Getting a weenie dog tomorrow and need to know all there is to know about one!!!

[samsgal040503]

Ok, so DH and I(mostly me:giggle2:) have been discussing "taking on a dog". I've wanted a mini-dachshund for over a year and he is finally ok with me getting one(says he wants me to be happy and if that's what I want...). So we found a wonderful breeder/trainer/showwoman locally and she has a chocolate piebald that is about 1 yr old. We, DH more so than myself, fell in love with it. It's has the sweetest "love me, feed me, never leave me" eyes you've ever seen! We've decided to get him tomorrow becuase we have to get prepared to bring home baby, ya know all the stuff that goes along with taking on a new pet.

Now, all you dachshund owners/dog lovers, I need a little help as to the do's and don't of owning and caring for this wonderful little short-legged bundle. Your time and information is much appreciated!!

[Riann216]

First of all...congrats!!! I have never owned this breed myself but have had friends who did. I have heard they are prone to become overweight. With any dog, high quality dog food is super important. I cannot stress enough how you should research dog food. Dogfoodanalysis.com is a great place to start and googling articles about the use of corn in dog food will be very informative. Unfortunately all the free/super cheap dog food deals on here are never for good quality dog foods. However, there are still good deals to be had! And the health of your pet should be more important than if the food is free. I've had great luck with Wellness brand but there are several other great brands out there.

Research rawhides as well if you plan on using them, they can be dangerous for dogs. There are dog chews out there called bully sticks which are much better. The braided ones will last a lot longer than the regular sticks as well. Kong's are also great and you can choose what you want to put in them.

And of course the no-hartz/sergents rule. hartzkills.org is a good place to read about that too.

The most important thing is to say enjoy your new dog!!! :BigHand:

[kval07]

As far as food goes, don't skimp. I feed my dogs Natural Balance dry food as well as the dog food rolls. I highly recommend those dog food rolls too. (aka "crack for dogs") My buggers INHALE the rolls.

[alterdstate]

I tell ya what definitely stay away from the store brand dog foods. My advice is go to dogfoodanalysis.com and have a looksie. I only use canidae and it absolutely rocks (5 star food) that is not hard to find and comparing the price of it to the other 5-6 star foods it cannot be beat. No corn or fillers and has all the good stuff a puppy or adult dog needs. I used to be a breeder of small dogs and I love my dogs. We now have 2 mini poms and they are our babies. Only the best for them. I know you feel the same way. Bonus Canidae is made for adult and puppies (don't hafta switch foods) One food for all life stages. My vet sells it for 43 bucks USD for 40 lbs. Can find it cheaper at Petsmart prolly. I use felidae on my cats too (same company) and they love it. Many other natural foods are good don't get me wrong but check out their website (canidae) and the dog food one. You will see why I chose it. They have canned food too. If you can't find local National Pet Pharmacy carries it and they will not rape you as bad on shipping but its still better to buy local) I am in a town of 20,000 and I found a vet that has it. My dogs love the rolls too when I used them. It took me having to pay for a surgery on my cat to realize the grocery store food is more expensive (1100 dollar surgery) Good luck with the weiner dog!

[shsshorty7]

No really helpful but my weenie dogs look like ferrets when they run lol.. and they will want to sleep in your bed.. and my girls love the sweaters in the winter..

[queenofthehivemomof5]

If your new dog was crate trained you might want to consider doing that just for constancies sake. At one year old she should be potty trained already but if she is used to a crate then you might want to get one.

As far breed they are prone to back problems (more so if they are overweight and as they get older) so you might want to try and block off the stairs and get her a little set of stairs if she will be hopping into bed with you. I have a little Rat Terrier that sleeps with us and I got tired of hearing her attempt to jump into bed for 20 min every night so I got her some some little doggy stairs so she can snuggle under the covers with us. LOL

Good food, water, and lots of love!

[alterdstate]

We have no problem with the poms jumping into bed LOL they are some real jumpers. The 6 month male just loves to stretch out right behind my legs so I can't move. The life of a dog owner! My cats do their own thing (they were our babies first and weren't too happy to see the first dog come into the house) I remember Misty (our gray cat) giving me a dirty look when we brought our female pom home. The second one wasn't so bad and it learned quick not to mess with the cats. LOL Here is a look at my pom poms http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a131/alterdstate/2new4u.jpg

The one on the right is Princess (Been mywife's little baby since we got her) and the one on left is Pepper (call him Pepper Shaker when he wags his tail because he has a black spot back there and it shakes :hysterical:

[FRUGAL FRAN]

I used to have a little doxie named Shorty. He was the greatest snuggler known to man. But he had a bad streak in him, lol. If you ever left home to go to work, store, etc., and didn't take him with you, then he would seek revenge on your stuff. I couldn't leave him outside either cause he would find a way out of our chainlink fence every time. There was no escape-proofing this fence for my little houdini, lol, I think we tried everything except electrifiying it.

