Instructions
Preparing for Your New Puppy's Arrival
Prepare your home for your puppy's arrival. Hide cords under rugs wherever possible. Close off small spaces where your puppy might hide. Rolled towels make good barriers. Dachshund puppies are small and very low to the ground, so they can squeeze through small openings. Spray bitter-tasting spray on tempting wooden surfaces to prevent chewing. Remove everything on lower shelves or on the floor that the puppy might view as a plaything. Dachshunds are intelligent and inquisitive puppies.
Decide where your puppy will sleep. Have its bed in a specific place. If it to sleep in a crate, have soft bedding ready inside the crate with a few toys. If the puppy is to sleep in your bedroom, have a dog pillow or a folded blanket in a specific spot. Dachshund puppies like soft places to curl up and sleep.
Purchase toys. A bored dachshund puppy is a puppy that gets into trouble. You want to keep your dog occupied and give it toys that it is allowed to chew. This will help keep its interest away from your shoes and furniture. You will notice that your puppy wants to chew excessively from about four months to six months of age and will bite on your hands and furniture. This is the age when it is teething and it will need toy bones and hard rubber toys to mouth. When it bites on your hand, say a sharp "no" and put a toy into its mouth. It needs to learn that biting on a hand is not acceptable behavior.
Purchase food, a food bowl and a water bowl to set out as soon as your dachshund puppy arrives. Speak to your vet in advance about a healthy diet for your new puppy and how often it needs to be fed. A dachshund puppy usually needs to be fed three times a day until it is several months old. At that point, it will require a half-cup to a cup of food twice a day. Dachshunds love their food and should not be allowed to become excessively heavy, as that strains their long backs and can cause serious spinal problems.
Read extensively about the breed so you know what to expect from your puppy. Understanding the breed will help in training. When you bring a dachshund puppy into the home, you will discover that you have an intelligent, somewhat stubborn puppy who is quite active. They are eager to please their owners and become very attached to a single person. Consistent positive training is going to work best with this type of puppy.
The Arrival of Your Dachshund Puppy
Introduce your puppy to the household. If there are other dogs, introduce them outside. Let the older dogs sniff the puppy and then walk them inside together. Let your puppy explore the house. Show it where its bowls are. If there are children in the house, teach them how to pick up the puppy gently.
Put newspapers in several spots around the house for paper training. Use a consistent command such as "go potty" when the puppy uses the papers. Take the puppy outside to the same small area every two hours and within 15 minutes of eating. Most puppies will learn quickly what is expected of them. You need to be consistent with this training. If your puppy is not understanding that this is its personal area, move some of the waste from the indoor newspapers to the area outdoors. This will establish its scent in the proper spot.
Teach your dachshund puppy basic commands. Begin teaching your puppy to sit, stay and lie down. Never shout or hit the puppy when it misbehaves or does not listen to you. It will respond much better to positive training with treats. The training sessions should last only a few minutes two or three times a day, as the puppy's attention span is very short at this age. Dachshunds are intelligent puppies and are capable of learning early.
Socialize your dachshund puppy at an early age. This breed can be reserved with strangers and it's important to expose them to strangers while they are young. Do not tolerate their barking excessively or growling at people coming into your house because that can develop into aggressive behavior as they get older.
How to Raise Dachshund Puppies
Dachshund puppies are especially appealing with their large brown eyes and big floppy ears and short legs. They are inquisitive little puppies with a high level of intelligence. They are very affectionate and tend to become extremely attached to their family. They have a moderate level of energy and love to play with other dogs and their family members. The dachshund is good with well-mannered children. They are well-balanced dogs and can make a wonderful addition to your family.