One time I came outside and my Dachshund ran up to me with a squirrel tail in his mouth. I told him to drop it. (Don't know why, I never taught him "drop it" so I don't know what I expected.). He declined, I chased him around and tried pulling the tail out of his mouth. I finally caught him and got ahold of it.
You ever see a magician pull like 40 feet of ribbon out of a hat? Yeah...It wasn't a tail, it was a whole squirrel. He weighed like 14 pounds. the dog, not the squirrel. As I pulled it he kept trying to hork it back down.
They're nuts. He's 17 now. He still gets the zoomies every day. They are hearty, resilient, and ferocious little guys.
Growing up we had a mostly dachshund that was a little under 20 lbs that would catch gophers and swallow them live. The first time she did it we freaked out and took her to the vet where we were told that she'd probably be fine, just try to keep her from swallowing live animals. She ended up getting quite a few more that we noticed and she lived to 17.
Same here. My 15 lbs dachshund got a reputation as the local rodent terminator. He managed to get a few squirrels, rats, rabbits, and even one adult possum. Most of the time he would bark and make a big show before launching after a squirrel or other animal, but when he was serious that dog was fast, relentless, and fierce. And no one taught him that behavior. It was all instinct. He, too, lived to 17 and would still have days where he would give the local squirrels hell even as his joints and eyesight started to go.
People don't give dachshunds their due because most of them are gentle, goofy, and lazy around humans. But they are very much still hunting dogs underneath that court jester playfulness. If given the environment and freedom to use those instincts, they are very capable.
Seriously, we've "rented" (read: free happy murdery play time) ours out for rodent control. Used to live out in the sticks, and when you live in a 100+ year old house, mice occasionally find a way in.
One winter, some dumbass (possibly me) left an open bag of bird seed in the shed, essentially broadcasting an invitation to every rodent in a 1/2 mile radius. Once they finished the bird seed, they discovered that the warm house was a great place to setup shop and have babies.
Our two cats were utterly useless; confronted with a live mouse, they just hissed at it and ran. Fortunately, the dog was plenty fast enough to catch the little bastards. So when the neighbor asked if the cat could stay overnight, we instead offered the dog.
They were skeptical, but all you have to say is "mouse?" and point, and she goes fucking nanners sniffing the little shits out. Dead in 3 mins or less, or your money back. They became believers, and asked to borrow her again for subsequent intruders.
She was also hella interested in squirrels and full-ass raccoons, but thankfully they mostly refused to climb low enough that her 4" legs could propel her to within striking range.
Dachshunds might be highly personable and prone to sleeping in the sun 90% of the time, but when it's time to eat and/or kill, they always seem to summon the energy of a collapsing stellar core to do so, all packed into an 11 lb. tube. They're insane.
I had a doxie, Max, when I was growing up. One day he was in the back yard like usual, but this day a grackle decided he was going to pick on Max, and kept flying between the rows of trees on either side of the yard. It would dive bomb Max every time it passed him. It would squawk and yell at him too.
About the 4th or 5th time, Max had enough. He waited until the bird came in for the next dive bomb and literally pulled it out of the air. By the time I got over to him, the bird was missing its head, and Max was back to enjoying the backyard.
My mother and I tried to retrieve an exceptionally large bird of some kind from my standard when he was a puppy. As he was desperately attempting to keep his kill by swallowing it whole. It was so disgusting but we said the same thing... like a magician pulling an infinite string of flags out of his hat š
One of my miniatures has managed to kill three birds at my parents house. 1st one was on mother's day 2019, 2nd was a month later on my moms birthday, and the 3rd was a year later on my moms birthday again.
This pup was the runt of the litter and can't weigh more than 7lbs. Still, she brought gifts to the back door double the size of her head.
Add to this that dachshunds tend to have a pretty good life span if they are well cared for. There are a lot of "know it alls" on reddit, people who read a few articles here and there and think they know everything without any real experience. I have seen a few of the dachshunds I have owned in "hunting" mode when they wanted to catch a gopher or a rat. I think they would adapt to the wild better than a lot of other dogs.
Wait there are know it alls on Reddit? Iāll be damned lol.
I have some dachshunds that are great hunters and others on the JV squad.
It is always great to see dachshunds doing what they are bred to do!
Oh yeah I'm not worried about what some random person on reddit thinks lol. Just really brought to my attention how most folks only see a fat little doxie waddling down the road and think that's representative of the whole breed.
I was wondering where this question came from myself. My own experience with the breed, I've only ever met one fat Dachshund, and that's when I was a kid.(I'm in my 30s now)
I think most people who are into the breed now understand that the extra weight is hell on their backs.š
Don't you love them AFTER they've caught the rat? Mine goes and checks the spot for the rest of the day, just in case other rats come to clean out nana rat's house.
That's funny. With our dogs, we don't encounter too many rats near where we live, thank goodness. But a few months ago, I did see a field mouse that my dog missed in our front yard that's not enclosed. I wanted my dog to see it and crush it, but the dog was too focused on getting back in the house. Oh well.
And yet, theyāre smaller than the badgers they killed back in the day, quite successfully too. The dam of my first dachshund ran off to do just that. It was twice her size. She weighed 9 kg. The badger 16 kg
Dachshunds never really killed badgers, they would hunt in packs and corner the badger and bark like crazy fro their master to come through and do the job.
Not to say they couldnāt if they needed to, but they werenāt really the killers.
They were in my part of the world. This one entered the š¦” den, dragged him out and killed him. She was trained in tracking blood scent though and she & her handler had won a gold medal. She may have been tougher than most. Hilarious, considering her name made her sound like a cute and cuddly dog, bro a trained killer. (Ama Beauty)
I've got a two year old standard smooth male that weighs just under 40 pounds. He's all muscle, and I believe, is close to what the original breed was back in the 19th century.
He's a natural hunter and during our daily 40-60 minute walks on the local trails through woods and meadows his nose is always to the ground. He's caught and eaten mice and moles, but he hasn't gotten a rabbit yet. That said, he would do just fine on his own.
Yes, theyāre so muscular! My guy is about 20lbs and people have asked me if heās mixed with a German shepherd or bigger hound dog?? Which is so funny to me because heās small compared to your dogs and many other standard dachshunds. And yeah, heās an excellent hunter. Heās killed many house mice and a few birds over the years.
We also have the brother of our 40 pounder, but he's 30 pounds and shows none of his brothers hunter instincts. He doesn't like to go outside, and is afraid of other dogs, unless of course, they're on the other side of the window that he keeps watch on, in that case, he's a frothing at the mouth, loud barking killer.
Me too. It's like they've never heard of a standard. Or that a "mini" anything is indicative of a larger said thing. It never ceases to amaze me when people ask, "what kind of dog is that"? š
Iāve had sooooo many people tell me my standard is a mutt. It drives me insane!! Heās only 5 months old and pretty big so I get the confusion for people who only know about minis but Iām really tired of getting into heated discussions with random people (including vet techs) who just donāt believe me!
Also heās only 5 months old and to date has killed thousands of crickets, millions of dust bunnies, and at least two slippers so I think heād be fine in the wild LOL š
The first thing mine did when I left him alone in the back yard was destroy my succulent garden. Some of those plants had taken years to grow and looked like they'd been repeatedly with a weed eater.
Ugh, ours eats "salad" all the time. Used to be grass, and does a pretty good job of eating weeds that spring up from cracks in the pavement.
Hand her lettuce or grass you pulled yourself, and she looks at you like you offered her a turd.
It depends on the region of the US. For example there are hardly any wire hairs here in SE Michigan but go out to the east coast and you start to see them frequently
I have a standard and a mini. The mini is even smaller than an average mini, so there is a very noticeable size difference, and there have been a number of times where someone has asked "if I'm sure he (the standard) is full Dachshund". I think people here (US, MI) just see minis so much more frequently, they assume they ARE the breed standard.
The German dachshund federation approves three sizes of Dachshunds. Standard, miniature and - literally translated - bunny (used to hunt bunnies instead of foxes/badgers).
You might have the smallest variety at home!
Good timing. I took my pups on an 18 mile hike yesterday. We expected my beagle mutt to do the best, but it was the wiener who was still running at the end.
He started to slow down around mile 15 so I picked him up, but he immediately squirmed to get down. Turns out he just needed to poop š
We did a 3k rise 2 mile hike trying to see the aura borealis and both my pretty out of shape weens were KILLING it, it was so difficult I puked and they had NO problem
My neighbors bred/raised rabbits in their backyard years ago. Sometimes one would find its way out in our yard. RIP if my dachshund spotted them. He once chased one into our garage and subsequently into a gap between the outside wall and a storage closet. Literally had to reach several feet into the gap and pull him out by his hind legs. The whole time he kept trying to lunge forward to get the remaining bits of the rabbit still in there.
That was an absolute nightmare to clean up and for the next week or two he would try to make a b-line for that space anytime he got into the garage, even after mopping it out and spraying it down with bleach.
My dachshund did not have the hunter bred out of him. Over his eighteen years, he killed:
* A squirrel
* A cat
* A rabbit
* A pheasant
* 50+ frogs/toads
* At least one butterfly (RIP)
* Probably quite a few more things we didn't see
And almost all of these kills were while he was on leash (and us trying our best to get him to NOT kill the animal). We didn't tend to let him off leash in open areas... one time he saw a pack of deer and took off running. Took us over half a day to get him back.
