.::Welcome To Dachsie Land::.

If you've Decided to add a Dachsie to your family, Congradulations! Prepare yourself for the most curious, most loyal, most cutest little trouble maker you've ever seen! On the left is a picture of my Dachshund (Molly) and I think that picture describes the Dachshund personality perfectly! They just love getting into EVERYTHING, sometimes they regret it though, but no, causing trouble and making a menice of themselves is not the only thing this wonderful breed does (though they do it often). Dachshunds are very loyal and very protective of their loved ones (they get attatched to you very easily) they make great watchdogs and they love to play and make you laugh (you have to have a sense of humor to own a dog like this). To me the only down side to the breed is their back problems. They love to jump and spin around but you must try your best to prevent this from happening. So if you've chosen this breed to complete your family or are considering one, you've made a wonderful choice, I know I did.

Things To Prepare For:

When getting a dog (any breed) most people don't put much thought to how much that particular breed requires in excersie, bonding time, feeding, or training. Most books don't tell you Everything you should know. So I'll tell you what the books don't about Dachshunds.

When you think of a Dachshund you may think "It's so small, it couldn't need THAT much excercise" but what you should know is that Dachsunds (even minis) have 10x energy than you may think. Running around by themselves in an apartment just isn't enough. They may have the size of a puppy, but they have as much energy as the next "Big Dog" (as well as the chewing power)! So to prevent boredom you MUST excercise them properly. Here are some excercise ideas for you to consider:

Take a walk around the neighborhood with puppy on leash all the time!
(how long depends on your puppy's energy level and age)

Play fetch
(not too long, stop before puppy gets bored)

Take puppy to a local park, have a picnic with friends or make some new ones with puppy, let stangers of all ages pet her and give her treats
(a few at a time, try to prevent crowds)

Play some easy hide-and-seek-games with pupi (inside and outside)
and gradually make the games harder as your dog's skills improve

Teach puppy some fun tricks like shake, speak, and roll over
(excercising the mind is just as important as excercising the body)

Take a jog (longer for adults, shorter for pups and seniors)
around your local park or take a hike in the local woods
(taking all the neccesary percautions and the necessary items including water bottles, bowls, food, snacks or treats, and of course a dog first-aid kit.

Try out these great excercise ideas and make up your own for your individual dog's excercise needs (no one knows your dog better than you) and take them to places they like, be it a local park or your relitives, take them to excercise wherever they're allowed to. For other ways to burn energy check out the
"social butterfly" on ways to socialize and get puppy tired.
After all a tired dog is a good dog!