dachshunds...

[myronman3]

How about a break from the usual bear pit fodder? I am thinking on getting me a dachshund puppy. Planning on training it for tracking. From those here who have had/currently have them, how hard are they to train? Housebreak? I’ve heard they can be stubborn. I did babysit one a few years back....incredibly smart dog but he was a spoiled city dog.

Let’s hear from the doxie owners. Your insights and experiences appreciated.

 

[oneshot86]

get ready for the weiner dog jokes

 

[rangerlong]

We had one for 17 years. Yes, difficult to train, and housebreak. It’s true what they say, big dogs in small bodies.
In her head she was the biggest meanest dog on the block. I saw her face down larger dogs at least twice, and a horse, lol.
She dominated the house though. It was hers, she just let us live there.
She was the most persevering being I’ve ever encountered. We would tell her ‘no’ about something and she would wait, sometimes years, for us to drop our guard and get her way.
There were a few times she escaped the yard and took off for days, only to come trotting back through the dog door like she never left.
We finally put her down in 2015 after she basically told us she was ready to go. Awesome dog. I still miss her.

 

[earthquake]

Dachshund mix, but the fucking spawn of Satan regardless. ? Kids & wife just had to have it. Doesn't listen at all, eats, chews, destroys everything in sight. Dumber than a bag of hammers. ?

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I am a hound person and most of the dogs in my life have been sight hounds like Irish Wolfhounds and Afghan Hounds but some of the breeders we worked with had Doxies. The smooth coated or long haired versions are completely different than the others and are like all hounds - tremendous trackers with excellent noses and stamina beyond their size.

We had two Irish Hounds and ended up dog sitting for one of our breeders Wire Haired Dachshunds and they all got along very well on long walks becoming a natural pack. My Wife would hide and I'd tells the dogs "Uh oh! We lost her Boys! Go find mama" and the big hounds would start running a grid trying to spot her but the little Doxie went to the last place he saw her, put his nose down, and walked right to her.

If you haven't looked at the Wire haired variety check them out!

VooDoo

 

[Sniperwannabee]

my experience is they are worthless yapping ankle biters.... no offense

 

[JMGlasgow]

We adopted a Dapple Dachshund from the pound. He was an adult when we got him. He was a little difficult to train but we got him squared away.

Tooth problems are prevalent, as well as heart murmurs and they can have back problems. He's a great dog though.

 

[fx77]

A number of medical and skeletal problems to consider
Skin, Allergies, they are achondroplastic dwarves also
limb and joint issues and spinal stenosis.

 

[kl3309]

Get a Corgi, herding breeds but very trainable.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

I had dachshunds for years. They are fantastic hunting dogs, and easy to train. They have the heart of lions.
My first dachshund was a applied little shit my cousin couldn't control.
I took him and made him into the finest hunting dog ever.
It's hilarious to see the faces of hunters, who heard you've got a "blood dog" and called you, when they see you "unload" your dachshund.

I had two dachshunds from the same litter, I named Frank and Jesse....I could not keep them in a pen.
They would run rabbits better than beagles.

 

[MtnCreek]

First dog I remember having. I was too young to know much about what kind of dog he was. I know he went everywhere I did and some places I couldn't.

I've had all kinds of hounds since. They all like to roam.

 

[myronman3]

i am going for small, and track trainable. Plus, it’s impossible for me to see a wiener dog and be in a bad mood.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

i am going for small, and track trainable. Plus, it’s impossible for me to see a wiener dog and be in a bad mood.

They CAN make fantastic blood tracking dogs I know.

I trained mine by dragging a bloody deer through the yard, then turning him loose. That was it.
Blood a deer, put him on a lead, find the deer quick.

 

[myronman3]

that is exactly what i am after.

 

[346ci]

We had to put down our nearly 13yo last Veterans Day, sad time. She potty trained fairly quick and would listen if rewarded with food. I really didn't spend the time training I should have but she was a awesome house dog. They act like a much bigger dog for sure, that was always my fear is she really couldn't defend herself against bigger dogs.

Considering getting another but I'd like to have a lab also so they could play while we are away.

edit; Forgot to add health issues. Ours had back and heart problems. Our vet used acupuncture and laser treatment that helped with the back, don't let them jump on chairs/couch and support their body when picking them up. Her heart murmur was later in life and we used pills for that. Not 100% sure what got her in the end..

