Anyone else got a Miniature Dachshund

[Thomas87]

Hi,

I have a mini dachshund. Just wondering everyone else's daily routine re: food and exercise and other things?

He is 15 weeks now and we've had him since 10.

He generally has 4 meals a day each about 50g of food (is this about correct), one at breakfast time, lunch, dinner and then a smaller meal towards 9pm ish. And a couple of treats throughout the day, we have to give him a pigs ear to chew when we are eating our meals. Then we look to settle him down in his crate around 11pm or whenever he is dropping off. We generally hear him stirring and whining around half 3 for which we then let him outside for a wee. He is good and takes himself out for a poo, in 4 weeks he's only had 1 accident on the carpet which is outstanding I think.

We've weighed him weekly and currently he's 3.7kg after 15 weeks.

Exercise, we have an enclosed yard which he runs about in but look to take him out for a little walk/run for about 15 mins on an open field, although on leash at all times.

Onto food, we've been feeding him raw chicken mince or the like mixed in with his biscuits. He's not too keen on the pouch ready made stuff. He's also keen on sardines in the morning and he will also eat shredded cold cooked chicken.

He is biting a bit at the moment and he will nip your finger and nose when he's in the mood, what are people's best bet on trying to stop this? I know he's teething but I'd like to get it nipped in the bud, pardon the pun.

 

[JudyN]

Oh, he's lovely! I do have a soft spot for dachsunds, they seem to be such characters!

He should soon be ready to transition to three meals a day - the recommended age is around 4 months, though this might be different for small pups. As for whether the amount is right - it will depend on what food he's on, and whether it includes the chicken and other 'extras', but if he's not a greedy pup you might be able to be guided by how hungry he seems - dogs, like children, can have growth spurts when they need extra food.

What food is he on? Bear in mind that if you're adding a relatively large amount of chicken mince, it could unbalance the diet. It's probably worth seeing if you can find a food he does really like. As you're happy to feed raw mince, have you considered transitioning totally to raw? It is, in my opinion, probably the best diet. And chicken wings would be excellent for his teeth!

I'd let him off lead sooner rather than later - they can follow you like ducklings when they're young, so it's easy to get good foundations for recall at that stage. Obviously only in secure places to start off with, just in case he does do a runner!

There's a link to an article about puppy biting here, which should help: Useful Links & Recommended Reading You might want to look at the other articles listed in that post too.

 

[Hemlock]

He's lovely!

 

[Thomas87]

Oh, he's lovely! I do have a soft spot for dachsunds, they seem to be such characters!

He should soon be ready to transition to three meals a day - the recommended age is around 4 months, though this might be different for small pups. As for whether the amount is right - it will depend on what food he's on, and whether it includes the chicken and other 'extras', but if he's not a greedy pup you might be able to be guided by how hungry he seems - dogs, like children, can have growth spurts when they need extra food.

What food is he on? Bear in mind that if you're adding a relatively large amount of chicken mince, it could unbalance the diet. It's probably worth seeing if you can find a food he does really like. As you're happy to feed raw mince, have you considered transitioning totally to raw? It is, in my opinion, probably the best diet. And chicken wings would be excellent for his teeth!

I'd let him off lead sooner rather than later - they can follow you like ducklings when they're young, so it's easy to get good foundations for recall at that stage. Obviously only in secure places to start off with, just in case he does do a runner!

There's a link to an article about puppy biting here, which should help: Useful Links & Recommended Reading You might want to look at the other articles listed in that post too.

Thanks for that advice, we are a bit nervy about letting him off the leash just yet. I'm sure he wouldn't run off but just mindful if he gets spooked by anything, as it seems every noise is new to him! We've taken him on walks where he has interacted with other dogs and people so that's been good.

We feed him either chicken, beef or turkey mince generally. Our plan is to get him over to raw 100% yes. We are just conscious of his weight and weigh him weekly to check he's on course.

His temperament seems fantastic, we've been to a couple of country pubs and relative's houses and he seems fine and well behaved although a little nervous. He has a crazy 10 minutes or so every few hours where he's bombing up and down the living room then wants a sleep! He loves to sleep on you on the sofa, but it certainly used to his crate now I think. Initially he would be very restless and feel scared of going in there, but now he has accepted that he needs to go in there at night to sleep and lets us shut the crate door with no bother. We have bought a baby monitor so we can hear him when we are in bed.

 

[Whippylove]

I haven't kept dachshunds only whippets but I have a serious soft spot for these little guy's and yours is gorgeous!

 

[paperweight]

awwww! what a cute pup!