admin answers:

Ok…she’s way too young for you to worry about most things…focus on the positives. (She should have stayed with her mommy for a couple of more weeks, but if you already have her, then you will need to deal with it). Your breeder sucks, btw, I would either file a complaint or spread the word around for others not to buy puppies from her/him.

Dont worry about training her all that much now. If you do have sessions, make them last 5 min or so, she is very very young. Also if you are training her, do it when she is tired and not full of energy.
I would just focus on her knowing her name, coming to you when you call, and maybe sit or something.

With the leash…maybe let her sniff it when its not on her…give her a treat when she does…leave the leash on her in the house…let her drag it around (you dont need to be pulling on it). I leave it on my puppy and it is also very good for training and for when he is getting in trouble. If he heads for the litter box (for example), I’ll step on the leash and he cant go further. You can used that too, if there is something that she doesnt need to be doing, step on the leash…say “no” and take her or direct her somewhere else.

Keep her in the same room as you. Say her name, if she looks up at you, praise her and give her a treat. After a while she should learn. You can also do it for the “come” command. Hold a treat, Say “(Name), Come Here” and when she does, give her a treat and praise her. You can also use a leash to pull her towards you (gently, of course). Do that a couple of times a day for 5 min each time and she will learn in no time.

With house training, start praising her when she goes outside, give her a treat and use some sort of command, like “good potty” or something like that. Also watch her in the house constantly, if you catch her squating to pee or poop, say no, pick her up and immediatly take her outside, praise her when she goes….She’ll learn.

I would definitely spay her, especially considering the fact that her breeder is a moron and you never know why or how she breeds her dogs.

admin answers:

Hi, Anna,

I just bought a miniature dachshund from a home breeder, too – brought him home two nights ago. We named him Scamp.

He should be playful enough, especially if you have other dogs. Just watch out, if you have others, so they don’t play too rough with him. He’ll need frequent rest breaks at first (Scamp plays for about two hours and then takes a nap; it varies from puppy to puppy). He’ll also need to go potty after he eats, drinks, wakes up from a nap, or exuberant play. Dachshunds are notorious for being stubborn, too, so he’ll probably cry until he gets his way.

Nights could be tricky. Crate training works for most people, ebut you can always look up other options. If you opt for crate training, your puppy will cry to be let out. Wait until he goes to sleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, take him outside, or put him on the puppy training pad if you’re using those overnight. Once he’s done his business, put him back in the crate. You may have to repeat this a few times.

Confession: I caved on the crate training. My two-year-old shares a room with me, and Scamp’s crying kept waking up my son. His first night home was a nightmare; they kept going back and forth. Every hour on the hour, one of them woke up. So I put Scamp’s bed on my bed far enough away from the edge that he won’t fall off. Scamp sleeps his bed and I have puppy steps so he can get up and down by himself.

You may want to go to the bookstore and buy a copy of “Daschunds for Dummies.” It’s full of helpful information. The only thing to look out for in that book is the Treats section at the end; DO NOT give your dog grapes. Dogs can’t metabilize them properly and grapes can kill them. I’m pretty sure the book was published before this information was widely known, otherwise it wouldn’t have been included.

Oh, another note (then I’m done, promise): Dachshunds are champion de-stuffers. Especially squeaky toys. They will do anything to kill that squeaker, including ripping the toy to bits and pulling out ALL of the stuffing. Most of my mending basket is toys that either Scamp or Peanut, our other mini dachshund, has shredded. They also like to tear up rubber toys and anything with small pieces, like button eyes or noses. Watch out for anything that could be a choking hazard and take away the pieces.

Good luck with your new little one!
Sarah