Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Breed characteristics and traits

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old September 10th, 2007, 07:02 PM
Adoredaschunds Adoredaschunds is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 4
Question Urgent Q's about a miniature Daschund PLEASE HELP

Hi everyone,

I have been doing some research on the miniature daschund breed as I really would love to take an upcoming opportunity to own one, a female, however I wondered if any owners/breeders/enthusiasts here might be able to answer a few Q's for me?

What are the main plus points to the breed?

Will a pup of this breed socialize well with my 22 month old daughter and cats?

What are the main down points, if any, to the breed?

Are they really really yappy?

Are they hard work?

Do they all have a tendency to dig?

Are they a breed prone to illness [other than potential back issues?]

If you think I've missed anything just chime in too. Thanks so much in advance and please don't think I'm being lazy I just am fed up of reading reams and would love to hear personal opinions/experiences

Cheers everyone xx
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old September 10th, 2007, 07:10 PM
mummummum's Avatar
mummummum mummummum is offline
-
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: The Hammer
Posts: 8,534
Welcome to pets.ca ! I'm just chiming in to give you a heads up that you may not get a response immediately. One of our members who has a number of Dauschunds recently had to PTS her five year old due to paralysis following a ruptured disc and I imagine hasn't been up to coming onto the board lately. Another member, Snow Dancer who had Doxie's in the past doesn't log on every day but she is a wealth of information. Good luck !
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old September 10th, 2007, 10:37 PM
badger's Avatar
badger badger is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 4,076
Information from this site:

http://www.pets.ca/breedprofiles/a/d...niature/d3.htm
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old September 11th, 2007, 10:50 AM
SnowDancer SnowDancer is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1,900
Where to begin? First though, understand that mini Dachshunds - particularly the seriously Alpha darlings are the dogs of my heart and will forever be so. But, we no longer have one, just could not go through the heartbreak again - or put them through it.

Do you have unlimited financial resources to pay for back and neck surgery? Most insurance plans will cover only a portion of the back surgery - which costs $6,000 - $8,000 (each time). Sometimes you can get away with very strict cage rest and meds, but eventually there will be another "event" or Stage II which means nuclear fluid is leaking and causing spinal cord death - symptoms do not present the same so that even the most experienced person with this disease (me for one with Darling #1) won't realize it is happening. We have been through this twice - both being worst case scenarios. Some Dachshunds may have calcified discs but never suffer an event, but that is not the norm - and according to vet it is just getting worse. An "event" with the back can occur just be walking down the hall and turning to scratch - or playing with a ball.

Are they yappy? You betcha! Serious protectors and defenders of their people with the deep bark to prove it. Unfortunately I can't see all of your questions! But, they often do get along well with the children in their own family (actually will often assume the supervisory role of the parent) and ours always got along well with out cats. As for cats on the street while walking, well they were for chasing. Dachshunds have a very strong prey drive and absolutely cannot be let off leash - if they see a squirrel they are off and no amount of calling them back will help. They are SERIOUS DIGGERS - so forget a fenced back yard. Also love to burrow so if pup is missing look under the couch cushions or inside the duvet cover at the very bottom rolled like a sausage. They might not be so keen on company in the house either. That said, they seem to be breeding more mild mannered Dachshunds these days - not the little devils that I love. Many people adopt Dachshunds expecting Minnie Mouse - not a chance - these are big guys in little bodies who will take on a Rotti in a heartbeat while other small dogs run away - thankfully I could pick mine up and run!

We now have an Eskimo who wants to be a Dachshund. He sense the bond. But I couldn't live through the fear again. Certainly there are no health guarantees in life, but you at least like to start off without a major health risk hanging over your head. My Eskie goes to socialization once a week. I would not do this with a Dachshund. The rough play - jumping on back etc. would be too hard. Then the neck problem - often presents with a limping of front paw and very fast surgery is the only solution. And I mean fast. If you Google Dachshund Disc Disease and stick to sites that deal just with Dachshunds you should get a good idea. Again, though, dogs of my heart. My first angel died Sept. 13, 1997 @ 11:30 so Thurs. will be a bad day - 10 years later and I still think of him every day - and of his brother who died April 15, 2003.
__________________
:king:
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old September 11th, 2007, 10:57 AM
SnowDancer SnowDancer is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1,900
Other illnesses - epilepsy, bloat, seriously bad teeth - too many teeth for such small mouths - and the bad teeth will show up early. Professional cleaning and extractions will most likely occur. Some Dachshunds develop skin disease as well. The worst though is the back disease. Nothing scares me like a bad back in a dog. So as I said - serious financial issues. Also the more unusual the colouring in a Dachshund, the greater the chance for developing unusual health conditions. Both my vet and the neuro surgeon told me this when they saw my second Angel - he was a Dapple. The first guy was a beautiful deep Auburn - so not as unusual - although he never should have walked apparently. He had his first "event" at age 1 1/2. Not good.
__________________
:king:
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old September 11th, 2007, 11:15 AM
Adoredaschunds Adoredaschunds is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 4
Thanks everyone and Snowdancer I am very sorry for your loss, I know that pets do become a major part of the family and it is so very sad when they have to leave us :sad:

