When it comes to dachshund personality, people often misunderstand it. Dachshund temperament is commonly described positively as cheerful and intelligent, but it can also show some negative traits such as stubbornness and bad behaviour.
Knowing your dachshund temperament is very important because it will have a significant influence on how you interact with your sausage dog, the training methods that work for it and a host of other equally important things.
In this article, we’re going to look into the topic of the dachshund temperament and personality.
In particular, we’ll examine advantages and disadvantages of dachshund temperament, its behaviour patterns, as well as how to handle this intricate and fascinating breed.
Understanding Your Dachshund’s Temperament
Dogs come in a plethora of species, and each of these species has temperaments and personalities that are peculiar to them.
Some dogs are known of their aggressiveness while some have just been victims of bad press.
Typically, a dog temperament’s can be said to your dog’s disposition to other people and animals, whether these people or animals are familiar faces or not. Your dog’s temperament is a result of two main things:
- nature
- nurture
Nature or natural traits are the traits that your dog has been hard-wired with. It is heavily dependent on its genes due to hereditary from its ancestry.
Nurture on the other hand are the environmental conditions your dog has been exposed to while growing up and via training. These are behaviours, either good or bad it picked up from living with you and from its environment.
Dachshund Temperament Testing
During dachshund temperament testing you should test for some common check marks:
- Prey drive
- Protectivness
- Stability
- Friendliness
- Aggression
- Ability to discern between a sage or dangerous situation
- Confidence
Although personalities are usually attributed to human beings, dogs also have personalities that define them. All the species of dogs fall into or rather possess one or more of these personalities.
We have herding dog personalities, like the popular German Shepherd, there are the hound dog personalities, these are naturally inquisitive animals, your very own dachshund falls under this category.
Other dog personalities are: the sporting dog personality, the terrier dog personality, the toy dog personality, the working dog personality, and the non-working dog personality.
A common scapegoat of the media bad press is the Pit-bull. I am sure you’ve heard on the news about one rabid Pit bull chasing down young children. Pit bulls have been labelled as the bad boys in the pet dog circle. It is because over the years they were bred to engage in illegal dog fights and had to be aggressive to survive these fights. In all honestly, Pit bulls are a very loving, gentle and protective breed of dogs.
What Are Dachshunds Really Like?
Dachshund temperament is biologically based. Wiener dogs by personality are very intuitive creatures. They have a very acute sense of smell making them a member of the scent hound family.
Dachshunds were bred to stay focused and follow a trail without getting distracted by anything.
If your pet wiener is busy, probably with a bone toy, a ball or another chewable or something more interesting they may not always pay attention to you and it may be a little hard to get its attention back.
For potential dog parents that are looking towards owning a sausage dog, you will have to be very patient with this side of dachshund temperament.
They have rightfully earned themselves a seat at the “world’s stubbornest dogs” table.
Quick fun note, although the sausage dog is considered to be small, (they really are), their bark does carry a punch and sometimes can be mistaken for that of a bigger dog.
Does Dachshunds’ Coat Type Affect Their Temperament?
As you already know,
There are a few differences between the different fur types as regards to dachshund personality.
The long haired dachshund is generally found to be the calmer and quieter variant of the three, the wire-haired Wiener on the other hand is more of the mischievous troublemaker as it has some terrier DNA present in its ancestry.
Lastly, the smooth-haired dachshund acts as a mediator between the two variants. They usually have a median temperament between being mischief and being quiet. They are the most sought after on out of the three types.
Dachshund Main Personality Traits
Curiosity and independence are at the base of dachshund temperament. Sausage dogs are bound to run all over the place chasing after the scent of something unusual. In some areas in Europe, dachshunds are still used for hunting as they were originally bred to do.
Dotson dogs are bursting with energy, and if this energy is not channelled into a skill or an activity they can quickly become a lot troublesome.
Dachshunds require a patient pet parent and sometimes need some certain levels of professional training when growing up.
Sausage dogs are very courageous animals which are quite ironic when you bring their size into consideration. It doesn’t hold them back in any way; they would square up to animals more than two times their size.
Dachshunds can be sometimes paranoid and because of this be aggressive towards strangers and also may cause a fuss around other different dogs.
Asides this, sausage dogs make great family pets because they are very good with children, they are excellent watchdogs and are very loyal companions.
Although they can get a bit jealous when they see you paying attention to other pets and very possessive of their toys.
Socialisation is critical early on for your sausage dog as it exposes it to different people, different scenarios and experiences.