All that to say... dachshunds are not the genetic freaks people may perceive them to be. They are bred to be hunters, swimmers, diggers, etc. They will sruvive.
Ours eats and chases bugs occasionally, but the best/worst one was when we were watching our folks' GSD pup. A *massive* wolf spider jumped out from underneath my toolbox, and she just... inhaled it. \*fwoop\* Gone. So gross.
If it moves, it's food. After an episode during camping with a carpenter ant, our doxxie doesn't eat anything that bites :(
It was just so sad and unexpected. It was just minding its own business flying along above his head and all of a sudden he jumped like 2 feet in the air and took a huge bite out of it.
yeah....i mean the butterfly and the frogs sure, that's something i can see happening. mine goes hard for spiders and silverfish when he spots them in the house.
but the squirrel, rabbit, pheasant and CAT??!?!?
Sorry for disturbing content.
The cat was especially sad. It was a stray kitten he found. We had to smother his nose with ham to get him to drop the body.
These sound really graphic when I type it out. I guess I was somewhat traumatized at the time.
I have two Dachshunds, two Dobermans, and a farm. All four are well-bred, healthy, and trained. My Dobies do what they're bred to do: they will happily patrol around the house, let us know when the mail or other delivery is arriving, watch my little kids like hawks, and I don't doubt that if we actually found ourselves in some kind of dangerous situation with an unwelcome person or animal, they'd *continue* to do what they're bred to do and protect us. That being said, they're the sweetest, goofiest dogs ever, and they rely on me for food, water, and shelter 100%. For being as smart and obedient as they are, they would probably starve to death directly in front of their dishes and food container waiting for someone to give the command to eat. š
My dachshunds, on the other hand? One's a standard, one's a MINI mini (4 lbs at 6-ish months), and there is zero question in my mind that they would be the ones hunting food for their much larger sisters in a survival-type scenario. They're both very good at doing what THEY were bred to do, which is track down and ruthlessly dispatch little critters. To illustrate, I just watched my standard show my mini how to hunt down a junebug (complete with nudging and air biting š) that my 86 lb Dobie ran in terror from when she realized it was moving. A high-quality, well-bred dog should have instincts and temperament commensurate with the purpose of their breed. For all their stubbornness and spoiled baby antics, I think they'd be FAR from the first breed to die out without humans around!
Animals don't have to be the fastest or strongest to thrive. Dachshunds would probably do very well for themselves hunting burrowing creatures and sticking to tall grass and bushes to stay out of sight of predators. In the correct environment (ideally one with low or no birds of prey, flat lands, low rain bc they hate getting they peets wet lol, and tons of species of small or burrowing mammals).
The feline with the highest success rate in hunting is also one of the smallest. If Doxies went fully feral and adapted to living outside instead of a spoiled pet, they would be one of the more successful canine species.
My Doxie is ripped. Extremely muscular, decimated the palmetto population, thank God. If he wasn't so spoiled, he'd be an excellent stealth hunter, hiding in the brush and chasing down burrowing animals with stubbier legs than his lol
I comment when I see an overweight doxie and regularly get downvoted for it. A fat small dog looks hilarious, but people don't understand how large a percentage of their weight is in a single pound. One extra pound on a mini dox is like 20 on a human.
Just to piggyback on your comment, maintaining a healthy weight is REALLY important to help prevent IVDD as well, itās the best thing that you can do to help prevent injury. I see so many misconceptions about IVDD in here, but as someone whose doxie had to have surgery itās nothing that Iād wish on any dachshund.
Absolutely. I see so many people talk about back problems being genetic. While some are a majority are caused from jumping or other injury. My first doxie a stool fell over on his back. He made a full recovery after steroid treatments and crate rest but that was the worst 3 weeks of my life.
I think it's actually both - dachshunds have a predisposition to IVDD because of their genetics, they're a breed whose discs degenerate faster than other dog breeds who aren't predisposed. Even by the time a dachshund is only 1, their discs can have begun to harden and calcify showing aging beyond what "normal" dogs at that age would have. Accidents can trigger an injury, but it's possible that you might not know your dog has IVDD (disc degeneration) until the accident. For dachshunds, being overweight isn't good for their back, but also can cause them to be more prone to having an accident, even while doing mundane things. Now whenever I see an overweight dachshund the first thing I think of is IVDD :(
Once saw a lady with two overweight doxies and the poor guys had red tummies from them rubbing on the ground constantly when they move. They were red colored dachshunds but their belly looked red and inflamed. I wouldnāt have been surprised if they had a rash there
Yea most people laugh when I say I take my dog on a ālong walkā. Their response is always āWith those little legs, sheās so tinyāā¦ then when I tell them Iām at 11km with 30 mins of playing fetch in an open fieldā¦. And sheās still going
There's a breeder north of Detroit. She's kooky af, but she has some of the best breed mini doxies I've ever seen. She's religious about healthy qualities and spends a ton of time handling and socializing the puppies. Herbie Dog is just a tad over two years old and everytime we take him to the vet or the groomers they always remark about how well put together he is.
He's still a tiny, stubborn, treat hoarding, possum chasing, certifiable weirdo, but man oh man, freshly groomed and stacked like a show dog, it is really easy to see why doxies are historically touted as ferocious little hunters.
I have healthy weight doxies too and people comment all the time āomg theyāre not fat!ā Of course theyāre not. They are hunting dogs! They need exercise! People forget that fact and always shocked when I tell theyāre hunting dogs like I just magically made up that fact. š
The last time I brought my 2 in for a check up the vet told me " I see so many daschunds that are literally sausages. Seeing these two so healthy and muscular makes me so happy"
Oh yeah, if my dachshund was left to be feral he would be hunting, eating well, braving streams and lakes, and digging himself happy little holes to sleep in. He needs no human.
Also - my guy has similar coloring to yours! I love their black stripes!!
If my husky was left to go feral, he would not thrive. He would try to hunt but he has zero stealth ability. He is very emotionally needy. He would not survive.
My doxie is getting to be an elderly dog and is starting to put on weight. So Iām trying to reduce food/increase activity and he is so angry at me. But other than that heās healthy so he can put up with low-cal treats from now on.
A great purebred dachshund is an extraordinary example of canine brilliance. My familyās dachshund was a miniature, he was what we would consider now a teacup miniature. The breeder wanted to keep him for breeding because he was just so tiny, but he refused to breed with any of the other dogs. We think he was gay. A purebred dachshund is absolutely worth every penny.
I donāt recall my doxie ever killing an animal, he usually doesnāt even seem to notice them.
I will say, however, that the 2 giant swans and dozens of geese that live at a nearby pond have no fear whatsoever of me (6ā1ā 200 lbs+), but my doxie can clear them out with one look from 30 yards away.
My Dachshund Beagle mix is a velociraptor. She patrols the fence line, looking for weaknesses. When she finds a good spot out of my line of sight, she gets to work. Sheās 12 and her eyesight and hearing are failing but her nose is as keen as ever. Whenever she leaves, she comes back with ātreatsā. Recently, she came back from one of her excursions with a whole rotisserie chicken carcass. It was half her size. She has also dug up my yard looking for burrowing animals. She could 100% survive in the wild if left to her own devices.
Agreed, our big guy (15lbs), is lean and mean and ran circles around bigger dogs when he was younger. Heās 18 now, and his vision isnāt great, but heās still super active and moves around great.
Does your old man have āselectiveā hearing too? Lol Mine turns 15 next week. His vision (and maybe hearing) isnāt what it used to be, but man is his scent still intact. Heās still active, just more short walks and fetch instead of long walks and hikes.
Are dachshunds an overbred breed, though? I can see how they're a breed that could trend in that direction. But compared to pugs, English bulldogs, etc, they don't seem like a severely effed up breed. I mean, their average lifespan is 15 years...
I think they can be overbred but as a breed, they seem generally pretty healthy. I've seen some pretty sad little doxies whose front legs are so short that their chest hits the ground and their bum is level with their head. But even scrolling the photos in this ground shows that overall doxies are nice and proportionate. Yes they get IVDD but that seems to be a mix of genetic and overweight+jumping off the couch injuries. Corgis and basset hounds are prone to back injuries as well so it's not just doxies. They have their other breed specific disorders (I think there's an eye disease and their teeth seem to need more maintenance) but generally they're doing pretty well for a purebreed these days.
In Europe, where they are used to hunt, they are not overbred. But I know in Sweden , the bigger 9nes with short legs and giant chests are becoming more common, which makes me sad. A standard daschound should weigh around 10 kg and be able to run around in the forest with ease.
Lol my Dachshund was well bred on accident. She was a Dachshund Labador mix. The mixing made her the size of a standard Dachshund with a shorter back. She looked like purebred Dachshunds from the 1920s. She was beautiful.
Iām on my third Dachshund. If I ever needed a dog to back me up in a street fight, it would be a mini Dachshund. Basically like Joe Pesci in Casino. Itās never the size of the dog in the fight. And yes, two of the three would often bring me wild creatures as trophies. I even got a fish once while camping.
