Dachshunds need more attention than other dogs

Dachshunds need quality attention from their owners.

If you are acquiring a Dachshund just to say that you own a Dachshund or if you are getting one just because everybody else owns one, then I recommend that you find another breed of dog.

You cannot train a Dachshund like you can another breed of dog. A Doxie will make the writers of books on dog behavior look like a childless single person who writes books on how to raise children.

In my experience you only raise your voice at a Doxie only when you absolutely have to. A  kind gentle voice works wonders with mine. Anytime I tell her no in a soft voice I get that guilty look from her as if she is unhappy that she displeased me. Yes I have gotten mad at her several times. Those sad looks of hers have a way of making me swallow my anger. Usually my temper shows when she is in a stubborn frame of mind. She has gotten so used to my habits that she knows what I am going to do next before I even know that I am going to do it.

Dachshunds respond best to loving attention and a lot of it. The more they get the happier they are and a happy Dachshund is a sight to see. They really do reward you for the attention you give them.If ours has not gotten enough exercise or attention for the day I have a little game I play with her at bedtime otherwise she will keep you awake at night.

I call my game 'The badger in the blanket' . I think most Doxies would like it as it involves hunting, burrowing,and fighting in what appears to them to be an underground enviornment.
The writers of dog behavior books will tell you to never let a dog bite your hand even in play. I say it is OK as long as your dog knows the limits and I think most Dachshunds are smart enough to learn them. In fact I have owned some exceptionally stupid dogs that quickly learned the limits but enough of my rant and on with the game. 

What I usually do is take my hand and move it quickly underneath the blanket. This gets puppy dogs attention really fast. I will then pop my hand out of the blanket and 'Attack' her then quickly draw it back underneath the blanket. She can't help herself but chase it back underneath the blanket where we play fight for a few seconds.  Her rear end is usually sticking out from underneath the covers and her tail is wagging in a happy manner. Sometimes I do a variation on this with her bunny chew toy and she really gets excited because she knows she can bite bunny as hard as she wants.

If she bites my hand too hard I immediately yell "Ouch" and abruptly end the game for the night. I have not had to say ouch for a long time now. There WAS one night I said ouch. Our Doxie was asleep in the bedroom. I had our cat with the birth defect in my lap. She has a deformed rear paw with one claw that sticks out all the time. I nicknamed her 'Spearfoot'. Well on that particular night Ms. Spearfoot decided to jump off my lap unexpectedly and speared my leg in doing so.  I yell "Ouch!" very loudly and within seconds I have an enraged Dachshund charging out of the bedroom ready to attack.  In her mind I suppose she was thinking that somebody or something had hurt her favorite human and she was going to make them pay for it.

The funny thing is that I have severe arthritis and I say "Ouch" all the time numerous times a day. She does not get mad when I do a arthritis ouch. She knows me well enough to know the difference.

She did do something funny today. The river is paying a visit to our town as it has numerous times in the past. We have a street that is underwater but only by a few inches. I drove down on my John Deere riding mower to look at it and Dolly the Dachshund followed me. This another one of her favorite activities is to either follow me on the mower or ride on my leg. When we got to the water she spotted a Squirrel playing off in the distance. She gave chase to the squirrel but when she did she attempted to leap  across a flooded ditch only to fall short. She was very wet and the squirrel got away easily. I am a bit of a River Rat and I know what is in that flood water. I brought her home and gave her a good bath. She liked me giving her a bath because she was getting extra attention from me and actually cooperated with the bath by putting her body in a position where I could clean her better.

I do so love that dog.