This help to curb your Dachshunds paranoia, suspicion and aggression at an early age, and make it a well behaved and rounded dog when older.
Dachshund Temperament: Activity Requirements
Dachshund puppy activity requirements
When your doxie is still a puppy, its exercise requirements are more free reign.
It is advisable for you to let it play in the garden or your living room extensively as this will be sufficient.
Note, make sure there are no stairs or high surface for it to climb up on and jump off and also, make sure children do not hold it high by its front legs and tug it around.
As the puppy grows, you should start housebreaking it,- take your dachshund out on walks of 20-15 minutes down the street or the road.
It will help your sausage puppy to get more familiar with its environment which includes; traffic, people, other pets and animals around, etc.
It will also help to reduce unnecessary barking later on, and the exercise, in general, will keep you and your dachshund fit.
As your sausage dog grows older (say, six months or so), you should give him longer walks for up to 30 minutes.
Their walk time should increases as they get older. When your dachshund is about one year old, he should be able to lead a walk that is more than 45 minutes long.
Adult dachshund activity requirements
The dachshund as an adult dog requires a minimum of two walks per day, don’t let its appearance fool you, they need the exercise. You can spice up their exercise time, whether it formal exercise or the informal exercise.
For instance, you can introduce treats to the mix, hidden treats treasure hunts, and a little trick of puzzle feeders when you’re not around.
Gear the exercises towards those that are safe for the back and also help to strengthen the back, so it doesn’t create problems when they grow old and frail.
This form of unguided exercise is known as informal exercise. Taking walks, on the other hand, is guided and it is known as a formal exercise where in this case, they do not decide when to stop or not.
Now you should know that this time does not cover all the exercise time needed by your dachshund. Absolutely not!
Since the dachshund temperament is very outgoing, it should be able to play to its heart’s content. Trust me, when it gets tired it will stop on its own and take a break.
Overexercising your sausage dogs does more harm than good; it creates both short and long term defects in your pet. Short term defects that can be early seen include, out-turned feet, compromised top lines, and poor body development.
Let them mature in their own pace and build proper muscle form and tone lest you end up with a very stringy looking dog.
It is important to note that although dachshunds are rugged animals, this does not translate into you overexerting your pet.
Overexcitement will most definitely affect your dachshund’s growth adversely. Don’t be in a hurry, let them grow and endeavour to exercise with methods, times and techniques that are appropriate for their ages.
The Good And The Bad Personality Traits Of a Dachshund
Before embarking on a cumbersome job of owning and caring for a dachshund, it is essential to prepare some sort of checklist to know if you are right for your chosen sausage dog and if it is right for you.
Just like with every other dog, dachshund temperament and personality define its own fair share of problems. Everything in life comes with its advantages and disadvantages.
Below is a list of the pros and cons attached to owing a dachshund.
Dachshund Temperament: PROS
1. Dachshunds are loyal
Dachshunds are loyal to a fault, they have so much love to give, and once they choose you as the recipient of it, there is no stopping it.
You should expect your sausage dog to follow you around and hovering over you just to check if everything is alright
2. Dachshunds are suitable for indoor living
Dachshunds are small and make perfect pets if you live in a big city or a small space, they can be lazy, and this makes them suited for indoor living.
As long as they have access to a sunny side in the house and an occasional walk down the street, they are content.
3. Dachshunds are easy to groom
Sausage dogs are remarkably easy to groom! The smooth haired dachshund tends to stay clean with little or no combing needed, but with the other two coat variants, there might be a need for combing daily or every other day.
4. Dachshunds are social dogs
When your dachshund is properly socialised, they make great play companions. They mingle very well with other sausage dogs (the sight is always comical), and they enjoy being in the company of others.
5. Dachshunds are good guard dogs
After all, the dachshund was bred for the hunt, and it still has some of these skills hard-wired into its system, therefore making the dachshund an impressive guard dog.
Forget about its size; the dachshund’s bark is enough to startle and scare away any over inquisitive neighbor or trespasser
6. Dachshunds are soothing your nerves
Various studies have shown that having a pet (in this case a sausage dog), helps a great deal in stress management and in lowering the blood pressure level!
7. Dachshunds are safe for kids
Dachshund temperament is people oriented and they are perfect dogs when it comes to teaching children the importance of being kind and respectful for all animals.
The pros that come with having a dachshund as a pet sound impressive right? Well before you make that decision and run to your local breeder or pet adoption centre, have a look at some of the cons attached to having a sausage dog as a pet.