[samsgal040503]

OP here. Thank you all for your posts. The breeder we are buying Maverick(already had the name as he is 1yr old) from recommended the dogfoodanalysis.com site as well. I will do some research today..... as for now I'm going to buy a wire crate, small one I've been told cause they won't want to, well ya know, where they sleep. Helps with the training and yes, he was crate trained before so hopefully this will go smoothly. Fingers crossed! Thanks again. DH is super excited and that's a good thing!

[mjingle]

Well you should be getting adjusted by now, hope all is going well. We have 3 little doxies, 1 mini and 2 tweenies (all under a year) They are little dogs with big dog personalities and they are truely great dogs. Our dogs are fed dry dog food based on sales, right now it's all the free chef micheals I got and they LOVE it. All three of ours are crate trained and with a 5 year old DD and an almost 2 year old DD it makes life so much simpler! Make sure to feed you dog based on his weight and not give too many treats because this breed is very prone to the back problems especially if they are over weight. One of our friends who also has 3 doxies just went through a dislocated/ruptured disk in one of her doxies, luckily it healed on its own, but it's definitly not something to take lightly. They are not supposed to jump onto or off of furmiture due to their backs, so it is best to get the doggy stairs for your furniture and beds or train your dog to wait at your feet to be picked up and not to jump on his own. Doxies are well loved around here! We have 4 friends with them and almost everyone we know has had one at some point in their life.

Also if he is not fixed, it's a good idea to get him fixed to help prevent testicular cancer if he is not going to be bred.

Here is our three musketeers: Left to Right Coco (mini, female, shorthair, 11months), Chance (tweenie, male, longhair, 7months), and Chanel (tweenie, female, shortair, 11months) they are named after my favorite perfume

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t311/mjinglesoetidjo/puppiesanddisney001.jpg

[katpot]

Congratulations on a fine choice of breed! I hope all is going well for you and the new baby!
We have a little female Dachshund named Annie. She will be 13 years old on November 3. We got her when she was just 6 weeks old. She was so little she could fit in one hand! She has been a great little dog. She loves to cuddle. We bought her from a breeder that had 13 little puppies at the time. She developed SARDS (Sudden Acute Retinol Detachment Syndrome) when she was just 5 years old. Over night she was blind. We took her to the Michigan State University animal hospital. They gave her this diagnosis. They have no idea why it happens, it just does. I called the breeder to see if she had ever heard or had known any of her other Dachshunds to have this disease, she stated she had not. It took her about 2 months to get used to being blind. It's amazing how well she does. Just can't move the furniture around much! She very recently started with a back back. The vet gave her a cortisone shot and it seemed to help. She eats Holistic Select Senior formula and seems to do very well on it. Good luck!

[Laurie1999]

Congratulations on your new pup! I hope things are going well for you. We have a 15 yr old weenie name Frankie (Frankie D. Weiner actully - my husband had naming rights!) They are great dogs with very big personalities and can be high strung at times. They are very loyal so we have occasionally had to warn strangers not to reach out and grab him since he will snap if startled or if he is not given a chance to get to know you. He is about as good a lap dog as you can get. I agree with others about watching the weight and feeding a good quality food. Also, be careful with their backs. We had a significant scare with Frank many years ago but thankfully he pulled through. We definitely don't let him jump on the bed or couch and are especially careful in the winter if there is ice on the stairs or driveway.

Best of luck and enjoy your new little one!

[QponClippinQueen]

I have a weenie dog his name is Copper (his color is also copper) and we call him MR. We, wee wee, weiner, snout, and many other variations lol.

Is it my dog only or are weenie dogs VERY nosy (no pun intended)? He has to investigate everything and whena dults are talking he has to be in the room. LOL We tell him go to bed he'll leave but you'll see him peeking around the corner he appears to be listening..