 

[Maser]

Putting ketchup on hotdogs is un-American!

 

[Son of Dorn]

We had one for 17 years. Yes, difficult to train, and housebreak. It’s true what they say, big dogs in small bodies.
In her head she was the biggest meanest dog on the block. I saw her face down larger dogs at least twice, and a horse, lol.
She dominated the house though. It was hers, she just let us live there.
She was the most persevering being I’ve ever encountered. We would tell her ‘no’ about something and she would wait, sometimes years, for us to drop our guard and get her way.
There were a few times she escaped the yard and took off for days, only to come trotting back through the dog door like she never left.
We finally put her down in 2015 after she basically told us she was ready to go. Awesome dog. I still miss her.

I wouldn't say that attitude would be very unusual in that breed. People seem very much unaware of a what a dachshund is. It's not a just a cute little walking sausage; its name literally means "badger hound". They were bred to go down badgers' dens and route the very angry, very strong, very-big-clawed creature inside, chase it towards the hunters. And that's never quite been bred out of them after many generations of not being used for badger-hunting. Unlike a retriever, a dachshund was bred to be a tenacious, persevering, even vicious little animal because it was going up against an equally tenacious, persevering, and vicious critter that could very easily decide "Fuck this shit, I'm gonna fight you!"

 

[myronman3]

the breeder i am looking at offers a lifetime guarantee on her dogs. Not to say a problem wont arise, and to my mind, a guarantee doesnt really help if a health issue arises. The point is, she is confident in her breedings so much she offers the health guarantee.

As far as other issues, the GF is a veterinarian, so i have that covered too. Main issue is the breeder is 4 hours away and i have to travel there to assess whether or not any of her available dogs will fit the bill.

 

[101stinfantry]

I didn't find ours too hard to train, yes sometimes if you tell her no, she'll wait until you aren't paying attention and make an attempt anyway. You won't hide from them, and no one will sneak up on you with one around. Occasionally, you will trip over your wiener as well.

 

[myronman3]

babysat one years ago. when i got out of the truck, the dog ate my donuts, hide the box way up under the seat, and then curled back up and pretended to be sleeping when i got back in the truck. all that in about 4 minutes. and he almost got away with it.

 

[packratt]

Just remember the dog may be only 6" tall but things on tables are not safe. Things have to be higher than the length of the dachshund . Know someone with a bassett. They were getting ready to grill steaks and left them close to the edge of the table. They left the room and the dog stood up on end and the steaks were gone.

 

[101stinfantry]

Be aware that they may not be little kid friendly. Ours even hears a baby crying on TV, and she loses it. She will also not tolerate my young nephews running in the house, they walk they're fine, take off running, and she's on them.
As far as hunting, they seem to take to what you turn them on to. Ours is into squirrel treeing, as that's what I taught her to do, she won't hardly look twice at a rabbit, or deer.
As packratt says they can reach higher than what you would think, they can also climb fairly well on to the counter tops if there are some tasty scraps up there.

 

[oneshot86]

First dog I remember having. I was too young to know much about what kind of dog he was. I know he went everywhere I did and some places I couldn't.

I've had all kinds of hounds since. They all like to roam.

its that bionic nose

 

[oneshot86]

 

[Scott037]

Mine is a asshole. But i love him.

 

[myronman3]

 

[Scott037]

View attachment 7180110

That one is picturing your favorite thing to pee on

 

[VVhoisJohnGalt]

They are very trainable for tracking. Don’t use a bloody deer or train them on blood. I trained mine by starting out with deer blood on sanitary napkins hung off a 9’ fly rod. Use rubber boots in the yard. Then switch to combo of tarsal gland and blood. Picking up every 5-10ft. Use leaves in the yard for markers so you can make sure she is hitting the “trail”.
Then switch to deer feet and use the interdigital glands. You want your dog to track the deer not blood. Spray the feet with a mist of RODI water to further “pop” it and reduce other particulates.
You won’t always have blood but you will always have interdigital scent signature from the bucks feet. You end up having a lot of frozen deer parts in your deep freeze from all your buddies deer for a while but it’s amazing watching weiner dogs work.
My dog was about 80% on finding wounded deer. I feel like she found all the mortally wounded bucks. She found 3 bucks that were hit back and only had 5-6 small specks of blood at hit site. She found one a quarter mile away in pine needles. She found one two days after hit and a rain storm. It was incredible!
You get a hard time from people when they see your “tracking dog” but they are blown away after she finds the buck.
They are stubborn and will not listen to you around the house or in normal life...That is the breed but if you train them to track deer they do it like it’s their job!
Also when you are training them be very careful not to disturb the ground with your boots...they will just follow the fresh earth smell. Very important to not shed your own scent molecules or they won’t be learning the correct way.
You want them to track an individual deer! I had her go through bedding areas with hundreds of tracks and come out on the bucks track like she was glued to the trail!
She is retired now and curled up in between my legs on the couch as I type this.
Awesome dogs!