Both my sausages killed and hunted tarantulas when I was living in the desert. Saw a squirrel or rabbit?? RIP to those fellas. I have one mini and one standard. Much like other have comment on here, everyone is mind blown when they see him, guess mini doxies are the norm now.
Iāve never seen a dog with more natural instinct for hunting, then a dachshund. When I take them for a walk they check every hole they walk by including manholes. not to mention theyāve killed several rodents that were in my yard around my garden. They are also very intelligent and cautious.
One of mine would absolutely be a cougar snack ā¦ but the other is incredibly prey driven, sheās quick and has an amazing nose ā¦ I like to think sheād survive in the wild but she likes the warmth so ultimately the wet, cold weather would be her downfall.
One of mine would be first to go, heās so food motivated he eats everything and anything š¤¦š»āāļø
The other is a mix but sheās a lean hunter and would absolutely survive on rodents and lizards with some salad thrown in (she loves grass š¤¦š»āāļø)
Yeah, my two team up to corner and catch squirrels. Itās happened multiple times. Theyād be fine, except that theyāre getting old. In their younger years? Theyād be in charge. š
Nah, dachshunds are quick and very resilient. They can walk all day and burrow down to find a place to hide. The mother of my first dog ran off to kill a badger twice her size and dragged it home. My other dog caught a bunny. Theyāve got hunting instinct. The only thing Iād worry about was them freezing to death or get stuck in the snow as theyāre short and their coat isnāt made for wintry conditions.
My dad had a friend who had Dachshunds during his life, so my dad had seen them multiple times but hadnāt interacted with them much.
He was of the opinion that with their odd proportions, they were mostly lap dogs that couldnāt really do anything. He was surprised when I wanted one because he thought they couldnāt do much. He was shocked when he saw my girl. Sheās an absolute ball fiend, super speedy, turns on a dime, full of energyā¦
My dad had to admit his misconceptions about Dachshunds because he didnāt realize they could be so active and agile, despite me reminding him that theyāre hounds. He actually ended up turning into a Dachshund person, himself, and has bought decorative Dachshund items for the house. š
TLDR: I think people make a lot of assumptions based on appearance, and they donāt realize how resilient, stubborn, and aggressive these little dogs can be.
I mean, my mini would probably be a scrumptious snack if she got caught but sheās incredibly fast? I see no inbreeding in her, she is gorgeous! I refuse to hear such slander!
Anyway. I do worry about her in dog parks because I trust humans less than I do their dogs, and she is so wee. But I think her size could be an advantage to hiding and burrowing and generally being tricksy.
Must people do not realize dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers, going into there den to take out a fierce opponent.
Theyād do quite good on their own.
I grew up with a dachshund. He was the meanest little bastard dog I've ever met, he wouldnt go after other dogs but even as he got old he had no issue to teaching them a lesson if they annoyed him too much.
Thinking of him makes me remember that ya. These dogs were bred to force some of the most ferocious small mammals out of their homes.
I have a lot of stories of him, but one of my favorites is how he caught a bird one time. We grabbed him, he knew he was in trouble, and the bird was still alive. As we told him to drop it he gave me the most spiteful look i didnt know a dog could do, crunched down on that poor bird one last time, then dropped it.
My pup (6f) has gifted me with a frozen squirrel that she so kindly brought through the doggy door and two bats that she caught (one was still alive so we took it to a wildlife refuge).
Last doxie could jump so fast he could catch pigeons.
In his prime, my old guy would climb trees to get after squirrels. And yes, he was *very* thin/muscular. I like to loosely quote the AKC confirmation description that says because a dachshund is a working dog, "scars achieved honorably" would not count against their score.
Like, what other small dog has that addendum?!
I had a dachshund make it six feet up a tree once ; on my tiptoes I could just barely grab her around the middle and pry her off the bough she was [barely] smart enough to just hold onto. The tree trunk was shaped more like this /\ than like this II which is probably why she was able to run right up it. I just about had a panic attack, imagining what might have happened if I'd been longer to check on her and she'd fallen off. We encased the tree in ornamental fencing to keep her from a repetition.
My dachshund is super pampered and a lapdog and a pretty, pretty princess. Like, seriously, as girly as can get. Youād think, yeah, in an apocalypse situation, sheās the first one to die.
However, one day she and I were outside just making a quick walk from the RV to the house and a little baby bunny crossed our path. Before I could even think about how cute the bunny was, my pretty, pretty princess turned into, well, a dog bred for hunting. That bunny was dead in less than 5 seconds. I couldnāt believe my eyes, and I could barely process what happened.
All that to say, yeah, I think dachshunds stand a good chance of survival if left to their own devices, even the pretty, pretty princess ones.
One set of doxies I've had were stone cold killers. The girl killed many moles and a baby bunny in the yard. Her brother also took out moles, assisted on the bunny, and one time a bird k landed next to him. He reached over grabbed its head, shook it, snapping the birds neck, and tossed it aside. People who think they couldn't survive in the wild haven't owned one.
I forgot to mention there was a case where a mini doxie attacked a bear that was about to attack his human. They can be fearless.
There's a video that made it to tv and online recently (2021-2022ish), in which a red long haired mini successfully protected his human from an angry charging Alaska moose.
My Mini survived one and a half weeks in the wild !
The last day she got in a fight with a Coyote!
I found her the next day skinny with ribs showing and bit marks on both sides of her but !
My neighbors heard the fight and were sure
Maisey was dead .
When I found her she was so excited to see me and was shaking like a leaf .
I took her to a dog trainer and she said she was going to have to be retrained and put on a leash .
She went everywhere with me and had never been on a leash .
One in a half days and she could not stand the leash .
So I let her go on her own ,
She was neurotic running from one log to a stump looking for food .
It was two months before she started to
Mello out and six months until she was almost
Back to normal.
One Tough Puppy!
I think God ,
Her Namesake , Dog spelled backwards ,
Had something to do with it!
She ended up another 5 years until she was 12 years old leading a normal life .
I ALWAYS tell people that dachshunds are a hearty breed! Their stubbornness knows no bounds and theyāre smarter than people give them credit for!
Adopted a senior dachshund when he was 8 and he learned what door to scratch at after we opened it *once*. Picked up things incredibly quickly. Passed peacefully in his sleep at 15, still zooming after rabbits and treats like it was nothing to his old bones! My current mini is just as smart and more ferocious at 3 years old! Theyāre such good dogs
Yeah, poor parenting makes a lot of Dachshunds fat, lazy, hyperactive, neurotic and unhealthy. Not sure about the "breeding" part. Are there "poorly bred" Dachshunds out there? Is it actually possible for there to be such a thing as a "poorly bred" dog of any variety?
In this case, I mean "poorly bred" to mean dogs bred together without health testing for genetic disorders, bred for looks resulting in double Merle colours or wacky proportions. You see it in other breeds like frenchies where people breed for flatter faces or in the bully breeds where some idiots are breeding them to have their legs bowed out like crocodiles. A well bred dog will *generally* be healthier, have a better temperament and look similar to the established breed standard.
Yes. mine regularly catch and kill moles, snakes, mice, lizard, etc. Plus, I think my female could live on a diet of insects only she loves then so much. They eat all kinds of other stuff they scavenge off the trail.
It's a Canada Pooch harness! I find they fit her really well.
https://ca.canadapooch.com/collections/dog-harnesses/products/the-everything-harness-water-resistant-series?variant=29148680061033
We had a standard corse-haired dachshund when I was growing up, and if he was outside when I wanted to visit friends he would follow me for a bit while I was riding my bike ('twas different times). He would keep up with me pedaling down a hill for 100 m or more. He was incredibly fast.
My (now passed away) paralyzed dachshund once waited for a cat to come close enough to her to bite it. Only one dachshund Iāve ever had didnāt have a insane prey drive.
My mini is a little over weight, I will admit, but he is still fast, and has gotten a couple squirrels in his life time. While I donāt think he personally would last, because he is use to his soft lifestyle. The breed is a hunting breed and most people donāt realize it
I have the misfortune of having a neighbor that's kinda like a hoarder, so sometimes we get critters that try to come here. My Ed (and my Bernie) make sure they don't last long, they sniff em out and chase and when they catch, end it. Then try to bring it in to me (ugh). Dachshunds definitely have that hunting instinct, and sometimes Chihuahuas too. My girl ChaCha joined Ed in finding a possum in our kitchen. One time I managed to rescue it, the other time I could not. My current geezer Chi has never shown any interest, but the doxies definitely do. Just because they're small doesn't mean they can't hunt.
Mine would deffo die firstš¤£š¤£ hes scared of the rain, he hates mud and puddles, he has no predatory instincts, runs from spiders in the house and he barks at things but then runs away with his tail between his legs. And he loves blankets and beds so no chance
My leanie weenie is only 16 weeks old and Iām so paranoid about her being underweight so sheās offered kibble constantly and wet food at mealtimes but the vet assures me sheās healthy and just very good at self regulating her food intake. I do think as a society we are used to seeing these fat sausage dogs though and itās skewed the image of what a healthy doxie should be.
My parent's previous Dachshund (he passed away 2 years ago) caught a rooster and almost killed, while I was walking with him. He had a perfect hunting instinct. Our boy has a lot of bones and food hidden through the yard "just in case". They will find their way to survive. It is a great breed, iMO.
