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

[samsgal040503]

Ok, so DH and I(mostly me) 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!!!

[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

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

[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