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Everything you need to know about Dachshund Puppies
SIZE | Small
COAT LENGTH | Varies
ENERGY | High
Description
Dachshunds (commonly known as 'sausage dogs') are a small-sized dog breed that come in a number coat varieties: smooth, wire-haired, and longhaired. They are reasonably energetic and friendly to those that they know, but may require extra training to get them used to strangers. While intelligent, Dachshunds are stubborn to train, have short attention spans, and will sulk if you scold them.
Neonatal
During the first 4 weeks of your Dachshund's life, they should spend most of their time with their mother and litter-mates. It is highly unusual for the puppy's owner to care for them during this time and is best left to a responsible, reputable breeder. Your puppy's body will double in weight as their muscles, organs and bones develop.
Nutrition
During the neonatal stage, your Dachshund puppy will get most of their nutrition from their mother's milk. At around 4 weeks you may wish to introduce a mush of minced protein such as beef, but always consult your vet first before changing your puppy's diet at this stage.
Health
During this time it is important to monitor your Dachshund for any infections, diseases or birth defects. Puppies are unable to urinate or defecate by themselves initially, so their mother helps them but may additionally require your assistance.
Keep your vet's contact details close by and educate yourself thoroughly on this stage of puppy development. By the end of this period, your puppy will be mobile and will explore the world mouth first — be sure to keep choking hazards and toxic foods out of their reach.
Behaviour
During most of this time your Dachshund puppy will be asleep or inactive, but they will soon be playing with their brothers and sisters. After 3-4 weeks they will go through as much sensory development as a human baby does in a few months. It is important to avoid disturbing the puppies' mother as she will be likely be protective, but some interaction with the young pups is normal so they become used to human touch.
Weaning
When you take your Dachshund home (usually at around 8 weeks) you should provide them with lots of stimulation and attention. This is a formative time for your puppy and will be when they learn to walk, play, bite, hold their bladder, and interact with others. As mostly inside dogs, it is important to establish clear boundaries between outdoor play spaces and inside spaces which are for being calmer and not destroying.
Nutrition
During the weaning stage, you should slowly introduce into their diet a nutritionally complete puppy food which is appropriate to your Dachshund's small size and young age. You should feed your puppy small meals to avoid bloating and lethargy after meals. You should also familiarise yourself with lists of toxic foods and plants to avoid - since they will spend their time inside you must be extra careful. During this time, the puppy’s immunity is not completely developed and hence he/she will be prone to digestible upsets. Hence is it important to support your puppy’s developing immune system with PURINA PROPLAN PUPPY, a formula enriched with colostrum, which is proven to support their immune defenses.
PURINA PROPLAN Small & Mini Puppy has
1. Colostrum, rich in natural antibodies, proven to enhance immune response
2. DHA from omega-rich fish oil helps nourish brain and vision development
3. Colostrum proven to balance intestinal micro flora, helps protect your puppy from common intestinal upsets
4. Easily digestible and supports the fast growth of Small and Mini puppies with nutrient dense formula
5. Easy rehydration of kibble for weaning
6. Scientifically proven antioxidants to boost immune defence
7. No added artificial colours, flavours and preservatives
Health
During this time you should provide your puppy with a small, shallow bowl of clean water and refresh the contents frequently. Regularly touch your Dachshund puppy around and inside their ears as their significant size makes air flow difficult, increasing the chance of ear infections greatly. Exercising a Dachshund puppy means two short walks per day — even if they seem like they might prefer to laze about, they still need regular exercise to stop obesity which can fatally harm their sensitive backs.
Behaviour
Due to the changes in their environment, your Dachshund will be under a significant amount of stress. It's important that you provide lots of attention and affection, as well as introduce your puppy to as many new people and animals as possible to avoid them developing aggressive tendencies later in life based on fear. Dachshunds are natural diggers bred to catch small animals hidden in underground burrowers — as their owner you must make sure they cannot dig under your fences and escape.
Puppy
By the time your Dachshund reaches puppyhood their personality will be well developed, so you will have an energetic and loyal friend. Your Dachshund will likely form a particularly strong bond with one family members and be 'their dog'. Encourage them to be more social with others while you can to prevent aggression.
Nutrition
Your Dachshund puppy's diet should be based around a high quality, nutritionally complete puppy food. You may also wish to introduce them to fresh, lean raw meat — however, don't feed your puppy any meat you would not feed to a fellow human being. It is particularly important that you make sure you do not overfeed your Dachshund puppy as they can become obese when they get older and damage their long spines. It is important to choose puppy food, which is made for Dachschund’s small size & has the essential nutrients and minerals for his/her growth & development.
PURINA PROPLAN Small & Mini Puppy has
1. DHA from omega-rich fish oil helps nourish brain and vision development
2. Colostrum proven to balance intestinal micro flora, helps protect your puppy from common intestinal upsets
3. Easily digestible and supports the fast growth of Small and Mini puppies with nutrient dense formula
4. Scientifically proven antioxidants to boost immune defence
5. No added artificial colours, flavours and preservatives
6. Real Chicken as the No 1 ingredient which provides Crude Protein for their muscle growth
Health
The amount of grooming required for your Dachshund puppy will depend on the type of coat they have, ranging from a weekly brush to regular bathing. Discourage your puppy from climbing staircases or jumping off ledges as this may hurt their backs. It is important to teach children and friends early how to handle your Dachshund puppy so that they do not hurt them by accident. After around 8 weeks your puppy will be due for some vaccinations, so they will need a checkup at the vet and to arrange for boosters after that.
a) Studies showed that dogs supplemented with a diet of bovine colostrum had a quicker and stronger immune system response to CDV vaccine as compared to dogs fed a control diet.
b) Colostrum supplemented dogs maintained a higher antibody level even after 40 weeks
c) A diet supplemented with Colostrum helps bridge the immunity gap in puppies that occurs between 3 weeks and 5 months of age.
Behaviour
Dachshunds are very intelligent, but also single-minded and stubborn — they will happily ignore your commands or training to find something more fun to do. This can be combated with obedience training from a young age, but they are unlikely to stop following a trail once they smell something. Using treats will assist greatly in training your Dachshund puppy to listen to you as they do not respond well to yelling and will sulk if they feel you are unjust towards them. It is vital to introduce your children's friends from an early age so that your puppy is not aggressive when grown up.
