My friend’s dachshund bit her sister

[Heavybuthopeful]

My friend has an extremely cute, friendly male dachshund. She’s had him for 3 years and he’s affectionate with visitors etc. She has her sister visiting from overseas and today (day 4 of sister’s trip) the dachshund suddenly went for the sister and bit her quite badly.

Any ideas why? I was wondering if maybe my friend smell similar but not quite the same which confused the dog? However I know jackshit which is why I’m asking here.

Thanks in advance.

I think it's in the nature of the breed. They were originally bred for hunting small mammals (badgers etc.) and flushing them out of their burrows. I think they have a bit of a reputation. Anyway, dogs are never really trustworthy whatever the breed.

To be honest we would need to know the whole picture. Dogs barely ever just go for someone out of the blue. What was her sister doing at the time? Was the dog asleep? Did they have a chew or a toy?

Agree with PP.

Dogs rarely go for someone randomly - they almost always display warning behaviour. So what happened beforehand?

Dogs don't just bite people out of the blue.

What happened before the bite?

I imagine the dog didn't just bite out of the blue, dogs generally display quite a few warnings
Daschunds do tend to be a bit bitey though

My next door neighbours dachshund bit another neighbour. Bitten neighbour is a lovely elderly lady who was gardening at the time. The bite was bad.

Next door neighbour was mortified, said there was no reason for the dog to do it, he’s a friendly dog with them, and it’s in the nature of the breed. The lady was sympathetic despite the bite so didn’t report the dog and next door neighbour has never allowed the dog to be out off lead since.

Your sister may not have done anything, dachshunds can be bitey.

Was there any warning growl before the bite? What was the sister doing before the bite? Did the sister provoke the bite?

I have a Dachshund, I wouldn’t say they’re known for being ‘bitey’, but can be suspicious of strangers. I have friends with the same breed and all are vocal but friendly.
Mine is very loving to people he knows, those he doesn’t know, he ignores.
I tell visitors to ignore him, he’ll come over to them if he wants to, and if he doesn’t, then don’t take it personally as this breed can be aloof.
I think people mistake their small size for being lap dogs who want to be picked up. They don’t, they are a working breed and need mental and physical exercise.

There must be more to this story, because to describe him as a friendly 3 year old family pet, doesn’t sound like that’s his normal behaviour.
I hope your friends sister is ok.

I would suggest they need to get the dog a vet check to see if he’s in any pain, then I’d call a behaviourist to work on this. In the meantime, if any visitors come I would keep the dog away from them, don’t put him in a position where this can happen again.

You need to know what was happening at the time, was the sister trying to pick the dog up or maybe move it from a chair or settee?
Dogs don’t normally bite out of the blue, something must have happened and I would guess the dog would have given a warning snarl or growl, if this was ignored then they could bite.

Did the sister go to sit down next to the dog or otherwise come into the dog's space? They can be guardy little buggers and he might just have thought he was defending his space.

What’s your friend planning to do?

They are definitely known for being a bitey breed but generally there is a trigger in most dogs. They don’t normally bite out of the blue. Either food guarding, surprise, getting in his space, trying to pick him up, playing gone wrong.
She’d need to seriously think about what the trigger was and work on this behaviour

Thanks everyone. I think she’s planning to go to the vet/behaviourist and go from there. I wasn’t there so no idea what happened prior to the bite.

only bit twice in my life both times by my neighbors dachshund. Don’t bother wasting money on behaviorist or vet, they are a nippy breed and the dog was most likely “guarding” his owner, yard, favorite chair, or???. Zero warning or growl, jumped at me while outside chatting to her in her yard. Got my butt once and forearm the other time.

It could be all sorts of reasons. The dog was in pain and acting out. The dog is badly trained. The sister was mistreating it in secret. The sister smells like prey.

All kinds of reasons.

My niece has a miniature dashund the vet will.only see it with a muzzle on ! Theyre very aggressive i dont know why they're so popular really ?

When I was at school a friend had a Doberman and a Daschund, guess which one we were all terrified of?
The Daschund had to be locked away if there were visitors and it did get loose once and attack one of us.
I have met a couple of nice ones as well to be fair but generally they are quite guardy and not too friendly with strangers, I think people often treat them like cute little dogs when they aren't.
They are often in pain too due to over breeding
So cet check and go from there I would say

Mine was a nipper and awful for resource guarding. They usually give a warning though like a growl. I wonder if there is any underlying pain making it grouchy?

There will Def be a reason.
It's true that daxies are one of the most likely breeds to bite but I don't think a previously friendly 3 yr old dog is going to bite someone badly for nothing.
It may have been surprise or a vet visit might be needed in case there are health issues.

I have 2 daxies. One is soft as anything and let's anybody of any age pet her.....the other one is a twat and after biting a workman once is now shut away when anybody comes over!

Dogs can react to anything. If you didn’t witness the bite then I’m not sure anyone on mumsnet will be able to help you find the trigger!

It could be anything from sudden movement, to resource guarding, to him feeling threatened, to the dog mistaking her hand for its toy, the list is endless.

My SIL's dachshund has bitten two people seemingly out of the blue. I was there for one of them and there was no provocation that I could see it just bit my MIL's leg, she hadn't even moved. They're just wee twats.