Stefan has been writing about dachshunds since 2016, when the breed took over his page, his inbox, and his life. He reports; the doxies decide.
Doxie Life
Dachshunds dig because they were literally engineered for it. "Dachshund" means "badger dog" in German, and for over 600 years these dogs were bred to pursue prey underground — digging into burrows, navigating tunnels, and fighting badgers in the dark. That instinct didn't disappear when
Food & Weight
Most homemade dog food recipes you'll find online are nutritionally incomplete — a UC Davis study found that 95% failed to meet basic nutrient standards. For dachshunds, the stakes are higher: the wrong fat content can trigger pancreatitis, and the wrong calorie math can load extra weight onto a
Doxie Life
Dachshunds are one of the clingiest dog breeds because they were selectively bred for centuries to work in close partnership with a single hunter — following them into underground badger dens where maintaining proximity was literally a survival mechanism. That cooperative hunting DNA, combined with a documented oxytocin bonding loop triggered
Back & Mobility
Dachshunds are among the dog breeds with a higher rate of epilepsy, and miniature wirehaired dachshunds carry a specific genetic seizure disorder called Lafora disease. If your doxie has a seizure, the single most important thing you can do is stay calm, keep them safe, time it, and call your
The best crate for a dachshund is a wire crate sized for the breed — 24 inches for miniatures, 30 inches for standards — with a firm (not squishy) pad that supports the spine. For IVDD crate rest, size up to 36 inches to fit a pee pad at one end and
Doxie Life
Dachshund puppies start losing their 28 baby teeth around 3.5 to 4 months old, and most have all 42 adult teeth by 6 to 7 months. But dachshunds sit at the intersection of three dental risk factors — small breed, long-nosed skull, and breed-specific genetic malocclusion — that make
Doxie Life
Yes — dachshunds ranked number one for stranger-directed aggression in a University of Pennsylvania study of over 15,000 dogs. But "aggressive" is a misleading label for what's really happening. What you're seeing is a badger-hunting dog whose courage, pain sensitivity, and territorial
Food & Weight
Dachshunds are among the breeds with a documented predisposition to gastrointestinal problems — including adverse food reactions, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, and even a breed-specific form of inflammatory bowel disease found almost exclusively in miniature dachshunds. If your doxie's stomach seems pickier than every other dog you've ever
A dachshund that yelps when picked up is usually telling you something hurts — and in a breed where 1 in 4 will face disc disease, that yelp deserves a same-day vet call. Most yelping dachshunds can still walk and are at the earliest, most treatable stage — but IVDD can
Yes, dachshunds shed. All three coat types — smooth, longhaired, and wirehaired — shed year-round, with seasonal increases in spring and fall. No dachshund is hypoallergenic. The real question isn't whether they shed, but which coat type sheds in the way that'll drive you the most crazy.
Back & Mobility
Cushing's disease (hyperadrenocorticism) is a hormonal disorder where a dog's adrenal glands overproduce cortisol, and dachshunds are one of the most predisposed breeds — roughly 1 in 30 to 40 dachshunds will develop it, compared to about 1 in 400 dogs in the general population. It typically
Back & Mobility
Dachshunds are genetically predisposed to myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD), the most common heart condition in dogs. A peer-reviewed study found that 63.6% of dachshunds without any audible heart murmur already showed echocardiographic evidence of mitral valve regurgitation — meaning the disease can be silently progressing long before your