, not a chronic injury, so the years of going up and down stairs are unlikely to add up to an injury. She said that the best way to reduce a Doxie's risk of developing IVDD is to keep them from getting fat. However, we do have friends who have a skinny Doxie with IVDD, so from what I can tell it might just be genetics/dumb luck.

[compassrose]

May 11, 2012 9:22:17 GMT -5 @redbellpeppers said:

May 11, 2012 9:21:17 GMT -5 compassrose said:

Thanks, ladies! I love hearing these stories. I think my biggest concern is how she will handle it when I leave for long research trips (I'm a scientist), although I don't have any scheduled for a while. Maybe she will be bonded enough to my roommate not to mind too much.

Oh, you are not married? That will make things more difficult IMO. I work long hours and don't know how I would have taken care of a puppy on my own.

Divorced. But I can bring a dog to my office, so hopefully working long hours won't be a problem. And my roommate will help as needed.

[adlove]

My sister has a mini doxie, named Moose. He's super sweet and smart but yes very stubborn. He gets jealous (lol) and "acts out" at times.

He has had a few issues with his back, if you pick them up the wrong way, or without supporting their whole body, back problems can be an issue.

Other than that I don't have much info because I wasn't the one to train him. He's so adorable, here's a pic:)

[caramia17]

We have a doxie and she is the BEST! She is a cuddle bug and love to snuggle. She is 12 years old and I was a little afraid as to how she would handle it when my DD came home from the hospital, but she has adjusted pretty well and has even figured out that my LO likes to drop food from her high chair. DD is OBSESSED with her and thinks that she is hi-larious! Our dog has had a lumbar discectomy (had it when she was 8), but has not had any problems since and is super puppyish. I seriously want another one, but I don't know if I would be so lucky as to get such a sweetie the second time.

[lillioness]

We have a doxie mix that we rescued at about 2 years old. He's the sweetest, most cuddly dog, but he's also super anxious. Like others said, he loves to burrow under the covers, and if he had his way he would sleep with us every night. He sleeps in his doggie bed, but we cover him with a blanket and tuck him in (yes, we're those people!) He came to us trained, and he used to have run of the house when we were gone but he's started to pee in the house so we've started crating him again. We think he was peeing to mark his territory (we're having a baby and he definitely knows that something is up). We've actually upped the obedience training in anticipation of the baby and he's responded really well. He can be stubborn, and he's very protective of the pack and anxious around strangers. Once he gets to know you, he's really a love.

Even with the issues, I'd adopt another doxie mix in heartbeat!