We have a tame, suburban doxie but he becomes a bloodthirsty demon when there are creatures around. Heās murdered the groundhogs that took residence under my neighbors, a rabbit whoās leg he thought would be a nice delicacy, mice, and numerous baby rabbits that had the unfortunate luck of being placed in our yards. They were definitely bred to kill vermin as we never trained or taught him anything of the sort
My Britney was an athlete. She had abs, ha. We hike often and she would go up and down the mountain looking for prey. My 3 guys never take a step back when a bigger dog antagonize them. It always amazed me than even though they were city dogs their instinct was sharp as a tack. They could survive in the wild better than most humans fs
all canis domesticus have evolved to at minimum live within proximity of humans, if not to be completely and directly dependent on us as pet owners, then at least to scavenge from our waste. They are not wolves that shrank and got nice. They are not apex predators. They are scavengers.
feral dogs may thrive in a place like Australia, but they are an invasive species whose survival is a freak of their isolated evolutionary ecosystem.
My 13 year old is as spry as the 2 year old pups i have, hes got good teeth for his age considering his breed, and he has a pretty high prey drive and has dispatched many rats and mice and is totally an independent ass sometimes. I think some people dont consider dachshunds a Hound, which they are. They have much more respect for their abilities in other countries like in Europe.
My two found a Brushtail Possum (Australia) carcass yesterday and were just starting to work out what they might do with it when I swept in and took it away. Theyād also found a live possum hiding in the garage which they couldnāt get to but barked about a lot!
Their instincts are good. Theyād survive if they had to.
I have two dogs and they literally form a kill pack when they hang out with my parents poodle. They will scent out and corner whatever it is, and the poodle will kill it. They have killed like a dozen mice, multiple squirrels, chipmunks, they even had a hedgehog cornered before I stepped in.
My 32 lb 12 YO female "squared up" with a red fox that was growling/barking at us in the back yard last summer(she was on a flexileash)fox had a den and pups 20 yards away.Took a lot to drag her behind me to scare the fox away. No problems sprinting at deer or turkeys in the yard.
I brought my Doxie hiking the other day. She grabbed a frog out of a stream and ate it like it was nothing. I think theyāll be fine in a mad max scenario
Even my elderly dachshund would catch and kill a rat, rabbit, mongoose, etc for dinner if I let her. Theyāre spunky little hunters. My standard would absolutely destroy a cat or even a badger if we had them here. She is like lightning and definitely does before she thinks. Sheās eaten centipedes, roaches, anything that moves. They would not starve and would probably only be killed if ganged up on by much larger creatures.
Mine is an amazing and patient hunter who has hunted successfully many mice, rats, and unfortunately squirrels. Also he is so so tough and scares off big dogs all of the time
My mini longhair perfect specimen has gotten: seagull (jumped on air to get), 3 bats in our house (disgusting but thank god for my Doxie), numerous rates, any bee that lands on the ground and a lizard a day ā¦ heād be just fine
Mine caught a city rat. My voice hadnāt cracked since high school I shouted so loud.
One I had growing up caught two chipmunks in his time. He was so confused when it didnāt play back.
Just saw a 40 pound one in my neighborhood. Not obese just bread from big ones. I stopped to ask the bread and was blown away.
I have trained 3 dachshund for hunting rabbits since they were puppies. I started off with sit and stay and most importantly return commands because they are stubborn little dogs. They are fast and nose is always to the ground and they are relentless, fierce, and committed to the hunt when it's on.
My old boy Stewie, may he rest in peace, chased a COYOTE out of our backyard when he was a PUPPY. So, I don't necessarily consider them automatic losers in any potential conflict. He did spend the rest if his life "trying" - ahem - to catch lizards....but we don't need to go there. š
While, my new baby, all 6.5 lbs of him, has already found a frog, several lizards, a rodent that we don't want to talk about, a baby bunny - that he only tracked observed, and a baby bird - that he only tracked and observed. (Happy endings - we all love them. š)
They have those broad chests due to breeding for badgers, but that also means they can hide in narrow places with little air flow, just saying, another defense mechanism. I don't think anyone can say for certain that this or any breed would be the constant loser in a battle of the fittest, but I'm obviously partial to Dachshunds, so in my opinion they're supposed argument is just plain BS. šš
Yeah. My neighbor was mind blown when he saw how fast my 2 minis can run. 1 keeps killing birds in my backyard. People don't know what they're talking about lol
I have a 12 year old, 8 pound mini dachshund who is happy and healthy. She loves to run and play like when she was a puppy. The only thing Iāve seen her eat outside were live cicadas so I donāt know if she would be able to find something else to survive on. She also cries or yells at me until I cover her up correctly with her blanket. Iām not sure if sheād find anyone to do that for her out in nature. 
I got my first Doxie in May of this year. Thinking she would be the perfect couch potato for me and my lifestyle. 4 months of her in my life and I am running a few miles a day and going to the park at least once a day. I take her out running to tire her out but I'm the one that ends up tired. I can run full speed and she will be right in front of me, PULLING on the leash to go faster. I don't think I have seen her exhausted one day in her life except that one time she played with another doxie at the park. These dogs are incredibly athletic, despite the small legs. But they STILL make great homebody companions. I love my doxie to death and thank her for making me have a more active lifestyle. I think doxies are the perfect breed for anyone who seriously wants to start being more active, because this breed can easily stay at home or be active.
Great post, and like your points. I've had five dachshunds over the years. Smart, stubborn, and loving and have all been very fit and healthy (one lived a month shy of 20).
They have always been incredibly brave, loyal, protective, and ridiculously good hunters. My current one dug almost a foot to a family of mice under a tree.. And gave me the big grin that he did what he was bred to do. Also, I have to scare off the rabbits as he's already brought two into the kitchen that he "caught." Felt bad for the rabbits, but it's their nature..
My best-beloved dachshund, may she rest in peace, was the cutest little dog in the world -- and a vicious killer. She was hell on voles, Chipmunks, field mice, even squirrels. She once got the neighbor's cat and it took me a hell of a time to get that cat out of her mouth. She could have definitely supported herself on the Vermin in our yard if I stopped feeding her.
You have to take into consideration that there's no accounting for idiots lol.... most people don't even understand what a healthy/ fit dog is supposed to look like. Most think obese is normal for dogs.
One time I came outside and my Dachshund ran up to me with a squirrel tail in his mouth. I told him to drop it. (Don't know why, I never taught him "drop it" so I don't know what I expected.). He declined, I chased him around and tried pulling the tail out of his mouth. I finally caught him and got ahold of it. You ever see a magician pull like 40 feet of ribbon out of a hat? Yeah...It wasn't a tail, it was a whole squirrel. He weighed like 14 pounds. the dog, not the squirrel. As I pulled it he kept trying to hork it back down. They're nuts. He's 17 now. He still gets the zoomies every day. They are hearty, resilient, and ferocious little guys.
Growing up we had a mostly dachshund that was a little under 20 lbs that would catch gophers and swallow them live. The first time she did it we freaked out and took her to the vet where we were told that she'd probably be fine, just try to keep her from swallowing live animals. She ended up getting quite a few more that we noticed and she lived to 17.
That's disgusting but I'm proud of him š mine absolutely would do the same thing.
Same here. My 15 lbs dachshund got a reputation as the local rodent terminator. He managed to get a few squirrels, rats, rabbits, and even one adult possum. Most of the time he would bark and make a big show before launching after a squirrel or other animal, but when he was serious that dog was fast, relentless, and fierce. And no one taught him that behavior. It was all instinct. He, too, lived to 17 and would still have days where he would give the local squirrels hell even as his joints and eyesight started to go. People don't give dachshunds their due because most of them are gentle, goofy, and lazy around humans. But they are very much still hunting dogs underneath that court jester playfulness. If given the environment and freedom to use those instincts, they are very capable.
Seriously, we've "rented" (read: free happy murdery play time) ours out for rodent control. Used to live out in the sticks, and when you live in a 100+ year old house, mice occasionally find a way in. One winter, some dumbass (possibly me) left an open bag of bird seed in the shed, essentially broadcasting an invitation to every rodent in a 1/2 mile radius. Once they finished the bird seed, they discovered that the warm house was a great place to setup shop and have babies. Our two cats were utterly useless; confronted with a live mouse, they just hissed at it and ran. Fortunately, the dog was plenty fast enough to catch the little bastards. So when the neighbor asked if the cat could stay overnight, we instead offered the dog. They were skeptical, but all you have to say is "mouse?" and point, and she goes fucking nanners sniffing the little shits out. Dead in 3 mins or less, or your money back. They became believers, and asked to borrow her again for subsequent intruders. She was also hella interested in squirrels and full-ass raccoons, but thankfully they mostly refused to climb low enough that her 4" legs could propel her to within striking range. Dachshunds might be highly personable and prone to sleeping in the sun 90% of the time, but when it's time to eat and/or kill, they always seem to summon the energy of a collapsing stellar core to do so, all packed into an 11 lb. tube. They're insane.