We also have songs for him lol.
There's a song out and I'm not sure now who sings it or the name of it but it goes wee o wee o we wee o wee o we.. (lol we sing that to him)

[Neciepie]

I am loving this post. Doxie lovers unite! We have four...one tweenie, Scout (5), and three miniatures (overfed miniatures) Oscar (elderly rescue, ? age), Susanna (3) and Tucker (2). I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this breed and you could never have convinced me of that 5 1/2 years ago. We didn't have any indoor dogs four years ago and now we have the four.If there's any advice I can give you, and forgive me if it's gross..I'm in the medical field....it is that high quality food yields high quality poop. Cheap food.....ugly mess. Your dog will be happier and less likely to get into trouble inside, if it has plenty of activity on that outside. Daily walks are recommended for these little ones. They are bred to be hunters and are always "on the trail" to find something. They also love to burrow...mine bury themselves under our bed covers at night. My daughter sleeps with one, my son sleeps with one, our rescue sleeps in his own bed, and my dog, Tucker, sleeps with me. Please give feedback about your story. I would love to know how things are going.
P.S. Susanna is the pooch in my avatar.

[Sculpture Widow]

I have never owned a dachshund, but I have worked with probably 35 of them when I worked at a boarding kennel for 3 years........
We also have some very good friends who have 3 of them.
There's nothing I would disagree with that's been said on the board here. They definitely can be sweet hearts, and never met one I didn't like.

The only opinion I have is I believe that Dachshunds are difficult to potty train. I know that you say your new little one is already 1 year old....I would ask your breeder about your new little boy and his status with this.
Now, I also believe that this has a BIG part to do with the owners and potty training, but there is NO doubt that dachshunds and yorkies made my job a lot harder at the kennel, as I was ALWAYS cleaning up after them.
And, I should mention that the kennel I worked at was AMAZING!!! The dogs always had access to an outdoor yard.

I suggest a crate for your new little one when you are not with him, and take him out every 2 hours (or more) until he is used to his new home. Do not even give him a chance to pee/mark or poo in your home.

You may have some issues with marking as well, as he's already a year old! It's possible that if you get him neutered as soon as possible it may prevent some peeing/marking behavior. But, if he's already started that, it may be very hard or impossible to stop.
Again, I would ask the breeder and see if you can get an honest answer on this peeing/marking behavior. Since he's already one, he could already be lifting his leg to mark, and displaying breeding age behavior.

One couple that came to the kennel regularly, gave up and got a litter box for their 2 dachshunds (they would bring it to the kennel as well), & the dogs would STILL pee/poop on the floor. Also, our good friends with doxies had major issues potty training them, too. In fact, their pups are 3-6 years old, & they still clean up after them sometimes.

Now, some owners on this board might disagree, but I know for a fact that dachsunds were one of a couple breeds that we always had trouble with peeing/pooping inside at the boarding kennel.

[TonyBreandthe4]

lol.. I TOTALLY AGREE with pp..

My doxie... she likes to leave little 'presents' for me in the back bedroom.

I dont know why.. we have so many doors and she loves to bark to go out but sometimes I think she is miffed if I am with the kids or cleaning and not scratching her belly so she goes and seeks her revenge.

That and the fact that she is viciously PROTECTIVE.. dont try to come in the house without her barking and barking.. we had a crazy salesguy come INTO our garage and knock on my inside garage door one time. I had the baby and cracked open the door thinking it was hubby or? I peeked around it and some crazy salesguy was there trying to sell me an photo of my house taken from a plane. I was like um.. I have google earth. lol.. well anyway he stomped at her to make her stop barking and she went out after him and nipped his ankle. I didnt feel bad at all because this guy was IN MY GARAGE. Who does that with the garage doors shut? Weinergirls dont know thats the garage they just think its part of their house.

Anywho.. I put up a beware of dog sign just in case any crazy's come back. I have a german shephard too, but in actuality that sign is for her because my shephard is a wimp!

LOL.. good luck.. they are just the best best dogs ever. Love her!

[TonyBreandthe4]

:hysterical:

And lol to pp..with the names mr wee, wee wee....:hysterical:

Our girl is the same.. her Official name is Canoli
But we call her Noli, and noli weinergirl , and weinergirl, and ween, and weiner and Roost. Roost because she is always roosting things up with her beak to get comfy. lol.. she is just hilarious

[weekitty]

DON'T DO IT! dogs are like men they expect to be taken care of .... get a cat.... meow for now KITTY

[sadlady12]

I have 2 miniatures, my male, Shiloh is almost 10 yrs old now and his daughter, Cherokee is 4 yrs old.

