They are a bit of a cumulative hobby because they are such characters.
They do grow on you and they weedle their way into your affections.
So very often you'll find that people will have more than one.
They are very intelligent little dogs.
They're not necessarily the world's most obedient.
So if you wanted to do high class obedience you'd probably buy a labrador instead, but
they're great company.
They love being out in the countryside.
And they are really good companions.
Really good family dogs.
We've got six at the moment.
Probably about as many as we need to have really!
The Dachshund comes in six varieties so there's a huge range of choice.
We split them first into two sizes, we have the standard Dachshund and then the Miniature
Dachshunds.
And then they come in three different coats.
So we have the smooth haired which is the classic one that everybody recognises as the
sausage dog if you like, we have the long haired coat which is more like something like
an Irish Setter type coat, and then the wire haired which is more like a terrier coat.
The temperaments are slightly different in the different varieities.
Probably the wire coated ones are the most extrovert, the long coated ones are probably
more laid back and the smooth probably a bit more of a one person or one family dog.
So a little bit more independent perhaps.
Although they are a member of the hound group, they're really a terrier.
They were a dog that were originally bred for badger control and fox control.
They do have certain terrier characteristics some of which have been largely bred out now
so they do make ideal family dogs.
If you look at the paws - they have fantastic paws for digging.
If you don't want it to dig your garden, give it a space or a sandpit filled with soil or
something where it's got the opportunity to do it.
They can take as much exercise as you'd like to give them.
Ours get at least an hour a day.
Most of that is off the lead in the countryside.
They look like they're lap-dogs, but they really need to be exercised - they will start
bouncing off the walls, they will tend of be destructive and noisy if they don't get
the mental and physical stimulation.
Obviously they have got a very long spine so you want to be careful when exercising.
Build your exercise up appropriately.
They usually make quite good companions.
We would look to maybe re-home one with a nice retired person or couple that's at home
with them for the human company and they don't need that excessive exercise.
You're not going to get gold standard obedience out of them but people do do obedience.
People do mini agility, people do heel work to music - that sort of thing - so they are
trainable.
Just depends how far you want to go but don't expect it to be world class I don't think.
They all need to be groomed at least once a week.
The wire coats have to be hand stripped.
If you need to hand strip a wire, you really need to be taught how to do it or take the
dog to a proper grooming parlour.
Typicially three or four times a year their wire coats would need to be hand stripped.
The longs - obviously they need to be more careful about not allowing the coats to get
tangled, and the smooth really only need a polish with a bristle brush.
Back diseases is the main health issue in the breed.
And it varies from the different varieties.
We did a health survey and found that the minature smooth and standard smooths were
more prone to back disease.
The long haireds were less and the wire haireds were less prone to it as well.
And you really do have to be careful about not letting them run up and down stairs because
that will obviously put extra pressure on the spine.
Because they're a dwarf breed, they're known as achondrodistrophic breed, and with the
dwarfism, the discs in the spine calcify earlier than in a normal legged dog, and it's that
that causes the back problems.
And typically, if you're going to have problems, it'll come on between about 4 and 7 years
old.
If you get through the 7 year barrier, then typically, they will go on to a good old age
without any problems.
Just check your breed lines when you're thinking about buying a puppy.
There has been some aggression in some lines, it's come from the fearfulness.
So you want to be thinking about checking out your breeder.
Making sure that you've seen the parents and that there's no fearfulness in that breed
line.
I think probably the thing to think about is that you'll probably want a second one.