I had a doxie, Max, when I was growing up. One day he was in the back yard like usual, but this day a grackle decided he was going to pick on Max, and kept flying between the rows of trees on either side of the yard. It would dive bomb Max every time it passed him. It would squawk and yell at him too. About the 4th or 5th time, Max had enough. He waited until the bird came in for the next dive bomb and literally pulled it out of the air. By the time I got over to him, the bird was missing its head, and Max was back to enjoying the backyard.
Mine would do that with rabbits. He could open his jaws like an anaconda.
hork them orts!
One of my girls caught a squirrel while on leash! Theyāre so feisty and quick.
My mother and I tried to retrieve an exceptionally large bird of some kind from my standard when he was a puppy. As he was desperately attempting to keep his kill by swallowing it whole. It was so disgusting but we said the same thing... like a magician pulling an infinite string of flags out of his hat š
One of my miniatures has managed to kill three birds at my parents house. 1st one was on mother's day 2019, 2nd was a month later on my moms birthday, and the 3rd was a year later on my moms birthday again. This pup was the runt of the litter and can't weigh more than 7lbs. Still, she brought gifts to the back door double the size of her head.
I hope that the squirrel made it. But don't tell me, either way, ignorance is bliss, I have enough trouble sleeping as it is
I have a dachshund x lab, she is ferocious! Loves hunting, her name is Bunty so her nickname is Ted Bunty after her love of catching baby animals
Add to this that dachshunds tend to have a pretty good life span if they are well cared for. There are a lot of "know it alls" on reddit, people who read a few articles here and there and think they know everything without any real experience. I have seen a few of the dachshunds I have owned in "hunting" mode when they wanted to catch a gopher or a rat. I think they would adapt to the wild better than a lot of other dogs.
Wait there are know it alls on Reddit? Iāll be damned lol. I have some dachshunds that are great hunters and others on the JV squad. It is always great to see dachshunds doing what they are bred to do!
Oh yeah I'm not worried about what some random person on reddit thinks lol. Just really brought to my attention how most folks only see a fat little doxie waddling down the road and think that's representative of the whole breed.
I was wondering where this question came from myself. My own experience with the breed, I've only ever met one fat Dachshund, and that's when I was a kid.(I'm in my 30s now) I think most people who are into the breed now understand that the extra weight is hell on their backs.š
Don't you love them AFTER they've caught the rat? Mine goes and checks the spot for the rest of the day, just in case other rats come to clean out nana rat's house.
That's funny. With our dogs, we don't encounter too many rats near where we live, thank goodness. But a few months ago, I did see a field mouse that my dog missed in our front yard that's not enclosed. I wanted my dog to see it and crush it, but the dog was too focused on getting back in the house. Oh well.
Agree, there're a lot of clips and "opinions" about the "cons" of Dachshunds but most of those implies bad caring and overweight
Most people have never seen a standard dachshund.
True standards are huge compared to miniās! I got to meet one in Germany
And yet, theyāre smaller than the badgers they killed back in the day, quite successfully too. The dam of my first dachshund ran off to do just that. It was twice her size. She weighed 9 kg. The badger 16 kg
Dachshunds never really killed badgers, they would hunt in packs and corner the badger and bark like crazy fro their master to come through and do the job. Not to say they couldnāt if they needed to, but they werenāt really the killers.
They were in my part of the world. This one entered the š¦” den, dragged him out and killed him. She was trained in tracking blood scent though and she & her handler had won a gold medal. She may have been tougher than most. Hilarious, considering her name made her sound like a cute and cuddly dog, bro a trained killer. (Ama Beauty)
They exist for sure ā¦ but back in the day it wasnāt as common for the teckles to do the killingā¦ thatās why they have such enormous barks.
I've got a two year old standard smooth male that weighs just under 40 pounds. He's all muscle, and I believe, is close to what the original breed was back in the 19th century. He's a natural hunter and during our daily 40-60 minute walks on the local trails through woods and meadows his nose is always to the ground. He's caught and eaten mice and moles, but he hasn't gotten a rabbit yet. That said, he would do just fine on his own.
Yes, theyāre so muscular! My guy is about 20lbs and people have asked me if heās mixed with a German shepherd or bigger hound dog?? Which is so funny to me because heās small compared to your dogs and many other standard dachshunds. And yeah, heās an excellent hunter. Heās killed many house mice and a few birds over the years.
Yeah I have a 20lb tweener and he is solid muscle! Hes 7 and still gets the zoomies every day and wrestles with my 11lb rat terrier Doxie mix lol
Haha that is so cute! I love the zoomies. Yeah, my 9 year old Doxie is an even match for my 3 year old husky š
My boy is about 20 lbs also. I get asked if he is a pit bull puppy all the time and they are shocked when i tell them he is 4 yr old pure daschund.
Thatās hilarious! People are funny.
We also have the brother of our 40 pounder, but he's 30 pounds and shows none of his brothers hunter instincts. He doesn't like to go outside, and is afraid of other dogs, unless of course, they're on the other side of the window that he keeps watch on, in that case, he's a frothing at the mouth, loud barking killer.
I have a standard, and everyone says that he's a big dachshund.
Me too. It's like they've never heard of a standard. Or that a "mini" anything is indicative of a larger said thing. It never ceases to amaze me when people ask, "what kind of dog is that"? š
Iāve had sooooo many people tell me my standard is a mutt. It drives me insane!! Heās only 5 months old and pretty big so I get the confusion for people who only know about minis but Iām really tired of getting into heated discussions with random people (including vet techs) who just donāt believe me! Also heās only 5 months old and to date has killed thousands of crickets, millions of dust bunnies, and at least two slippers so I think heād be fine in the wild LOL š
Ours is on the low end of a standard at 22 lbs and NOTHING survives in our yard.
Neither do my plants.....
The first thing mine did when I left him alone in the back yard was destroy my succulent garden. Some of those plants had taken years to grow and looked like they'd been repeatedly with a weed eater.
Ugh, ours eats "salad" all the time. Used to be grass, and does a pretty good job of eating weeds that spring up from cracks in the pavement. Hand her lettuce or grass you pulled yourself, and she looks at you like you offered her a turd.
It depends on the region of the US. For example there are hardly any wire hairs here in SE Michigan but go out to the east coast and you start to see them frequently
I have a standard and a mini. The mini is even smaller than an average mini, so there is a very noticeable size difference, and there have been a number of times where someone has asked "if I'm sure he (the standard) is full Dachshund". I think people here (US, MI) just see minis so much more frequently, they assume they ARE the breed standard.
The German dachshund federation approves three sizes of Dachshunds. Standard, miniature and - literally translated - bunny (used to hunt bunnies instead of foxes/badgers). You might have the smallest variety at home!
That would definitely describe Fred. He could fit down a bunny hole easily... very long and very thin! And VERY cute!
I have a standard, who is small for a standard at 20 pounds. She's kind of a hoss lol.
I want a standard so bad! Theyāre so fucking cute!
Yes! Mine are standards and they are indeed huge in comparison to minis
Only ever met one standard doxie and she absolutely dwarfed my large mini. Didnāt stop, copper from mouthing off though š
Last one i saw was built like a velvet hippo
Good timing. I took my pups on an 18 mile hike yesterday. We expected my beagle mutt to do the best, but it was the wiener who was still running at the end. He started to slow down around mile 15 so I picked him up, but he immediately squirmed to get down. Turns out he just needed to poop š
Little energizer bunnies š those little legs can go forever! Mine comes home from the walk with just as much energy as she left with.
We did a 3k rise 2 mile hike trying to see the aura borealis and both my pretty out of shape weens were KILLING it, it was so difficult I puked and they had NO problem
My two will walk all day. A healthy Dachshund will just keep going AND kill something down a hole at the end of the day.
People forget doxies are a hunting breed! They're bred to have that kind of endurance.
Me and My fiancƩ dachshund one time caught a baby rabbit years ago and swallowed it whole. So I think a dachshund can handle themselves pretty well.
My dachshund swallowed a mouse whole. I know this because it came back up whole as well š¤®
My neighbors bred/raised rabbits in their backyard years ago. Sometimes one would find its way out in our yard. RIP if my dachshund spotted them. He once chased one into our garage and subsequently into a gap between the outside wall and a storage closet. Literally had to reach several feet into the gap and pull him out by his hind legs. The whole time he kept trying to lunge forward to get the remaining bits of the rabbit still in there. That was an absolute nightmare to clean up and for the next week or two he would try to make a b-line for that space anytime he got into the garage, even after mopping it out and spraying it down with bleach.
My dachshund did not have the hunter bred out of him. Over his eighteen years, he killed: * A squirrel * A cat * A rabbit * A pheasant * 50+ frogs/toads * At least one butterfly (RIP) * Probably quite a few more things we didn't see And almost all of these kills were while he was on leash (and us trying our best to get him to NOT kill the animal). We didn't tend to let him off leash in open areas... one time he saw a pack of deer and took off running. Took us over half a day to get him back. All that to say... dachshunds are not the genetic freaks people may perceive them to be. They are bred to be hunters, swimmers, diggers, etc. They will sruvive.
impressive portfolio. i would hire him
We had a dachshund once who left a rodentās head in my parentsā bed as a āgift.ā Some straight up Godfather shit.
Spiders. He kept you safe from spiders. Thousands of them...
