Did you buy your dachshund puppy recently? Or are you planning to buy one? Well, you will need this guide to help you learn how to teach your dachshund puppy several tricks and commands perfectly. Remember that you should train your doxie to listen to you while it’s still young.
Dachshunds are very intelligent dog breeds and are naturally fierce since their primary role is hunting.
However, don’t get scared, you can teach your doxie, and it will become friendly, playful, and outgoing. In addition, this guide will simplify your training experience.
Dachshunds have a height of five to nine inches and can weigh between 11 to 32 pounds. In addition, you may have to stay with your dachshund pet for between 12 and 16 years, and you bid goodbye to them.
But wait, you need to prepare yourself before you can start training your doxie.
So, how do you do it?
How to Prepare to Teach Your Dachshund
Now, before you could jump to training your dachshund puppy on several basics, you might want to consider the following.
- Location
The location you choose to train your dachshund should be an open space. Always ensure that no objects could harm your dachshund while teaching it. It can be in your home compound or a public field.
In addition, the place you choose should be free of distractions to enable your puppy to focus. Ensure that both you and your dachshund puppy are not distracted.
If you choose your compound, you should stay away from other people, mobile phones, and puppies during the training session.
- Allow your puppy to get used to the environment.
Of course, you don’t want to scare your puppy by giving it new commands while it’s entirely new to the environment. Therefore, you should give it some grace period before you can start training it.
In addition, the grace period will be reasonable to allow you to bond with your pet the right way. Once it gets used to you and the environment, it will be easy to train them.
- Treats
It’s essential to choose the treats you will use to teach your dachshund puppy. The treats should be one of the favourite meals that your dachshund dog likes. Otherwise, the coaching might not yield the results you desire.
For instance, you could use a piece of bone with meat since it’s easy to wrap your palm around it.
- Timing
Time is another crucial factor to consider when training your dachshund puppy. You should keep the training sessions as short as possible.
It’s recommended to train for around 15 to 30 minutes. However, you can do so between three and five times a day.
- Learn to exercise patience
Well, if you are not patient enough, you may have to hire a professional to train your dachshund on your behalf. But that should not be the case because you can do it yourself.
Ensure you have patience whenever you try to teach your dachshund a new skill. Remember, you may have to keep repeating the same command for several training sessions before your dachshund can master it. So, be patient!
How Long Can a Dachshund Hold a Pee?
Understanding the bathroom needs of your doxie is a great way to make it more comfortable while you are away.
Of course, you don’t want to keep your puppy waiting for so long to pee after you have gone out. But you must know the maximum time your dachshund puppy can wait before it pees. This information will help you plan your day outs accordingly in a manner that doesn’t harm your pet.
Factors That Determine the Frequency of Dachshund Peeing
- Age
The older your puppy gets, the more it can hold its pee for longer. The tolerance comes from the big bladder that enlarges as they grow up. However, not all mature dachshunds have big bladders.
However, a young dachshund puppy will have trouble holding its pee for longer due to its small bladder.
Remember, you must train your puppy on potty usage while it’s still young since it will learn faster.
- Diet
Just like most other puppies, your dachshund puppy will respond with more frequent urination upon eating moisturized meals like wet dog food.
On the other hand, dry meals will cause your puppy to urinate less frequently.
- Health
Let’s agree that health significantly contributes to how your dachshund has to pee. For instance, if your puppy has kidney problems, diabetes, or Urinary tract infections, they are prone to pee more frequently. However, other factors like dehydration can cause a reduced pee rate.
- Size
Chances are, bigger dachshunds have bigger bladders, hence the ability to hold on for long before peeing. This means that your little dachshund may be unable to wait longer due to a smaller bladder.
How to Teach a Dachshund to Sit
- Use ‘sit’ instead of ‘sit down.
Just like a little child trying to learn speech catches short words, so is your dachshund puppy. They will understand one-word commands more than phrases.
