The Ultimate Guide to Miniature Dachshunds

In this guide, you will learn about the all types of Dachshunds, what they look like, their temperment, behaviour and how to take care of them.

Hi and welcome to 3doxies.com! If you were looking for information about the Dachshund,?you've come to the right place. First off, I'm a proud owner (or do they own me) of three miniatures: Chloe, Odie and Molly. I do know a little about them so let's get started on some of the types first.

Tea Cup

There are a lot of tea cup breeds which puppy mills are trying to sell you. There really isn't anything officially recognized as a tea cup dashound, so basically any extra money that you are going to spend on that puppy is due to buying the runt of the litter. So you might as well look for a miniature and save lots of money.

Miniature

Miniature dachshunds are very popular -- we have three of them. They typically weigh in between 10 to 15 lbs. Both Chloe and Molly are one the heavy side and above their ideal weight. The girls are very funny and get upset when we call them fat. Perhaps they are very smart or just know that when we call them fat, they know their cookie ration is going to be cut in half. Odie stays very trim around 13 lbs.

Standard

The standard is the normal size of the breed. The dog usually weighs in greater than 15 lbs and can get as large as 30 lbs. Standard puppies are hard to locate since the trend is for smaller sized dogs. Regardless of size they have the same temperament.

Coat Styles

These dogs have beautiful hair colors and textures. Some of the more common colors are red or black and red. But you can find cream colored and multi-colored dogs. Multi-colored dachshunds are known as Dapples. The Piebald Dachshund usually has a white body mixed with red spots or patches.

The Short haired or smooth has very short hair. They require very little grooming other than a bath once in a while. Odie is a short haired miniature dotson and loves being brushed with a rubber horse grooming brush. It removes his shedding hair while giving him a nice message.

Both of our girls are long haired and require constant grooming. A wire brush keeps their curls hair from tangling. Yet no matter how much we brush Molly, she knots up. This has this really soft baby-fine mane that simply tangles. We keep their hair long and trim it up so it looks nice and neat.

I've never seen a Wirehaired in person before, but they have a lot of hair around the muzzle. Apparently you need have them professionally groomed.

Health

Like smaller dog breeds, Dacshunds live a long time. It is not unusual for them to live well into their teens. You may want to read these posts to get an idea of how long your best friend will be around for.

Back Problems

The elongated wiener frame has a tendency have back injuries. It is important that when you pick up your dog that give him full support underneath his body. Jumping up or down can cause a back injury, so you may want to train your dashund from NOT jumping on and off couches and beds. This may be very difficult for to do and a doggie step to help them get on and off the furniture may be the only solution.

If your dog is in pain, doesn't want to move, or jump, he may have ruptured a disk. This is quite common in the dachshund and in larger breeds such as a pit bull. It is important that you seek the aid of your Vet immediately. If you wait too long your dog may become paralyzed.

Vets typically will give your pet anti-inflamitories to reduce the swelling. If that doesn't work, he may recommend back surgery. When Odie ruptured his disc, he became paralyzed in his hind quarters. While the surgery was somewhat expensive, he recovered and has about 90% use of his back legs. Unless you knew he had an operation, you probably could not tell the difference.