Basic Care Guide

The first 72 hours at home

Your puppy has just left its litter, its routine and everything it knows. Expect some crying the first night or two — it is normal and it passes. Keep the first days deliberately dull.

• Set up a crate or pen somewhere central but calm, and let the puppy retreat there whenever it wants. Dachshunds are burrowers; give them a blanket to get under and they will.
• Keep the food identical to what we have been feeding for at least a week. We will tell you the brand before collection so you can buy a bag in advance. Change it gradually after that, over five to seven days.
• Limit visitors. Everyone wants to meet the puppy; give it a few days first.
• Take them out to the same spot every time for toilet breaks, and reward the moment they finish rather than when they come back inside.
• Book a vet appointment within the first 72 hours — most health guarantees, including ours, require it.
• Order a ramp before the puppy arrives. Not after the first jump off the sofa. See below.

Protecting the back

• Lift correctly, every time. One hand under the chest, the other under the hindquarters, the spine level and supported. Never scoop a Dachshund up under the front legs and let the back end dangle, and never lift by the front legs. Teach children this before the puppy arrives, and supervise until you are sure they have it.
• No jumping off furniture. The landing is what damages a disc, not the climbing. Put a ramp or pet steps at the sofa and the bed, and train the puppy onto them from day one — a dog that learns the ramp as a puppy uses it for life, whereas retraining an adult that has been jumping for three years is genuinely hard.
• Stairs. Carry them up and down while they are growing. A stair gate is a sensible permanent fixture, particularly at the top.
• Out of the car, lift them down or use a ramp. A jump from a boot is a long drop for eight-inch legs.
• Discourage prolonged begging on the hind legs. The occasional stretch is fine; a dog that spends its evenings sitting bolt upright is loading the lumbar spine.
• Harness, never a collar, for anything on a lead. Neck discs are a common site, and a dog pulling against a collar puts the strain straight through them. Keep the collar for ID tags only.

Feeding, and why weight is a spinal issue

Three to four small meals a day up to about six months, then twice daily. Small-breed puppy food, and measured portions rather than free feeding.

Weight matters more in this breed than in almost any other, and not for cosmetic reasons. Every extra pound is carried on a spine with unusual leverage, and overweight Dachshunds are markedly more likely to have disc trouble. This is the one health lever you control completely.

You should be able to feel the ribs easily under a thin covering, and see a clear waist from above. If you cannot, cut back. A slightly lean Dachshund is a healthier Dachshund, and it is far easier to prevent weight than to remove it — this is a breed that will convince you it has not been fed, and it is lying.

Watch the treats especially. A miniature Dachshund is a small dog, and a few biscuits is a meaningful share of its daily intake. Use part of the measured food ration for training rather than adding to it.

The long coat

Your puppy will not have much coat yet. The long hair comes in properly at around four months and is not finished until the dog is a year or more old, so the adult you are picturing is some way off.

• Brush twice a week with a pin brush, and use a metal comb on the feathering. Ten minutes, not an ordeal.
• The mats form in four places: behind and under the ears, in the armpits, on the trousers at the back of the hind legs, and on the tail plume. Those are the spots to check every time — the back and sides look fine long after the armpits have felted.
• Start brushing now, while there is nothing to brush. A puppy that has been groomed since eight weeks stands for it; one that met a comb at six months does not.
• Bath every six to eight weeks with a gentle shampoo, and dry thoroughly — a damp long coat mats.
• Trim the hair between the pads if it starts to bunch, and keep the feathering under the tail tidy for obvious reasons.
• Nails every three to four weeks. Long nails change how a dog stands and loads its back.

Ears

Long drop ears sit closed over the canal, which keeps it warm and poorly ventilated — the conditions ear infections like. Check weekly and wipe the visible part of the ear with a vet-approved cleaner. Never push anything down into the canal.

Head-shaking, scratching at an ear, a dark discharge or a yeasty smell means a vet appointment, not more cleaning.

House-training, honestly

Dachshunds are among the slower breeds to house-train. This is well documented and it is not a reflection on you or on the puppy. They are small, so their bladders are small; they are independent, so "because you asked" carries little weight; and they genuinely dislike going out in the rain.

Take them out after waking, after eating, after play, and every two hours besides. Reward immediately, at the spot, the moment they finish. Accidents are a training data point, not a moral failing — clean with an enzymatic cleaner so the smell does not draw them back, and never punish after the fact.

Plan for it to take months rather than weeks, and consider a covered outdoor spot or an indoor tray as a backup for bad weather. Owners who expect six months and get four are pleased; owners who expect three weeks are miserable.

Crate training and time alone

The crate should be somewhere good things happen: meals, chews, naps. Never use it as punishment. Build up from a few minutes to an hour or two, and expect a puppy to sleep through the night by around twelve to sixteen weeks.

Dachshunds attach hard to their people and are prone to separation anxiety. Practise short absences from the first week — leave the room, leave the house for five minutes, build up — rather than waiting until you need to go out for an afternoon.

Exercise

• Two short walks a day suits an adult. Puppies need less: roughly five minutes per month of age, twice daily.
• Flat, steady walking is ideal — it builds the core and back musculature that supports the spine.
• Avoid repetitive high-impact games while the growth plates are open. Twisting after a thrown ball is a lot of torque through a long back.
• They are diggers and they follow their nose. A Dachshund off-lead in an unfenced space is a Dachshund that has gone.

When to call your vet

Same day, without waiting to see if it improves:

• Any sign of back pain or neurological trouble: a hunched or arched back, reluctance to jump or climb when they normally would, crying when picked up or touched along the spine, a wobbly or dragging hind leg, knuckling over on a paw, or dragging the back end. This is the emergency in this breed — hours matter for the outcome, so phone rather than wait until morning.
• Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea, especially with blood, or a puppy that will not eat for more than a day.
• Lethargy, collapse, or a puppy that is unusually difficult to rouse.
• Suspected hypoglycaemia in a very small puppy — wobbliness, glazed eyes, weakness. Rub a little honey or glucose syrup on the gums and go straight to the vet.
• An eye that is cloudy, weeping or held shut.
• Persistent head-shaking or ear discomfort.

Puppies destabilise faster than adult dogs. If something feels wrong, phone. You will never regret an unnecessary vet call.