Tell me about sausage dogs.

[LordJohnGrey]

We have always had staffies, but after losing our old girl in January have a hankering for a daushound.

DH who woukd be walking the dog has a back that gets muscle spasms so don't want another strong dog.

Also I've always just fancied a mini one. 🙂

How easy are they to look after? I'm at home all day so no worries about it being left on its own.

How much walking does a mini need?

Any health issues i should know about?

We are looking at a short haired one, not a long.

Anything else I should know?

So so so barky. I would never get one. Endlessly annoying.

I’ve got a wired hair standard, could not live with him in an average house and garden. He lives the outdoor life style and he’s no bother.

Get a wire haired one. They are more muscular and less prone to IVD. We have a standard wire and she is great. Not barky, very friendly.

My family has had 5. We put considerable amount of time in their training so they were very obedient and not barky. They also did not stay that long on their own in the house (4-5 hours max). They were all very active, really enjoyed walking (two long walks each day) but could get crazy at the sight of a hare, they also really liked digging in the garden.

I have a short haired mini. He’s not barky or yappy, isn’t reactive and is happy to be left. Hes a very polite, well behaved little dog I can take anywhere.
I did put a lot of effort into his early training though. You get out what you put in.

Yep came on to say don’t do it ! The one I know well is prone to all the traits others have mentioned.
The barking is relentless and loud.
He does the excited wee thing and cannot be alone for a moment. Affectionate with his nearest and dearest. Barky and growly with everyone else.

I have one, she’s an absolutely wonderful little girl. She is so affectionate, incredibly gentle (rescues the very much alive and unharmed wood mice from that my cats bring into the house for me to play with 🙄 and brings them to me totally unharmed). The cats love her, one grooms her and snuggles with her, the other plays with her.

I was home with her for 3 months which gave me time to train her, we never have any toileting accidents now, it did take longer to train her than my previous dogs of a different breed but she was great from around 8 months.

Shes great with other dogs of all sizes, she went to doggy daycare once a week from five months to eight so was well socialised.

I have an elderly neighbour who adores her, so she goes to her now instead, my neighbour says it’s the highlight of her week and my dog gets so excited when I tell her where she’s going. She is an unofficial therapy dog.

She loves everyone and I’ve never spoken to so many people when out and about than I have since I got her. She’s always happy to be stroked and fussed although it takes twice as long to do anything. She really is tiny and because of this most people assume she’s a puppy.

I did lots of research both before deciding on the breed and before deciding on a breeder and it’s paid off along with training and so much love.

That said I have also encountered a few not quite so lovely ones but suspect that quite often their needs are not being met.

She doesn’t get a walk every day (usually an hour three times weekly as I’m disabled and struggle with mobility, however she prefers playing ball in the garden anyway so gets just as much exercise on non walk days. I also ensure she has snuffle mats and puzzle toys.

As so many have said up thread they were bred to work, if those needs are not channelled elsewhere you end up with a frustrated snappy dog. We attend a sausage meet up in a secure field and there are so many wonderful Dachshunds there, all very friendly to both dogs and humans alike.

Do your research, ensure you have the time to put in to training and lots of cuddling and get really good insurance in case of IVDD if you do decide to choose one.

We lost our 4.5yo mini dachshund in a July last year. He had two bouts of IVDD - one milder around 2.5 years old and the second basically killed him. They need more exercise than you think, are stubborn as heck, and ignorant of training. He was the nicest natured most beautiful boy, and we miss every bone of his little body. I wouldn’t have another.

He was a bit barky but never ever nipped anyone. Lived to sunbathe, loyal and loving.

Insurance. Insurance. Insurance.

My son’s girlfriend moved in with us bringing her daschund. He ran out to play with our pugs, got stood on, we think. Two hour trip to emergency vet. 50/50 chance of him getting better if we could come up with $10,000 for the surgery. It took a couple of hours to figure out how to pay for it. They did nothing till they were sure there would be money, didn’t even sedate him. More damage was done while we waited. 3 years on, he can’t walk. After the initial surgery, there was therapy, piddle pads are a daily use. He’s doubly incontinent.