The best way to help your dachshund live longer?
Watch our video to find out!
Dachshund temperament: CONS
1. Dachshunds are stubborn
Firstly, dachshunds are STUBBORN! Yes, with capital letters. Doxies are very self-willed, and this can get in the way of their training and housebreaking.
To train your sausage dog, especially in terms of house training you would need to be patient and firm. Dachshunds are hound dogs and are fiercely independent. You’ll just have to show it who is boss and everything should move along smoothly
2. Dachshunds are needy
Secondly, one of the most prominent dachshund personality traits is that they are needy and want a lot of attention.
They will constantly try to get your attention, and this might be a little annoying if you’re trying to get something done. Wiener dogs
3. Dachshunds are manipulative
Also, your dear sausage dog is a manipulative little creature. They know they are cute and are intelligent enough to use this against your loving soul.
They will try and most times succeed in getting you to do what they want. Now you have to hold back even if you’re already affected by their puppy dog eyes and can’t wait to give them a treat. Make sure you stick to your guns and don’t give in.
4. Dachshunds are not always good with children
No doubt, that d
5. Dachshunds are prone to back injuries and obesity
After all, due to genetics and its bodies morphology, dachshunds are naturally predisposed to a host of health conditions, the most common of them occurring at its spine and back.
They have long spines and like to jump around, up and down from high places. For that reason, ordinary activities like going up and down the stairs, running fast around a corner can cause significant injury for them.
Also, dachshunds are voracious eaters and hence are prone to obesity. As you already know, this does not work wonders for their already weak spine.
6. Dachshunds are pricey in maintenance
Additionally, dachshunds are expensive pets. They are costly to maintain due to their myriad of health conditions, from their achy breaky backs to visual atrophy, obesity and the ever incessant urinary tract infections.
Even from their young age a lot of money goes into their vaccination, spaying, feeding and other accessories like collars, tags, beddings, and leashes.
If you still insist on getting a pet sausage dog though, I advise you to take out a form of pet insurance to cover any cost from surgery or treatment that might occur sometime during your course of pet ownership and parenting.
7. Dachshunds love digging and burrowing
Dachshunds have short, stocky legs suited for burrowing and boy do they love burrowing.
They can and will burrow into anything and everything they find, you will have to contend with finding holes in your carpet, chair and even sometimes their beddings.
8. Dachshunds are loud barkers
Finally, expect a lot of noise when getting a sausage dog. They are indeed very vocal dogs and can cook up a racket. Your sausage dog will bark at almost anything it sees. The bark is to notify you it has seen something curious and it thinks it is worth exploring.
Most times, it is usually a false alarm, like a squirrel running across the street or it might be more serious like an intruder. Either way, it is advised you pay attention to that bark either way. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Owning a dachshund is a commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly, they are a handful and need a lot of patience to live with.
Dachshunds Behavioural Problems
To begin to understand what is causing
1. Fears And Phobias
Dogs have an incredible sense of sight, smell, and sound; because of this
Nevertheless, some dogs are not well adjusted to the urban life we live and thus end up being startled and stressed. In particular, d
Also, phobias usually spring up from a host of different reasons, some being a lack of early socialisation, genetics, or a traumatic experience.
2. Separation anxiety
First of all, the most popular fear in dachshunds is separation anxiety. Dachshunds get very attached to their owners and require a lot of attention from them any previous cases of abandonment can trigger this.
Also, if your sausage dog is adopted and it had witnessed the death of a previous owner, this may also cause it to experience separation anxiety.
Besides
3. Aggressive And Reactive Behaviour
Forceful conduct in a puppy alludes to any conduct associated with an assault or a looming assault. It incorporates ending up still and unbending, snarling, exposing teeth, growling, jumping, and nipping or gnawing.
Your initial move toward ceasing this conduct is to make sense of what’s causing your puppy’s hostility.
A few puppies snarl when somebody approaches them while they’re eating or biting a bone, for example. Others respond forcefully toward youngsters or outsiders.
Some causes of dog aggression are:
✔️ Territorial animosity: The canine safeguards its space or your home from what it esteems to be an interloper.
✔️ Protective animosity: The puppy secures individuals from its pack against another creature or an individual. Mother hounds are likewise amazingly defensive of their pups and may end up antagonistic toward any individual who goes close them.