 

[vh20]

Your GF is a Vet as am I, and will likely tell you all the same things, but here goes:

1) Their Fatal Weakness is definitely their back. Keep them on the thin side for their entire life, and DO NOT allow them to jump up and down on/off of things. That's what usually ruptures a disc and then you have a paralyzed dog. Keeping the weight down just lightens the load on the back, obviously.

2) For some reason, the Long-Haired version always seems to be much less fractious than the Short-Haired on average. It's uncommon to meet a mean Long-Haired, but not so much on the Short-Haired ones. I don't see enough Wire-Haired to have formed an opinion but my impression is they are more like the Long-Haired ones.

3) Son Of Dorn is dead-on regarding their attitude: Bred to flush badgers out of dens. They think they're as big as any dog they might meet, and will jump a Rottweiler if given half a chance. Unfortunately I end up having to try and piece a lot of them back together after those bad decisions. If I were an owner, I'd use that knowledge to avoid any situation that might allow that to happen.

 

[Cowcatcher]

My wife has one. She's real sharp and loves to hunt critters. I could see the breed making you a good tracking dog. Ours teams up with our Great Dane and the wifes McNabb. That trio can hunt/find/flush/catch and kill about anything they want. Probably the neatest dog I've ever had was a daschund/austrailan shepherd cross. Sucker was fast and had lots of bite.

 

[Kadams1563]

Weiner dogs are like others peoples
Kids. Nice to be around and then send them home.

I wouldn’t own one because no matter what they seem to get far as hell. They are aggressive little fuckers and they pee when they get excited.

Had a corgi and she was awesome. Only thing I missed when my room mate left.

 

[Snuby642]

Dachshund, are you crazy?
They are dangerous they will gut you if they dont get thier way.

They will sleep in your lap, under your sheets and still bite you all the way to the bone if you cross them.

Thier idea of play is to snarl and bite you for fun.

They will take on anything, rats, squirrels , opossums, snakes 80 lb labradors. The only thing that scares him is thunder, holy shit scared.

The nose these dogs have rivels anything ever seen.
Rubber ball outside in the dark 50 x 75 yard 60 seconds or less. Same ball in 1000 ft house 30 seconds tops, fridge, freezer, 6 foot off the ground no matter. Don't tell the wife ,1 speck of blood from some meat as a clue about 20 seconds in the house.

Fierce guard dog, hates strangers.

I'm not sure if I know anyone he had not bit at least on a boot or pants leg.

Mine plays with infants and bites thier parents if the kid cries.

They are not for everyone good old folks dog and wakes up big guard dog.

 

[Unknown]

A breeder offering a lifetime guarantee is kind of a trick. By the time you figure out something is wrong with the dog, people have usually fallen in love with the dog and don't want to disown the dog they have come to love. So, the lifetime guarantee isn't used all that often.

Think about it...if you raised a dog to be a member of your family for 2 years before you learned that the dog has health problems, how likely would you be to disown the dog you came to love?

 

[myronman3]

it’s not so much a matter of disowning the dog after 2 years. i think it’s more of her willing to stand behind the dog. no trick to that. beats the pants off some backyard puppy mill who doesnt want to know ya after they abuse dogs and get your money.

i’ve been around them. i know their spirit. appreciate the health advice. i know that getting the right dog that fits me is super important. as cute as the picture is, i have full expectations that it wont be the right dog. i’ve looked at a lot of puppies and walked away from most of them. the only way i’ll take it is if it is the right dog for me.

 

[Zorrosdens]

Get a Corgi, herding breeds but very trainable.

I worked at a home (construction remodeling) long time ago, never forget the corgi they had...super fast for a short legger, you couldn’t keep up with him, agile little guys, wouldn’t mind having one. He loved to run after stuff and turned on a dime.

 

[Spblademaker]