Seven Things I Wish I’d Known Before Owning a Dachshund

I became a dachshund owner approximately four and a half years ago at the time of writing this post, or rather my dog, Rocky, became the owner of two very naive human companions just over four years ago.

As a first time dog owner, and someone predisposed to researching every little detail about something, I didn’t take the prospect of getting a dachshund lightly! Much research was done before finally settling on the decision to go ahead and view a litter. However, looking back on what I know now, no amount of research could have prepared me for how much our little pup completely took over our lives. There were a few things that with hindsight, would have been good to be more prepared for ahead of time.

Dachshunds are really, really, really stubborn

I had read this a few times prior to getting a dachshund, and thought “ahhh with good, consistent training, how hard can it be?!” but these owners were not lying. Dachshunds have adorable, unique personalities with their own little quirks, but one shared trait of the breed is definitely their stubbornness. If your dachshund doesn’t want to do something, good luck trying to get them to do it. This can make training, especially toilet training, quite hard. Persistence and consistency is key here to success with training. However even now, after four years of owning our boy, if he doesn’t want to do something, he absolutely won’t be doing it!

Stubbornness also translates to what I like to call Rocky’s “selective deafness” streak - if they don’t want to stop doing something, then they like to pretend they haven’t heard you, and carry on doing it anyway…

Dachshunds hate the rain

Another one I had read on a few forums and social media sites but didn’t quite believe was really as bad as people were making out. Unless you’re really lucky and blessed with a dachshund that loves the water, they are not a fan of a rainy day. My dachshund in fact really isn’t a fan of any sort of weather that isn’t warm sunshine. Give him a sunny, hot patch of garden and he’ll be content to lie there for hours, even baking himself to a crisp in the middle of summer. But if it’s even spitting with rain, we know we’re probably not going outside for a while. 

This makes it particularly challenging to toilet train them, as combining their stubborn nature and hatred of the wet stuff, means that coaxing them outside on a bad weather day can be a fun challenge. When we were toilet training Rocky, there were many occasions where we had to go outside in raincoats and umbrellas, standing with a shivering, wet pup for a good half hour or more before he did his business (cue lots of treats and praise)! However even to this day, over four years later, getting him to go outside on a wet day can be tricky, although thankfully, he’s learned to hold it rather than go indoors now he’s older.

I also quickly learned that going for a walk probably also isn’t going to happen if it’s wet either, with our dog having a particularly stubborn sub-skill of planting himself to the ground and not moving anywhere if he doesn’t want to walk. Sometimes we manage a quick stroll round the block in the rain, but it’s not usually something either of us enjoys, so we tend to save our walks for the dry days!

Dachshunds have much more energy than you would expect for a small dog

Before I had experienced owning a dachshund, I was mistaken in thinking that owning a small dog would mean that they wouldn’t need to exercise all that much. While a dachshund puppy is still growing, it is important to moderate their exercise as their bones and muscles develop, with the general rule of thumb being to restrict this to around 5 minutes of “on-lead” exercise or walks per month of age. This means that by a year old you should be able to comfortably walk them for about an hour per day. 

Once fully grown however, exercise is really limitless, as they are very active little dogs. We have easily been able to walk our dachshund up to around 5 miles, which was more the limit for us rather than him, as I’m pretty sure he could have kept going! When let off lead in a field or garden they will usually race round and round happily for hours. 

Dachshunds are prone to barking, a lot

Before we owned a dachshund, I had read that the breed is known for being prone to barking, and now from experience, this certainly is the case, so it’s one to be prepared for. They were originally bred as hunting dogs, and are known for being very vocal.

Our boy tends to be noise-reactive when in the house, barking at everything from car doors, to people walking past and the doorbell, as well as sometimes barking a lot when left alone. You’re never going to be able to stop a dog barking entirely, but while we have had success training our boy in other areas, we have found training to reduce the barking the most challenging. We have also met other dachshunds on walks who are also reactive in barking at other dogs while out and about too. 

Dachshunds are fiercely loyal and can be over-protective

In line with the point about barking, we’ve found our boy is very protective, almost excessively so of anything he considers to be his territory. This includes the house, garden, the car, and the houses of relatives and friends that we visit frequently, so much so that if someone were to intrude in any of these locations without warning, or without Rocky secured away, they would be at risk of a nip in his rush to defend his space! Even though we have tried and tried to train him out of it, he will still race to the front door every time the postman or any visitors arrives, and needs to be shut in a room safely before opening the door.

This aside though, dachshunds are loyal and loveable dogs, and once they have chosen their “person” they will love you forever. My partner is the ultimate chosen one, and our boy pines for him when he’s not in the house, and has even learnt to recognise the sound of the car returning home!

Dachshunds love a blanket

I know a few dachshund owners that have all said the same thing about their dogs - they can’t be without a blanket! Our boy was sent home from the breeder with a soft comfort blanket that had been with the litter, and he has been obsessed with blankets ever since. We have also noticed that he feels the cold a lot, so as soon as the weather starts to turn, he will often be found spending hours of the day buried under a blanket, and at night, he often refuses to sleep in his bed until he’s been covered over!

Your dachshund will steal your heart 

In spite of all of their quirks and challenges, dachshunds really are the most charming and loving little dogs you could ever imagine owning. They have individual, unique personalities and are full of character. I certainly couldn’t imagine being without our boy.