✔️ Possessive hostility: The canine secures nourishment, bite toys, bones, or another Social animosity: The pooch endeavours to procure the alpha spot in a gathering. Puppies that are not mingled appropriately with different mutts and individuals may likewise display hostility.
Noting when your puppy ends up forceful and the conditions encompassing the conduct has a critical influence in deciding your subsequent stage.
There are various ways you can deal with the threatening vibe and help your canine resist the urge to panic, yet it will require significant investment, consistency, and perhaps the assistance of an expert.
How To Manage Your Dachshund Temperament
Dachshund temperament is active and social. They are bursting with energy and are fun-loving dogs. However, from time to time you will have to control this energy so your pet doesn’t become disob
Dealing with an Overexcited Dachshund
In case your dachshund is always a bit too excited,
At the point when dachshunds are energised and bubbly, this is frequently on the grounds that they have abundance vitality they haven’t had the capacity to burn off.
As a general rule, your dachshund should
On the off chance that climate or convenience doesn’t enable you to invest energy outside with your canine, use hound toys to get your dog going around inside your home.
When you come home, you should expect your dotson dog to be overjoyed and elated to see you. This might be hard, but you should try calm your dachshund down to avoid any accidents.
Potty training
An over-energized dachshund might be sometimes blameworthy of energy peeing. These are the mutts that pee while playing, when you return home, or when individuals visit.
To help your pup with this issue (and spare that extravagant floor covering you just purchased), have a go at keeping all recess outside, or on an uncommonly arranged region of paper and little dog cushions.
Along these lines, if there is a little mishap due to over-fervour, it doesn’t need to be a major ordeal.
At the point when there is a mishap, don’t revile or rebuff your little guy. Essentially tidy it up unobtrusively and leave the little dog (or puppy, if this is going on with a more seasoned pooch) alone.
Give your young doggie treats when it pees in the right spot. You may even need to disregard the canine when you arrive home, as it allows your pooch to quiet down alone.
At the point when the puppy pees while out on strolls, give it applause and treats. The equivalent goes for when the canine pees in assigned zones (which isn’t the mat or the architect cover).
Every one of these things ought not just to enable your pooch to get out from under its propensity for peeing when energised, yet will likewise assist you with cultivating a more settled, increasingly sure puppy.
Dachshund Temperament & Behaviour Correction
Taking in mind dachshund temperament, which is indeed a choleric type, sometimes behaviour correction is needed. In dachshund behaviour correction, the first step is to engage it in socialisation.
Socialising your dog is the most important step in training your sausage pet. Dachshunds require a lot of outdoor time to soak in sunlight, different people and other animals.
The effect of poor socialising when the dog is young becomes obvious when the adult dachshund it growls, barks, suddenly urinate or run away from strange animals or people. Apparently, once developed, suspiciousness becomes a permanent behaviour trait.
Socialisation of your pet dachshund should start when it is as little as six weeks all the way till is six months old and in some cases must continue for a little while longer.
Your sausage dog will only get comfortable if it is around familiar people and animals. He will only become relaxed with the people or animals with which he lives on a regular basis.
In correcting undesirable behaviours from your dachshund, I cannot overstress that you never hit your dog. This has no positive impact on your dog.
Besides, it doesn’t correct behaviour in any way, neither does it foster trust with your dachshund. The only result that comes out of hitting your dachshund are negative results, it makes them depressed, fearful and in extreme results leads to aggression.
The only truly trusted way to correct and change your sausage dog’s behaviour is through consistency, training and offering rewards for good behaviours.
When to See Your Vet
Dogs don’t usually grumble about for no reason. If all of a sudden they are violent or show peculiar practices, then it may have a basic restorative issue.
That is to say, your dachshund might have an infection that can cause animosity to incorporate hypothyroidism procure neurological issues, for example, encephalitis, epilepsy, and cerebrum
For this reason, it is essential to talk to your veterinarian to decide if this is the situation with your pooch. Treatment or prescription may make enormous upgrades in your canine’s conduct. If this isn’t the problem, the next step is to call in a professional trainer.
When to Call In A Professional Trainer
In the event that your vet has precluded a medicinal issue, it’s a great opportunity to bring in an expert puppy mentor or behaviourist.
First thing to remember, if this is a complicated issue, you shouldn’t endeavour to fix it all alone. An expert can enable you to make sense of what’s causing your canine’s misbehaviour and make an arrangement to oversee it.
Comments
Recommend a trainer(s) for aggression toward people and other dogs.
Arlington, Virginia