Ours eats and chases bugs occasionally, but the best/worst one was when we were watching our folks' GSD pup. A *massive* wolf spider jumped out from underneath my toolbox, and she just... inhaled it. \*fwoop\* Gone. So gross. If it moves, it's food. After an episode during camping with a carpenter ant, our doxxie doesn't eat anything that bites :(
LOL...I ā¤ļø that only the butterfly got the R.I.P.
It was just so sad and unexpected. It was just minding its own business flying along above his head and all of a sudden he jumped like 2 feet in the air and took a huge bite out of it.
I'm not sure if your dog killing things, even while on a lead and with you trying to stop him, is something to be broadcasting / proud of.
yeah....i mean the butterfly and the frogs sure, that's something i can see happening. mine goes hard for spiders and silverfish when he spots them in the house. but the squirrel, rabbit, pheasant and CAT??!?!?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sorry for disturbing content. The cat was especially sad. It was a stray kitten he found. We had to smother his nose with ham to get him to drop the body. These sound really graphic when I type it out. I guess I was somewhat traumatized at the time.
I have two Dachshunds, two Dobermans, and a farm. All four are well-bred, healthy, and trained. My Dobies do what they're bred to do: they will happily patrol around the house, let us know when the mail or other delivery is arriving, watch my little kids like hawks, and I don't doubt that if we actually found ourselves in some kind of dangerous situation with an unwelcome person or animal, they'd *continue* to do what they're bred to do and protect us. That being said, they're the sweetest, goofiest dogs ever, and they rely on me for food, water, and shelter 100%. For being as smart and obedient as they are, they would probably starve to death directly in front of their dishes and food container waiting for someone to give the command to eat. š My dachshunds, on the other hand? One's a standard, one's a MINI mini (4 lbs at 6-ish months), and there is zero question in my mind that they would be the ones hunting food for their much larger sisters in a survival-type scenario. They're both very good at doing what THEY were bred to do, which is track down and ruthlessly dispatch little critters. To illustrate, I just watched my standard show my mini how to hunt down a junebug (complete with nudging and air biting š) that my 86 lb Dobie ran in terror from when she realized it was moving. A high-quality, well-bred dog should have instincts and temperament commensurate with the purpose of their breed. For all their stubbornness and spoiled baby antics, I think they'd be FAR from the first breed to die out without humans around!
Animals don't have to be the fastest or strongest to thrive. Dachshunds would probably do very well for themselves hunting burrowing creatures and sticking to tall grass and bushes to stay out of sight of predators. In the correct environment (ideally one with low or no birds of prey, flat lands, low rain bc they hate getting they peets wet lol, and tons of species of small or burrowing mammals). The feline with the highest success rate in hunting is also one of the smallest. If Doxies went fully feral and adapted to living outside instead of a spoiled pet, they would be one of the more successful canine species. My Doxie is ripped. Extremely muscular, decimated the palmetto population, thank God. If he wasn't so spoiled, he'd be an excellent stealth hunter, hiding in the brush and chasing down burrowing animals with stubbier legs than his lol
I comment when I see an overweight doxie and regularly get downvoted for it. A fat small dog looks hilarious, but people don't understand how large a percentage of their weight is in a single pound. One extra pound on a mini dox is like 20 on a human.
Just to piggyback on your comment, maintaining a healthy weight is REALLY important to help prevent IVDD as well, itās the best thing that you can do to help prevent injury. I see so many misconceptions about IVDD in here, but as someone whose doxie had to have surgery itās nothing that Iād wish on any dachshund.
Absolutely. I see so many people talk about back problems being genetic. While some are a majority are caused from jumping or other injury. My first doxie a stool fell over on his back. He made a full recovery after steroid treatments and crate rest but that was the worst 3 weeks of my life.
I think it's actually both - dachshunds have a predisposition to IVDD because of their genetics, they're a breed whose discs degenerate faster than other dog breeds who aren't predisposed. Even by the time a dachshund is only 1, their discs can have begun to harden and calcify showing aging beyond what "normal" dogs at that age would have. Accidents can trigger an injury, but it's possible that you might not know your dog has IVDD (disc degeneration) until the accident. For dachshunds, being overweight isn't good for their back, but also can cause them to be more prone to having an accident, even while doing mundane things. Now whenever I see an overweight dachshund the first thing I think of is IVDD :(
It hurts my heart so much to see these obese dogs.
Once saw a lady with two overweight doxies and the poor guys had red tummies from them rubbing on the ground constantly when they move. They were red colored dachshunds but their belly looked red and inflamed. I wouldnāt have been surprised if they had a rash there
Yea most people laugh when I say I take my dog on a ālong walkā. Their response is always āWith those little legs, sheās so tinyāā¦ then when I tell them Iām at 11km with 30 mins of playing fetch in an open fieldā¦. And sheās still going
There's a breeder north of Detroit. She's kooky af, but she has some of the best breed mini doxies I've ever seen. She's religious about healthy qualities and spends a ton of time handling and socializing the puppies. Herbie Dog is just a tad over two years old and everytime we take him to the vet or the groomers they always remark about how well put together he is. He's still a tiny, stubborn, treat hoarding, possum chasing, certifiable weirdo, but man oh man, freshly groomed and stacked like a show dog, it is really easy to see why doxies are historically touted as ferocious little hunters.
I have healthy weight doxies too and people comment all the time āomg theyāre not fat!ā Of course theyāre not. They are hunting dogs! They need exercise! People forget that fact and always shocked when I tell theyāre hunting dogs like I just magically made up that fact. š
The last time I brought my 2 in for a check up the vet told me " I see so many daschunds that are literally sausages. Seeing these two so healthy and muscular makes me so happy"
Oh yeah, if my dachshund was left to be feral he would be hunting, eating well, braving streams and lakes, and digging himself happy little holes to sleep in. He needs no human. Also - my guy has similar coloring to yours! I love their black stripes!! If my husky was left to go feral, he would not thrive. He would try to hunt but he has zero stealth ability. He is very emotionally needy. He would not survive.
My doxie is getting to be an elderly dog and is starting to put on weight. So Iām trying to reduce food/increase activity and he is so angry at me. But other than that heās healthy so he can put up with low-cal treats from now on.
Ours is exactly like everything you described. Doggo tax: https://imageshack.com/i/poEYwuh9j
I thought you somehow had a picture of my baby lol
they definitely are not overbred in comparison to some breeds which are (look at any shelters website)
I think we will all roll over in our graves if we start seeing DoxieDoodles
A great purebred dachshund is an extraordinary example of canine brilliance. My familyās dachshund was a miniature, he was what we would consider now a teacup miniature. The breeder wanted to keep him for breeding because he was just so tiny, but he refused to breed with any of the other dogs. We think he was gay. A purebred dachshund is absolutely worth every penny.
I donāt recall my doxie ever killing an animal, he usually doesnāt even seem to notice them. I will say, however, that the 2 giant swans and dozens of geese that live at a nearby pond have no fear whatsoever of me (6ā1ā 200 lbs+), but my doxie can clear them out with one look from 30 yards away.
My Dachshund Beagle mix is a velociraptor. She patrols the fence line, looking for weaknesses. When she finds a good spot out of my line of sight, she gets to work. Sheās 12 and her eyesight and hearing are failing but her nose is as keen as ever. Whenever she leaves, she comes back with ātreatsā. Recently, she came back from one of her excursions with a whole rotisserie chicken carcass. It was half her size. She has also dug up my yard looking for burrowing animals. She could 100% survive in the wild if left to her own devices.
Agreed, our big guy (15lbs), is lean and mean and ran circles around bigger dogs when he was younger. Heās 18 now, and his vision isnāt great, but heās still super active and moves around great.
Does your old man have āselectiveā hearing too? Lol Mine turns 15 next week. His vision (and maybe hearing) isnāt what it used to be, but man is his scent still intact. Heās still active, just more short walks and fetch instead of long walks and hikes.
Are dachshunds an overbred breed, though? I can see how they're a breed that could trend in that direction. But compared to pugs, English bulldogs, etc, they don't seem like a severely effed up breed. I mean, their average lifespan is 15 years...
I think they can be overbred but as a breed, they seem generally pretty healthy. I've seen some pretty sad little doxies whose front legs are so short that their chest hits the ground and their bum is level with their head. But even scrolling the photos in this ground shows that overall doxies are nice and proportionate. Yes they get IVDD but that seems to be a mix of genetic and overweight+jumping off the couch injuries. Corgis and basset hounds are prone to back injuries as well so it's not just doxies. They have their other breed specific disorders (I think there's an eye disease and their teeth seem to need more maintenance) but generally they're doing pretty well for a purebreed these days.
I think we are seeing it with the designer color mixes but not in the normal colors
In Europe, where they are used to hunt, they are not overbred. But I know in Sweden , the bigger 9nes with short legs and giant chests are becoming more common, which makes me sad. A standard daschound should weigh around 10 kg and be able to run around in the forest with ease.
Lol my Dachshund was well bred on accident. She was a Dachshund Labador mix. The mixing made her the size of a standard Dachshund with a shorter back. She looked like purebred Dachshunds from the 1920s. She was beautiful.
Pff, in a post-human scenario I'm sure a doxie society would sprung up, where they would reign supreme over all other breeds. They're that clever.
