Dachshund Googling "why does my dachshund do this" at one in the morning, then taking advice from a forum post written in 2009, is basically the initiation ritual for this breed.
Everybody does it. The dog does something baffling, you panic, and suddenly you’re forty comments deep in a thread where three people disagree and one of them is clearly talking about a beagle.
The thing is, dachshunds generate a very specific set of questions. Not general dog questions. Dachshund questions, the kind that only occur to you once you own a small, opinionated hound with a spine like a diving board and the confidence of a much larger animal.
Here are the ten that come up again and again, and the actual answers behind them.
1. Why does my dachshund burrow into everything?
Blankets. Laundry piles. The gap between two couch cushions that you didn’t know was a gap.
This one traces straight back to the job description. These dogs were bred to go down into badger dens, which means tunneling into dark, tight spaces isn’t a quirk they picked up. It’s the whole personality, repackaged for your living room.
A dachshund that burrows under your duvet at midnight isn’t being clingy. It’s doing the exact work it was designed for, just with better upholstery.
Should you let them?
Yes, with one caveat: know where the dog is before you sit down. Ask anyone who has nearly flattened a sausage shaped lump in an armchair.
Give them a designated burrow spot. A soft blanket in a covered bed usually satisfies the urge and saves your bedding.
2. Are stairs really that dangerous?
Short answer: they’re not great, and the risk builds over years rather than showing up in one dramatic moment.
Every trip down a staircase compresses the spine repeatedly. Same with leaping off the sofa, which is the jump most owners forget about entirely because it looks harmless.
Ramps and pet stairs help. Carrying your dog down the big staircase helps more.
What about jumping onto furniture?
Going up is generally less punishing than coming down. The landing is where the force concentrates.
3. Why won’t they stop barking?
Because the bark was the point.
A hound working underground needed a voice loud enough to travel through packed earth so the hunter could locate it. You now own that voice, and it lives in a house with a doorbell.
Understanding the why doesn’t silence anything on its own, but it does change your approach. You’re not fixing a broken dog; you’re managing a feature that arrived preinstalled.
Block the visual triggers, reward quiet before the barking starts rather than after, and give the dog something to do with its nose. Bored hounds are loud hounds.
4. Is potty training genuinely harder with this breed?
Yes. Sorry.
Two things stack against you. Small bladders mean shorter windows, and the stubborn streak means your dog has opinions about going outside when it’s cold, wet, or slightly inconvenient.
Consistency beats cleverness here. Same door, same spot, same reward, every single time, for longer than you think is reasonable.
The rain problem
Plenty of these dogs simply refuse bad weather. A covered patch of yard or a porch overhang solves more accidents than any training method.
5. How much exercise do they actually need?
Less than the internet insists, and more than their legs suggest.
Two moderate walks a day suits most adults, plus mental work. A dachshund that has spent fifteen minutes hunting treats hidden around the kitchen is more tired than one that speed walked for an hour.
Tire out the nose, not the spine. That single shift solves more behavior problems than any amount of extra mileage.
Avoid long, repetitive runs on hard surfaces. Their bodies weren’t built for endurance jogging alongside a bike.
6. Why has my dog picked a favorite human?
Because loyalty in this breed tends to run deep and narrow.
They bond intensely, often to one person, and the rest of the household gets filed under "acceptable." It’s not a reflection of who feeds them or who’s nicest.
You can widen the circle. Have other family members handle walks, meals, and training sessions so the dog associates good outcomes with more than one face.
Separation anxiety often rides along with this trait, so it’s worth building tolerance for alone time early rather than waiting for the first destroyed doormat.
7. Is my dog overweight, or just shaped like this?
Fair question, and the shape genuinely makes it hard to eyeball.
Run your hands along the ribs. You should feel them under a thin layer, similar to the back of your knuckles. If you’re pressing to find them, there’s extra weight on board.
There should also be a visible tuck where the belly rises toward the back legs. A straight line from chest to hips is a red flag.
Why it matters more here
Every extra pound loads a spine that’s already working overtime. Weight management is arguably the single most effective thing you can do for a long term healthy back.
8. Why do they ignore me when I know they heard me?
Because independence was bred in on purpose.
Once a dachshund went down a tunnel, nobody was down there giving instructions. The dog had to make decisions alone, underground, facing something with claws. That decision making machinery is still running when you call across the park.
Selective hearing isn’t defiance in the way it feels. It’s a working dog weighing your suggestion against its own plan and finding yours less compelling.
Make yourself more interesting. High value treats, short sessions, and recall practice that ends before the dog gets bored.
9. What is IVDD, and how worried should I be?
Intervertebral disc disease affects this breed far more than most, and it’s the reason so much dachshund advice circles back to backs.
The discs between the vertebrae degenerate early in chondrodystrophic breeds, which can lead to bulging or rupture. Symptoms range from reluctance to move, to a hunched posture, to sudden loss of use in the back legs.
Watch for the dog that stops doing something it always did. Refusing the couch it has jumped on for six years is information, not laziness.
Sudden weakness or dragging back legs is an emergency, not a wait and see situation. Fast treatment substantially changes outcomes.
What actually reduces the risk
Keep the weight down. Limit repetitive jumping. Support the body properly when you lift, one hand under the chest and one under the rear, never dangling from the front.
Pet insurance is worth pricing out before you need it, because IVDD surgery is expensive and preexisting conditions get excluded fast.
10. Would mine be happier with a second dog?
Often, yes, and dachshunds tend to get along famously with other dachshunds.
They understand each other. The burrowing, the wrestling, the shared conviction that the mail carrier is a threat to national security.
That said, a second dog doubles the barking and doubles the vet bills. Introduce slowly, on neutral ground, and give the resident dog somewhere to retreat to.
If your current dog is anxious, resource guarding, or reactive, fix that first. A companion won’t resolve those issues and can amplify them.
A small warning
Two dachshunds will absolutely conspire. Baby gates, secured trash cans, and food kept somewhere higher than you’d think necessary.