I used to have an issue with the peeing/marking but he does really good now. He likes to please "mommy" and mommy has a way about her when he messes up, lol. He's finally figured it out I do believe. Cherokee does well too, but she's still more likely to have an accident than Shiloh is. My female is fixed but the male isn't, so it's a battle with marking but he knows it's not his to mark, it's MINE and I WILL freak out on him!!

May sound crazy to some but for training issues, I recommend the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic channel. The techniques work well if you are consistant with them.

I used to be really leery of the back problems associated with this breed but really I haven't noticed any with mine until recently with Shiloh. He's starting to show his age and is much more likely to wait to be picked up on the furniture than to jump himself. Cherokee however, jumps on everything, she is a climber and an active little thing! She will run and jump on beds, chairs, sofas, you name it.

Good Luck!

[tuckll]

My dog is Winnie the weenie dog. LOL She is the best dog I have ever owned. She thinks she's a big dog. I have 3 German Wired Haired Pointers who like to wrestle alot. She sets them straight. It's funny. This breed definitely has lots of personality. I never had any problems with potty training at all. She scratchs on the door to go outside and knocks her bowl over when she hungry. The other dogs are trained to this too. When they hear her bowl ringing they run to it. It's funny. She trained the other dogs! LOL She is a big cuddler too. Also has to be under the covers 365 days out of the year. It could be 100 degrees she stills wants to be under.
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1962/52/113/1146401507/s1146401507_30045108_665.jpg She is 13 Years old.

[ksteven]

we have 2 standard dachsies, my brother and niece each have a mini. This is my husband and I's second set of standards. We have always "kenneled" our dogs when we leave the house. they have been there since pups when we are gone. The second set was trained to sleep Under our bed, not In it like the first. We feed science diet to these dogs and we did the first, also. One of our first ones had a back problem, and diabetes. But they are wonderful pets. Good luck.

[frugalstafar]

I have two doxies and they are good dogs for us but tend to be nippy around strangers (as soon as they get to know someone total snugglebugs)-our biggest problem is they are both males and are very hardheaded in the potty department and have to be watched constantly to avoid the marking of territory. Other than that like everyone else has said ust watch the weight we have one who eats like a horse and is a bit chunky and one we just about have to force feed.

[sackof4]

I have a 5yo male that we rescued. He is a total momma's boy. LOVES to snuggle and is under the blanket, at my feet, ALL the time. He came with the name Oscar, we call him Oz. He will pee anywere, even in his crate. He goes out regularly and he will scratch at the door...but if he doesn't get attenting (only thing I can figure) he'll pee.
He growls at my children when they try to get him to do something he doesn't want to do, never bit of nipped...so the kids stay away from him.

He aslo does not like males. If a man comes in the house Oz goes for the groin. (we're pretty sure he was trained to do that). He is ok with my husband, but with anyone else I have to leash him or put him in his crate. That 'trick' comes in really handy when repair guys come and I'm home alone. I warn the guy, but I keep the dog with me the whole time....makes me feel a little safer. =)

[Neciepie]

I am so loving this post. I'm typing with Tucker, as usual, sitting in my lap. He is a 24-7 "protector". Let's keep this one going. I am so enjoying all your stories about your babies.

[ComeOnGetDown]

i just wanted to share my love for the weiner dogs :biggrin:

my baby girl is 3.5 years old now, but she's a mix breed (mixed with chihuahua) she looks like a daschund but with longer legs. her name is clyde (long story lol)

she's the best cuddler in the world!! and she loves to sleep under the covers.

5385

i tried to attach a picture of her, but i'm not sure if it worked... we'll see. we had just went on a hike in that picture so she's resting :)

[papadsgirls]

We have had weiners all my life. They are true companions. My mothers last had been abused when she got him. well he gave his life for my mothers. We have horses and one got out and they went to put him up, well he got infront of the coyote to keep the coyote from getting my mother. There was nothing they could do to help. But thats the way they are. They are protecters. Mine now you can't raise a hand at my kids, he will bite for it. My nephew learned the hard way. They do have back problems but make sure there weight stays in a normal range. Standards are worse than minis. They also can have kidney stones. They also love to bark, and dig......and yes they love to bring in moles they have killed in. Just like little kitties. They also like to roll in anything that stinks....... Keep baking soda on hand. If your in cold weather, keep the sweaters and coats handy. they hate cold weather. They do have problems getting potty trained. But it can be done. They also love to lay in the sun. So have fun with your baby, and enjoy your new lap baby. My kids and my baby fight over my lap. he scratches to get them out. Enjoy.