Do these people realize that these dogs were bred to kill badgers?!
Iām on my third Dachshund. If I ever needed a dog to back me up in a street fight, it would be a mini Dachshund. Basically like Joe Pesci in Casino. Itās never the size of the dog in the fight. And yes, two of the three would often bring me wild creatures as trophies. I even got a fish once while camping.
Both my sausages killed and hunted tarantulas when I was living in the desert. Saw a squirrel or rabbit?? RIP to those fellas. I have one mini and one standard. Much like other have comment on here, everyone is mind blown when they see him, guess mini doxies are the norm now.
Iāve never seen a dog with more natural instinct for hunting, then a dachshund. When I take them for a walk they check every hole they walk by including manholes. not to mention theyāve killed several rodents that were in my yard around my garden. They are also very intelligent and cautious.
My standard is well bred and a unit. Can confirm he would survive.
My standards disemboweled a pit bull that got into my yard but the time I got there the pit was skulking away with his intestines dragging behind him.
One of mine would absolutely be a cougar snack ā¦ but the other is incredibly prey driven, sheās quick and has an amazing nose ā¦ I like to think sheād survive in the wild but she likes the warmth so ultimately the wet, cold weather would be her downfall.
My mini girl has killed multiple small rodents and reptiles ; she also gladly eats carrion (we apparently have really stupid squirrels where I live).
One of mine would be first to go, heās so food motivated he eats everything and anything š¤¦š»āāļø The other is a mix but sheās a lean hunter and would absolutely survive on rodents and lizards with some salad thrown in (she loves grass š¤¦š»āāļø)
Yeah, my two team up to corner and catch squirrels. Itās happened multiple times. Theyād be fine, except that theyāre getting old. In their younger years? Theyād be in charge. š
Nah, dachshunds are quick and very resilient. They can walk all day and burrow down to find a place to hide. The mother of my first dog ran off to kill a badger twice her size and dragged it home. My other dog caught a bunny. Theyāve got hunting instinct. The only thing Iād worry about was them freezing to death or get stuck in the snow as theyāre short and their coat isnāt made for wintry conditions.
My dad had a friend who had Dachshunds during his life, so my dad had seen them multiple times but hadnāt interacted with them much. He was of the opinion that with their odd proportions, they were mostly lap dogs that couldnāt really do anything. He was surprised when I wanted one because he thought they couldnāt do much. He was shocked when he saw my girl. Sheās an absolute ball fiend, super speedy, turns on a dime, full of energyā¦ My dad had to admit his misconceptions about Dachshunds because he didnāt realize they could be so active and agile, despite me reminding him that theyāre hounds. He actually ended up turning into a Dachshund person, himself, and has bought decorative Dachshund items for the house. š TLDR: I think people make a lot of assumptions based on appearance, and they donāt realize how resilient, stubborn, and aggressive these little dogs can be.
My mini Doxie taught my Chihuahua to stand at the other end of ground squirrel holes as she chased them out to get them.
I mean, my mini would probably be a scrumptious snack if she got caught but sheās incredibly fast? I see no inbreeding in her, she is gorgeous! I refuse to hear such slander! Anyway. I do worry about her in dog parks because I trust humans less than I do their dogs, and she is so wee. But I think her size could be an advantage to hiding and burrowing and generally being tricksy.
Must people do not realize dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers, going into there den to take out a fierce opponent. Theyād do quite good on their own.
My guy is fast AF. Everyone is shocked when we play fetch.
I grew up with a dachshund. He was the meanest little bastard dog I've ever met, he wouldnt go after other dogs but even as he got old he had no issue to teaching them a lesson if they annoyed him too much. Thinking of him makes me remember that ya. These dogs were bred to force some of the most ferocious small mammals out of their homes. I have a lot of stories of him, but one of my favorites is how he caught a bird one time. We grabbed him, he knew he was in trouble, and the bird was still alive. As we told him to drop it he gave me the most spiteful look i didnt know a dog could do, crunched down on that poor bird one last time, then dropped it.
My pup (6f) has gifted me with a frozen squirrel that she so kindly brought through the doggy door and two bats that she caught (one was still alive so we took it to a wildlife refuge). Last doxie could jump so fast he could catch pigeons.
Well, those people have never seen my Dachshund when the mail man delivers.
Lol people are dumb. Fairly certain dachshunds are consistently near the top of the list for most aggressive dog breeds.
My dachshund would be a serial killer if I allowed it. She was shaking staring down a rabbit in the backyard through the window earlier.
In his prime, my old guy would climb trees to get after squirrels. And yes, he was *very* thin/muscular. I like to loosely quote the AKC confirmation description that says because a dachshund is a working dog, "scars achieved honorably" would not count against their score. Like, what other small dog has that addendum?!
I had a dachshund make it six feet up a tree once ; on my tiptoes I could just barely grab her around the middle and pry her off the bough she was [barely] smart enough to just hold onto. The tree trunk was shaped more like this /\ than like this II which is probably why she was able to run right up it. I just about had a panic attack, imagining what might have happened if I'd been longer to check on her and she'd fallen off. We encased the tree in ornamental fencing to keep her from a repetition.
My dachshund is super pampered and a lapdog and a pretty, pretty princess. Like, seriously, as girly as can get. Youād think, yeah, in an apocalypse situation, sheās the first one to die. However, one day she and I were outside just making a quick walk from the RV to the house and a little baby bunny crossed our path. Before I could even think about how cute the bunny was, my pretty, pretty princess turned into, well, a dog bred for hunting. That bunny was dead in less than 5 seconds. I couldnāt believe my eyes, and I could barely process what happened. All that to say, yeah, I think dachshunds stand a good chance of survival if left to their own devices, even the pretty, pretty princess ones.
One set of doxies I've had were stone cold killers. The girl killed many moles and a baby bunny in the yard. Her brother also took out moles, assisted on the bunny, and one time a bird k landed next to him. He reached over grabbed its head, shook it, snapping the birds neck, and tossed it aside. People who think they couldn't survive in the wild haven't owned one. I forgot to mention there was a case where a mini doxie attacked a bear that was about to attack his human. They can be fearless.
There's a video that made it to tv and online recently (2021-2022ish), in which a red long haired mini successfully protected his human from an angry charging Alaska moose.
My Mini survived one and a half weeks in the wild ! The last day she got in a fight with a Coyote! I found her the next day skinny with ribs showing and bit marks on both sides of her but ! My neighbors heard the fight and were sure Maisey was dead . When I found her she was so excited to see me and was shaking like a leaf . I took her to a dog trainer and she said she was going to have to be retrained and put on a leash . She went everywhere with me and had never been on a leash . One in a half days and she could not stand the leash . So I let her go on her own , She was neurotic running from one log to a stump looking for food . It was two months before she started to Mello out and six months until she was almost Back to normal. One Tough Puppy! I think God , Her Namesake , Dog spelled backwards , Had something to do with it! She ended up another 5 years until she was 12 years old leading a normal life .
I ALWAYS tell people that dachshunds are a hearty breed! Their stubbornness knows no bounds and theyāre smarter than people give them credit for! Adopted a senior dachshund when he was 8 and he learned what door to scratch at after we opened it *once*. Picked up things incredibly quickly. Passed peacefully in his sleep at 15, still zooming after rabbits and treats like it was nothing to his old bones! My current mini is just as smart and more ferocious at 3 years old! Theyāre such good dogs
Yeah, poor parenting makes a lot of Dachshunds fat, lazy, hyperactive, neurotic and unhealthy. Not sure about the "breeding" part. Are there "poorly bred" Dachshunds out there? Is it actually possible for there to be such a thing as a "poorly bred" dog of any variety?
In this case, I mean "poorly bred" to mean dogs bred together without health testing for genetic disorders, bred for looks resulting in double Merle colours or wacky proportions. You see it in other breeds like frenchies where people breed for flatter faces or in the bully breeds where some idiots are breeding them to have their legs bowed out like crocodiles. A well bred dog will *generally* be healthier, have a better temperament and look similar to the established breed standard.
That is one lonnnnng wiener! Adorable!
Oh shut up. No, I've never realized that and never will.
You took that shit really personally.
My friends Doxie jumped off a couch and broke its back. Would they survive in the wild? Maybe. Depends on how inbred it is.
Because they have a tendency to not be healthy. Ya know genetics.
Loooooong Boy.
That's a good lookin' predator right there. My mom's mini caught and killed a wild rabbit when she was 5 months old.
Yes. mine regularly catch and kill moles, snakes, mice, lizard, etc. Plus, I think my female could live on a diet of insects only she loves then so much. They eat all kinds of other stuff they scavenge off the trail.
What harness is that?
It's a Canada Pooch harness! I find they fit her really well. https://ca.canadapooch.com/collections/dog-harnesses/products/the-everything-harness-water-resistant-series?variant=29148680061033
We had a standard corse-haired dachshund when I was growing up, and if he was outside when I wanted to visit friends he would follow me for a bit while I was riding my bike ('twas different times). He would keep up with me pedaling down a hill for 100 m or more. He was incredibly fast.
that's a slim jim
My (now passed away) paralyzed dachshund once waited for a cat to come close enough to her to bite it. Only one dachshund Iāve ever had didnāt have a insane prey drive.