Therefore, you should aim to use the ‘sit’ command when teaching your dachshund puppy to sit down.
- Use the treat to touch their nose and slowly take it towards the back of their head.
It’s now the time to take the next step in training your puppy. Placing a treat on your dachshund’s nose attracts its attention.
Afterward, move the treat towards their back while repeating the word sit.
- Repeat the process till the dachshund learns to sit
Repetitions are among the best methods of mastering a skill, not only with pets but also with humans.
Therefore if you repeat the word sit several times while moving the treat to the puppy’s back, they may eventually learn how to sit.
However, give your puppy a break if your puppy doesn’t learn how to sit during the first session. Remember that training sessions should not be that long. You should take breaks and exercise a high level of patience all through.
However, do not give it the treat before they master the skill.
- Reward it once it learns to sit down
After your puppy sits down successfully, rewarding it with a treat will be a good idea. After all, you need your dachshund to trust you during the next session. If you keep your promise, the puppy will start loving the training sessions.
How to Teach a Dachshund to Lay Down
- Have a reward in mind
Who doesn’t like rewards anyway? That’s the same with pets, in this case, your little dachshund.
You can promise to give their favourite meal after obeying a command successfully.
While starting to train your puppy, hold the treat with one hand so it can still see it.
- Think of short words/phrases to use.
When teaching your dachshund how to lay down, it’s advisable to use ‘lay’ or ‘down’ instead of lay down. It will be easier to capture a single word than a two-word phrase.
- Tell your dachshund to sit.
Sitting should be the first thing to train a dachshund. While seated, it’s way easier to learn how to lay down.
By now, your dachshund should have mastered how to sit down.
- Hold your treat with your hands.
Yes, you will still need your treat again to make your pet follow your soft commands.
Ensure the puppy can see how you move the treat for it to react.
- Direct your dachshund to take the treat from your hand while seated.
To work out this command successfully, you need to touch the puppy’s nose with the treat and pull it towards you. While trying to reach the reward, slowly lower the prize towards the ground. This should put your dachshund in a position to lie down.
However, if it doesn’t lie down, don’t hesitate to try again later till it learns the command.
- Once it lays down, give it its reward.
Rewarding should be available whenever you are training your puppy.
- Repeat the process and make the sessions short
It’s easy for your puppy to learn to lay down when you train it for a short time. It’s better to conduct several sessions than one long session, which will encourage boredom.
How to Teach a Dachshund to Shake
- Tell them to sit first.
Again, to teach a dachshund how to shake, it must be seated first. Shaking could be the most effortless trick to train your dachshund. However, you must be gentle and friendly with your pet to actualize your desired results.
Before training your dachshund how to shake, ensure you have the reward in your hand.
- Hold their hand’s shoulders till they lift their paw.
You could hold their shoulder and use your other hand to draw the treat close to the puppy’s nose. If you touch the dachshund’s shoulder, they should be more attentive to what you are about to do.
Now that the pet has seen that you have something to give them, they may try to grab it from your hand. Well, don’t allow them to. That’s why your hands should hold the treat firmly while ensuring that the dachshund can see it.
While holding your treat, lift it, and ensure that the puppy sees the treat’s movement. It will try to raise its paw to reach it when it’s high enough.
At this point, you can congratulate your dachshund puppy. However, don’t reward it yet.
- After lifting their paw, introduce the verbal command
Once they raise their foot, it’s an excellent opportunity to shake them. However, you should tell them what to do.
Place one hand on their paw while saying the word shake repeatedly. You should repeat the process till it learns how to shake, even without treats.
Your dachshund should understand to shake without lifting its paw targeting a treat.
- Reward and complement its efforts
When the puppy learns to shake, you can reward it by acknowledging its good behavior.
Say words like excellent and well done to complement your puppy. Everything likes compliments, and it’s also a perfect way to lift their spirits.
