Latest Fad Breed, Usual Misinformation About Mix-breeds/good Info From

[wings]

I have never met a nasty dachshund. My first boyfriends family bred MLD , and I have groomed many over the years in all the size and coat types. My personal prefernce is the mini long and wire coats. I find them to be completely delightful companion dogs.........except........many are quite barky. Unless very well trained for keeping the barking to a minimum, I'm not sure I'd have one in an apartment or close quarter dwelling, or want one next door in said situation.

As a breed they have the potential to go very wrong both physically and mentally in the hands of money hungry demand breeders if they were to become the latest must have canine accessory

Agree with that sadly Already if I tell people I have a dachie they assume he is riddled with health problems, imagine how much worse people could view the breed if people start churning them out to make a buck with no consideration for health.

And agree that I wouldn't consider them apartment dogs. Hansel is pretty quiet... unless something happens. Then he has to tell us all about it. Personally I don't mind that but I'm on a farm so it's a useful thing for a dog to do and there are no neighbours to annoy.

Also while my boy is easy to live with I think a lot of his mental and physical health comes down to how much he gets to do outside. He gets a lot of off leash time to hoon around, a lot of smells to follow and I'm always inventing new games for him to play. Definitely not the breed I'd recommend for an apartment especially if the owners have a lot of other commitments like work.

[Jed]

Dacshunds are quite protective, so barking is really a training issue.

My first one lived to be 23 - then she slipped a disc, and the vet wasn't keen on operating. I don't think she had been to the vet very often in her 23 years. She was determined and assertive, but certainly not aggressive.

I don't think they are the kind of dogs fools should own - because they are hounds, and a big dog in a little body, with a big personality. Properly owned and raised they are awesome

[kelpiecuddles]

I'm the same Wings, I hear about all the BYB bassets in the states and I hope the breed never goes that way here. When I tell people I have a basset the most common response is "Oh, does she have problems with her ears/back/skin" Most people are very surprised when I say that the only thing she's been to the vet for is vacs, desexing and one teeth cleaning and she's nearly 6. She's such a lovely bred girl and kept lean and fit but as a breed there are so many things that BYBer could screw up so quickly.

All the dachies I've known would walk all over their owners if they let them!

[BlackJaq]

Not to offend anyone but I have seen a few working earthdog Dachshunde in Germany and they look shorter in the back, with less stumpy legs and generally seem a lot less fragile than the PB Dachies I have seen in Oz.. Methinks show breeding has not done them many favors and BYB would probably not really be that much worse.

Of course I am not a Dachie person and I don't know the breed in great detail but it seems to be common opinion in vets and such that they are very prone to back issues.. Which performance bred Dachies don't seem to have that much of a problem with. Maybe a Dachie person could elaborate on this a little.

Obviously becoming a fad breed is a terrible thing to happen to any breed but I think the breed as it is atm is not exactly a stellar example of umm.... healthy structure....

Edited January 20, 2014 by BlackJaq

[kelpiecuddles]

My uncles Dachie was titled in endurance and did cross country and was certainly a very healthy example of the breed(and is from show lines). I had this conversation regarding bassets the other day and I'll say it didn't end well, although I was only suggesting that it would be possible to source healthy fit for purpose animals here from show lines(which you would think would be a good thing!). Show dogs are after all subject to the preferences of the person breeding them and their perception of the standard, some dogs are bred with so much excess skin they are practically tripping over it and if enough breeders and judges like that it becomes the look of the moment. I suspect dachies are the same, there will always be breeders who are breeding towards the more extreme parts of the standard but you'll also have the breeders who like the sturdy, healthy type which needs to be encouraged.

[BlackJaq]

I don't doubt there are better and worse examples of the breed around. I'm sure the same goes for GSDs and other breeds who felt a very negative impact in the hey-day of show breeding for exaggerated features.

Some breed features unfortunately are contributing to less than stellar breed health (dare I mention the BB here?) and I don't think we (as the PB world) are doing ourselves any favors by ignoring or denying this. Other people are happy to use this as cannon fodder to put down all PBs so perhaps we need to look at decreasing some of these features in order to improve overall health.