He’s a lovely dog, if a bit bossy, but be in mind, we can’t all leave the house at once because he needs care all the time.

IVVD can cost upwards of £10K to fix. So if you can’t afford expensive insurance premiums, best avoided.

As with any dog - a well trained daschund, doing what it was bred to do, is a lovely thing. It’s when people get them and treat them like babies that things fall apart

My boy is 4 and is lovely. He does bark but we have trained this to a minimum (bloody spaniel next door barks all the time!).
He is fully housetrained and is very much a lap dog and loves getting cuddles.
Don’t get one if you want an ‘easy’ dog to train, they aren’t!
Picture of my boy.

Adore our girl. 8 years old, such a character, so affectionate. Yes they bark. But not at nothing for no reason.

wouldnt be without her and will be devastated when I am. Everyone adores her.

Never had a single medical issue, eats anything. Unlike our high maintenance black lab 🙄

To add we keen her lean, her size needs 180 calories a day, and I exercise her as much as our lab, up till recently she regularly ran 10km with me.

There’s a reason they feature on vets’ top 10 of breeds to avoid.

My friend has one, she’s gorgeous, but she’s had surgery on her back and has to have physio. Her outlook isn’t great and she’s only 6.

It look like mostly those who don’t like them don’t have one but have to endure other people’s dachshunds, whereas mostly those who own them recommend them?

We have a longhair one and a staffie.
The dachshund is by far harder work and he barks all the live long day. We bought him from someone who wasn't taking care of him so I'm sure his behaviour is to do with that but he's hard work
He's toilet trained perfectly fine but he pulls on the lead and as I say, barks continually xx

I saw two dachshunds disembowel a muntjac once. It was horrific and I now can’t see a ‘sausage dog’ tea towel without that image. They’re presented as such sweet things. My daughter thinks they’re lovely, and it’s become a running joke in our family that they all aggressively bark and snarl every time she sees one.

Coming from staffies, arguably the sweetest and healthiest of dog breeds, it seems an odd choice.

I totally adore them. Have owned two, would have a house full. In fact I’d buy a farm where they could run free.

They are beyond stubborn, are obstreperous think they have legs that are 6 times longer with the attitude to match.

BUT they must be well looked after. As a child when we bought our first, the breeder trained us the correct way to hold them. We had to practice in the weeks until we could collect the puppy with invisible dachshunds. I cringe when I see people toting them under one arm.

I should say he is a loving wee soul, and apart from the barking he'd be perfect. He's full of mischief, he's not aggressive in any way and more timid.

I walk my dog and we see two sausages most days. One is lovely one is barky and reactive..... the owner then starts shouting, dog starts barking more.....
How about a Parsons terrier. We rescued one. He is lovely.

My neighbour has a mini one which is an absolute delight and a mini one pulling you won't even feel it.
However the back issue is real as is the loneliness if left alone.
Might be worth looking at border terrier? The most chilled, lazy dogs I've ever met . Mind you an older dog that needs rehoming might well tick all your boxes too as you can see it's temperament to start with, know if it's trained, know any quirks, know if its noisy, etc

I’d advise against, we had to re home ours sadly due to it trying to kill our newborn. But, even before that, she was very hard to train, toileting was an issue and she destroyed everything. But! She was also very loving and very sweet pre baby arrival. It was sad having to make the decision but it was the safest; she went to a family friend who lives on a farm with two others!! So living her best life now.

I have come across two separate big gatherings of dachshunds - one in Scotland a few weeks ago and one in London. I have bernese mountain dogs. To say the dachshunds were outraged by them is putting it mildly! Lots of barking, lunging at them. One of mine was attacked by a dachshund in our local park recently - luckily he only got a mouthful of fur. Of course the owner was unapologetic: the usual "he doesnt like big dogs" .