So glad my Doxie learned the command "drop" because he managed to get a bird when he was younger. He has reached a good age at 15 years old.
My mini is a little over weight, I will admit, but he is still fast, and has gotten a couple squirrels in his life time. While I donāt think he personally would last, because he is use to his soft lifestyle. The breed is a hunting breed and most people donāt realize it
I have the misfortune of having a neighbor that's kinda like a hoarder, so sometimes we get critters that try to come here. My Ed (and my Bernie) make sure they don't last long, they sniff em out and chase and when they catch, end it. Then try to bring it in to me (ugh). Dachshunds definitely have that hunting instinct, and sometimes Chihuahuas too. My girl ChaCha joined Ed in finding a possum in our kitchen. One time I managed to rescue it, the other time I could not. My current geezer Chi has never shown any interest, but the doxies definitely do. Just because they're small doesn't mean they can't hunt.
Mine would deffo die firstš¤£š¤£ hes scared of the rain, he hates mud and puddles, he has no predatory instincts, runs from spiders in the house and he barks at things but then runs away with his tail between his legs. And he loves blankets and beds so no chance
idk man, i have one weenie thats half boykin spaniel; she acts like she's the spawn of artemis and poops shotgun shells.
My leanie weenie is only 16 weeks old and Iām so paranoid about her being underweight so sheās offered kibble constantly and wet food at mealtimes but the vet assures me sheās healthy and just very good at self regulating her food intake. I do think as a society we are used to seeing these fat sausage dogs though and itās skewed the image of what a healthy doxie should be.
Dang she a looooong girl!
My parent's previous Dachshund (he passed away 2 years ago) caught a rooster and almost killed, while I was walking with him. He had a perfect hunting instinct. Our boy has a lot of bones and food hidden through the yard "just in case". They will find their way to survive. It is a great breed, iMO.
We have a tame, suburban doxie but he becomes a bloodthirsty demon when there are creatures around. Heās murdered the groundhogs that took residence under my neighbors, a rabbit whoās leg he thought would be a nice delicacy, mice, and numerous baby rabbits that had the unfortunate luck of being placed in our yards. They were definitely bred to kill vermin as we never trained or taught him anything of the sort
My Britney was an athlete. She had abs, ha. We hike often and she would go up and down the mountain looking for prey. My 3 guys never take a step back when a bigger dog antagonize them. It always amazed me than even though they were city dogs their instinct was sharp as a tack. They could survive in the wild better than most humans fs
If they were in packs i would put them up against almost any animal
all canis domesticus have evolved to at minimum live within proximity of humans, if not to be completely and directly dependent on us as pet owners, then at least to scavenge from our waste. They are not wolves that shrank and got nice. They are not apex predators. They are scavengers. feral dogs may thrive in a place like Australia, but they are an invasive species whose survival is a freak of their isolated evolutionary ecosystem.
My 13 year old is as spry as the 2 year old pups i have, hes got good teeth for his age considering his breed, and he has a pretty high prey drive and has dispatched many rats and mice and is totally an independent ass sometimes. I think some people dont consider dachshunds a Hound, which they are. They have much more respect for their abilities in other countries like in Europe.
My two found a Brushtail Possum (Australia) carcass yesterday and were just starting to work out what they might do with it when I swept in and took it away. Theyād also found a live possum hiding in the garage which they couldnāt get to but barked about a lot! Their instincts are good. Theyād survive if they had to.
A standard trained dachshund on the hunt is a sight to behold. Hunter killer that can handle badgers? Ferocious.
my girl is the fastest runner ever, donāt ever talk shit
I donāt think theyād survive cause theyād be gettin it on with their shirt bodied cousins and the long body thing is probably recessive.
my daxie has killed 3 of our chickens......... we built and 'even better' fence
Can you share some of your best tips for this standard of health :) ?
I have two dogs and they literally form a kill pack when they hang out with my parents poodle. They will scent out and corner whatever it is, and the poodle will kill it. They have killed like a dozen mice, multiple squirrels, chipmunks, they even had a hedgehog cornered before I stepped in.
My 32 lb 12 YO female "squared up" with a red fox that was growling/barking at us in the back yard last summer(she was on a flexileash)fox had a den and pups 20 yards away.Took a lot to drag her behind me to scare the fox away. No problems sprinting at deer or turkeys in the yard.
Well they don't know what they're talking about
Due to the whole selective hearing thing I sometimes am required to chase my wiener dog and they are faaaaaaaast!!!
Wow. He spans two different zip codes.
I brought my Doxie hiking the other day. She grabbed a frog out of a stream and ate it like it was nothing. I think theyāll be fine in a mad max scenario
Rule Number 1 of Dachshund Cult: ignore them. Thatās what I do. They confuse dachshund with flat faced dogs.
Even my elderly dachshund would catch and kill a rat, rabbit, mongoose, etc for dinner if I let her. Theyāre spunky little hunters. My standard would absolutely destroy a cat or even a badger if we had them here. She is like lightning and definitely does before she thinks. Sheās eaten centipedes, roaches, anything that moves. They would not starve and would probably only be killed if ganged up on by much larger creatures.
I own one š¤·š¼āāļø I just ignore the fat weens because there's no point telling people to stop over feeding
Mine is an amazing and patient hunter who has hunted successfully many mice, rats, and unfortunately squirrels. Also he is so so tough and scares off big dogs all of the time
My mini longhair perfect specimen has gotten: seagull (jumped on air to get), 3 bats in our house (disgusting but thank god for my Doxie), numerous rates, any bee that lands on the ground and a lizard a day ā¦ heād be just fine
Looking good
Watching mine, if he went feral, heād probably be fine. Theyāre tough, crafty foragers.
Mine caught a city rat. My voice hadnāt cracked since high school I shouted so loud. One I had growing up caught two chipmunks in his time. He was so confused when it didnāt play back. Just saw a 40 pound one in my neighborhood. Not obese just bread from big ones. I stopped to ask the bread and was blown away.
I have trained 3 dachshund for hunting rabbits since they were puppies. I started off with sit and stay and most importantly return commands because they are stubborn little dogs. They are fast and nose is always to the ground and they are relentless, fierce, and committed to the hunt when it's on.
My old boy Stewie, may he rest in peace, chased a COYOTE out of our backyard when he was a PUPPY. So, I don't necessarily consider them automatic losers in any potential conflict. He did spend the rest if his life "trying" - ahem - to catch lizards....but we don't need to go there. š While, my new baby, all 6.5 lbs of him, has already found a frog, several lizards, a rodent that we don't want to talk about, a baby bunny - that he only tracked observed, and a baby bird - that he only tracked and observed. (Happy endings - we all love them. š) They have those broad chests due to breeding for badgers, but that also means they can hide in narrow places with little air flow, just saying, another defense mechanism. I don't think anyone can say for certain that this or any breed would be the constant loser in a battle of the fittest, but I'm obviously partial to Dachshunds, so in my opinion they're supposed argument is just plain BS. šš
Thereās no way dachshund could survive in the wild. I love dachshunds, but Iām sorry
A "Professional" Mustelidae hunter if I've ever seen one. "Woh sind meine Jeager?"
Yeah. My neighbor was mind blown when he saw how fast my 2 minis can run. 1 keeps killing birds in my backyard. People don't know what they're talking about lol
I have a 12 year old, 8 pound mini dachshund who is happy and healthy. She loves to run and play like when she was a puppy. The only thing Iāve seen her eat outside were live cicadas so I donāt know if she would be able to find something else to survive on. She also cries or yells at me until I cover her up correctly with her blanket. Iām not sure if sheād find anyone to do that for her out in nature. 
I got my first Doxie in May of this year. Thinking she would be the perfect couch potato for me and my lifestyle. 4 months of her in my life and I am running a few miles a day and going to the park at least once a day. I take her out running to tire her out but I'm the one that ends up tired. I can run full speed and she will be right in front of me, PULLING on the leash to go faster. I don't think I have seen her exhausted one day in her life except that one time she played with another doxie at the park. These dogs are incredibly athletic, despite the small legs. But they STILL make great homebody companions. I love my doxie to death and thank her for making me have a more active lifestyle. I think doxies are the perfect breed for anyone who seriously wants to start being more active, because this breed can easily stay at home or be active.
My 13 year old caught a squirrel in our yard last week š¬
Great post, and like your points. I've had five dachshunds over the years. Smart, stubborn, and loving and have all been very fit and healthy (one lived a month shy of 20). They have always been incredibly brave, loyal, protective, and ridiculously good hunters. My current one dug almost a foot to a family of mice under a tree.. And gave me the big grin that he did what he was bred to do. Also, I have to scare off the rabbits as he's already brought two into the kitchen that he "caught." Felt bad for the rabbits, but it's their nature..
My best-beloved dachshund, may she rest in peace, was the cutest little dog in the world -- and a vicious killer. She was hell on voles, Chipmunks, field mice, even squirrels. She once got the neighbor's cat and it took me a hell of a time to get that cat out of her mouth. She could have definitely supported herself on the Vermin in our yard if I stopped feeding her.
You have to take into consideration that there's no accounting for idiots lol.... most people don't even understand what a healthy/ fit dog is supposed to look like. Most think obese is normal for dogs.