Why do Dachshunds Lick Their Paws?
Commonly, you will find a dachshund licking its paws, although it’s not a significant cause of alarm. However, you dont have to ignore its behavior because it might as well mean there is something serious about it.
Here are the common reasons your dachshund puppy might be licking its paws.
- It could be a sign of allergy( environment or food)
Just like humans experience allergies after eating some foods or being in new environments, dachshunds also experience the same. That’s why you need to take note of the meals you are serving your pet.
If you notice that your dachshund licks its feet after eating a particular meal, you can stop feeding it the meal. That will be a way to examine whether the meal is causing itchy paws. If the puppy stops licking its feet after eliminating a meal, stick to that.
But then, a new environment can cause your dachshund to lick its feet. Therefore, you must make it more comfortable wherever you move to. Always ensure that your puppy is staying in a place with minimal dust. Remember that dust is not that friendly since it can contain parasites that can stick to your dachshund’s paws.
Once your puppy feels comfortable in a clean environment, ensure you maintain cleanliness at all times. However, you may first need to take your pet to a veterinary doctor to remove the parasites.
- They could be bored or anxious.
One reason why your dachshund may feel bored or anxious is when you are not around them. And the puppy may resolve to start licking their feet to ease their anxiety.
But do you have to walk with your dachshund to your office? Absolutely no! So what do you do?
Well, the earlier you train your dachshund to be busy around the home, the better. If your puppy has lots of things to do at home, it will not feel anxious about your coming back anymore.
You can teach your dachshund to do physical activities like chasing prey or even searching for treats in different corners of your compound. With that, I guess your dachshund will have little time to worry about your absence.
- Injury
Injury is another reason why your Doxie can be licking their feet. It will be an excellent idea to check it closely for any available injuries. Indeed, your dachshund can get some injuries while playing around or while chasing prey.
You can prevent it from licking its paw by first taking it to a veterinary doctor for treatment and removing all harmful objects in your compound.
- Infection
Infections such as pododermatitis are common in pets and can appear on their paws. The paws appear reddish and swollen, and they might be itchy. As a result, your puppy may be trying to lick its feet to ease the pain.
You should take your dachshund to the veterinary doctor to treat it accordingly. In addition, you will have to maintain high cleanliness levels in the puppy’s environment to reduce infections.
Remedies of Dachshunds Licking its Paws
An excellent way to make your dachshund more comfortable is taking regular veterinary visits for checkups. That will ensure you notice any problem that may arise. And you will also curb it before it makes your pet so uncomfortable.
In addition, your should also ensure that you bathe your pet frequently to remove dust and dirt that may cause infections in the puppy.
You can also get dog boots that will help in preventing things like injuries and dust parasites.
Another good way is by cutting your dachshund’s hair around its feet. Remember that with long hair, some dust parasites may hide in it, causing more trouble for your dachshund.
Keep your home clean if you want to rear healthy dachshunds around. Dachshunds are naturally short, meaning they are closer to the ground. That means they are prone to injuries, not only on the paws but also on their entire body.
The Bottom Line
Now that you have learned how to teach your dachshund several commands effectively, it’s time to exercise the training. The most important virtue you should have as a trainer is being patient.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are dachshunds easily trained?
Yes. Following the correct procedure makes it easy to train a dachshund. However, the earlier you start training it, the better.
- Can a dachshund learn how to sit?
Sure. A dachshund can learn how to sit when you train it on the same. Sitting down is a command that your dachshund should know ahead of other skills like lying down or shaking.
- How do you teach a dachshund to roll?
The first step is to make it sit and lay down. Afterward, hold your treat on the dachshund’s nose and slowly move it in the opposite direction. Therefore, tell the puppy to roll on the side.
- How do you train a dachshund not to bark?
If you dont want your dachshund to bark, you can start distracting it with a treat and command it to keep quiet. You can put your finger across the dachshund’s mouth to signify that.