While I completely agree with most of what is said here; especially about responsible breeding …
I just wanted to say that we are lucky to live rurally and have always had one or two daschunds along with other larger dogs, from responsible breeders. Sometimes you have to wait three years or more for a puppy. And we have never had any back issues with them. They are strong sporting animals, bred to hunt badgers originally. They should never ever have their bits dragging on the ground or any exaggerated features. Nor should they imho have strange markings like dapple. Because when breeders focus on looks and unusual colouring, they tend to lose sight of character and functionality.
Where it goes wrong for daschunds is that people carry them around and treat them as cutesy companions and lap dogs when they are actual sporting energetic dogs who can walk for long distances and dig huge holes.
To thrive, they need a lot of exercise and environmental enrichment and the opportunity to dig, as they were originally bred to do. Ours are very fit and trim because they run and walk for miles every day, are strong and wiry with good muscle development which protects their backs. They never need their claws clipping.
But all the time you see daschunds with over- long claws being carried or confined or dressed up like a toy, prevented from digging, and they become frustrated, overly vocal, snappy and overweight with poor physical tone. it’s a recipe for disaster imho.
Bur please don’t dismiss an entire breed because some people are breeding very poor specimens.
People are not going to agree with me here but at least when dogs were bred for hunting it was important that they functioned well. They had to keep going all day in the field. So functional characteristics were at the forefront of breeders’ minds.
To be clear I do not agree with hunting badgers either.
Say what you like about hunting but now it is is banned and people are breeding for vanity really and functionality flies out of the window! So you get dogs who can’t breathe properly or whose bits drag on the ground. It’s utterly shocking.
Personally I only buy the sporting lines of any breed but you then need to be able to give it wide open spaces, or at least long long multiple daily walks in all weathers, to not over feed or carry about, and allow it to simulate the behaviour it was originally bred for. You don’t necessarily have to live in the countryside to achieve this but you have to put in a lot of consistent effort in all weathers.