But I guess this is pretty OT now. I certainly feel for any breed who becomes the subject of a fad, there are always vultures out there, waiting to cash in on something like this and some breeds spend decades recovering from this kind of thing when the fad finally wears off and some breed reputations never recover entirely.

Edited January 20, 2014 by BlackJaq

[alpha bet]

don't you think most of you are focussing on the wrong issue... nothing to do with dachshund....

We should all be writing to Dr Nicole at Prahran and complain that she is promoting the puppy farmer by encouraging people to dash out and grab a little cross breed.

One vet can do more harm with mis information.....

Send an email to Prahran Clinic and complain - they have an online contact system....http://prahranvet.com.au/contact-us/

If they get inundated with responses they might pull their head in.

Edited January 20, 2014 by alpha bet

[sandgrubber]

Worth noting that daschunds are a varied breed, with three coat types (smooth, rough and long), and, in some countries, three body types (miniature, standard, and rabbit). The most aggressive daschies I've met have been smooth coats, especially the standard.

Never met a rabbit daschund that I know of. Checking the Finnish KC database confirms the suspicion that these have different mortality profiles. For standard, smooth coat daschies, more die of accidents than of old age. For standard, long coat, only about a third as many die of accidents as old age. Likewise, death from euthanasia due to behavioral problems is higher for the smooth coat than the long coat. Not that this is definitive, or that things are the same in Finland as Oz or the US. Just to say that the breed is diverse. Let's hope the fad picks up on relatively friendly, unaggressive strains, as people buying fashionable dogs are often inexperienced.

[Crisovar]

The only PB Dachs I've encountered with dicky backs have been overweight and unfit. Like any breed when they are popular people breed for greed and with little care, the quality of the population drops Vets see more issues because they see more badly bred ones. I have elederly Dachy grooming clients that are in their teens and rarely see the Vet, well bred and still fit though :)

[melzawelza]

Can we all stop generalising an entire breed as if every dog in that breed's behaviour is exactly the same?

One poster says: Dachshunds are like THIS

Other poster says: No, Dachshunds are like THIS.

How about, there is hugely varied behaviour within the breed and while there can be some common traits within a purebred dog and another purebred dog of the same breed the differences have been shown to be just as vast as the differences between breeds. You'd both be right and I'm sure you've both experienced Dachshunds on either end of the spectrum.

I would suggest to you that those dacshunds were badly bred or trained or socialised. They certainly have the outlook of a larger dog, but generally have excellent temperaments. But perhaps not, where ever the survey was conducted.

Dacshunds are very affectionate and devoted, good watchdogs, with the bark of a bigger dog, and they will seek and ericate prey above and below ground. As they have no smell and rarely need washing, as well as most being personally clean, and they are certainly not human aggressive. Has there ever been a record of a dacshund attacking?

How can you generalise an entire breed as never human aggressive?

FYI I've investigated about four attacks from Dachshunds on humans. Does that make them an aggressive breed? No. It means that those individual dogs had issues and were managed badly by their owners.

Edited January 21, 2014 by melzawelza

[mac'ella]

Hound? I'd say more like the brain of a terrier! Earth dog and many have the temperament needed to drag a badger from its hole.

Surprised by the fad.

A byb'r is doing well to get $400/pup for dachsies around here.

Do you think only terriers chase and kill things? All hounds will kill something - give a whippet a rabbit and look out, give any hound anything and they will do the job they were bred to do.

Dacshunds are more chilled than most terriers and work in a different way.

one of our 1st dogs was a standard dachshund,he was the friendliest dog around people,but no other creature was safe.He had an instinct to chase or dig up anything he could get hold of which was great with mice and rats,but mot so good with birds, reptiles or small furries.He also would not back down from other dogs if threatened.

I saw a Judge Judy show once where one had been injured after running at 2 other dogs,which I think were on lead,she in her great wisdom wouldn't have it that a cute little sausage dog would attack another dog.