Breed Information
Long and low, the Dachshund is also known as the “Sausage Dog” and has been a family favourite since the 1960s. Its German name (pronounced “ducks-hoond”), translates to “badger-dog”, reflecting the Dachshund’s original purpose and reason for its funny shape – to destroy badger holes.
SIZE
The Dachshund is an adorable small dog that comes in two varieties – the middle-weight Dachshund, originally bred for badger chasing, weigh up to 7.7kg for the females and 8.2kg for the males, and anything over that is considered a “heavy-weight”.
The standard Dachshund is between 25 and 28cm tall.
With its tiny legs and compact size, the Dachshund is ideal for indoor living, provided there aren’t too many stairs for their little legs to climb.
COAT
There are three types of Dachshunds, as determined by their coat – the long-haired, smooth-haired and wire-haired. The coat of the long-haired variety is straight or slightly waved, shiny and soft, with longer hair on the underside, ears and tail. The smooth-haired Dachshund has a rainproof coat of strong, smooth and dense short hair. The wire-haired variety has short, harsh hair over the body that becomes smooth on the ears, and has an adorable beard and bushy eyebrows.
All varieties come in many colours – black and tan, dark brown with lighter markings, dark or light red, tiger-marked, dappled, or brindle – and are medium shedders.
CHARACTER & TEMPERAMENT
The Dachshund is a comical character with a huge personality and an insatiable appetite. Loyal and courageous to a fault, the adorable Dachshund can be quick to defend themselves (and you) and are often suspicious of strangers. With the right training they can make for excellent guard dogs. Because of their sensitive bodies and snappy attitude, they aren’t the best choice of breed for families with small children.
CARE
The smooth and wire-haired varieties are low-maintenance when it comes to grooming – a weekly brush and a monthly bath should do the trick. The long-hair Dachshund require at least a twice-weekly brush to prevent knots and work grass seeds and burs out of the coat – especially behind the ears and between the pads of the feet.
Due to its long spine, it’s important that your sausage dog doesn’t bound up too many stairs in its day to day life, or jump down from furniture. Obesity can also lead to troubles with the spine, so try to curb that huge Dachshund appetite where you can.
TRAINING
The Dachshund is naturally suspicious of strangers and other dogs, so early socialization and obedience training is important. A very clever little dog, your Dachshund will easily pick up commands and quickly become an obedient pup.
Thanks to their extreme appetite, the most effective way to train a Dachshund is by rewarding good behaviour with tasty treats.
ACTIVITY
With such tiny legs, the sausage dog doesn’t require much more than 30 minutes of exercise a day and most of this can be accomplished while playing indoors. They enjoy the outdoors and will benefit from trips to off-leash parks or romps in a large backyard. Their intelligence requires stimulation, or they may get bored and try to escape.
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