I will take every point on board - geessh the back issues worry me, poor little mites....

I'll let you all know if I do go ahead with the adoption.

Best to you all

--

9/11 - May you always be in our hearts
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old September 11th, 2007, 01:26 PM
SnowDancer SnowDancer is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1,900
I checked your profile - doesn't say where you live. If you are in Canada, I would strongly suggest you check out Vet Insurance (www.vetinsurance.com). The company has a different way of paying claims - and when I signed up our Eskimo 3 years ago, they covered Dachshund disc disease (they pay 90% of claims - less consultation fee - and you pay the first $25.00 of each day of hospitalization). We adopted our second guy - the Dapple before vet insurance was in business otherwise we would definitely have had him covered. Back in the day, we had the Deluxe plans - only pet insurance that we really available at the time - didn't cover regular pet stuff, just the emergencies etc. - less breed deductible, less admin fee, less annual fee, etc. - also there was a lifetime limit on Dachshund disc disease which wouldn't even cover 1/3 the cost of the surgery - and our first surgery was in 1989. Also there is no annual limit per condition - this is important considering cost of vet health care today. Nothing like paying $6,000 in premiums and getting less than a $1,000 back. We eventually started savings accounts but enough time has to pass for account to build to sufficient $ to pay for this kind of surgery. My vet told me about VetInsurance when we adopted our Eskimo - initially I was very hesitant because hip dysplasia is excluded (but Dachshund back wasn't!?) - and Eskies are prone to dysplasia. But our guy is a small Standard so more likely to suffer from Patellar Luxation or Cruciate Ligament, which are covered (he has not suffered from it as yet - and more importantly, had not suffered from it in one leg prior to insurance being take out). When I called to enroll him, I specifically asked about the Dachshund insurance and the CS lady told me she had had not idea before joining the company that Dachshunds suffered from so many conditions - which is reason why I would suggest asking if coverage is still offered. If it is, and you get a Dachshund I would "save" the funds for when needed - they now cover up to $20,000 per lifetime of insured dog. When we signed up it was $12,000 - and only 1 in 50,000 dogs ever "spent" the whole $20,000. Well in our case, we 2 neurosurgeries - plus 3 "events" requiring 2 week stays at vet's per event - we would have been 2 in $50,000. The month after we signed up, coverage was raised to $15,000 lifetime. So something to think about. Cost is a lot less than we paid for the Deluxe plan - and these days with the "flat" hospitalization rates, rather than a set boarding fee, plus cost of nursing, vet stays really add up. Vet Insurance is trying to expand into the US, and I think has been successful in some states. Anyway, something to think about. Perhaps if you haven't already done so, you could as your vet - or the vet you would take your pup to for his/her opinion on getting a Dachshund. Just be sure to ask of the practice has many Dachshunds as patients. You don't want to ask a vet without the appropriate experience. Four years ago we had to take our cat to an eye specialist. He told us it would be expensive and asked if we had any other pets - and I told him a mini Dachshund. He asked me how many $$$$ we had had to spent so far. Since we had just had the second back surgery I knew to the penny. He was not at all surprised - lots of Dachshunds in his practice. Also, I mentioned to our neuro that perhaps next go round we might go back to a Beagle - our first dog after we got married was a 7 year old from the HS. He lived to be nearly 20 - no health problems. Well, things have changed, with all of the mucking about. Our neuro had just performed the same neck/back surgery on his 2 Beagles. I seriously love Hounds, but that basically did it.
__________________
:king:
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old October 4th, 2007, 10:16 PM
bellaboo bellaboo is offline
i love bella
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: nj
Posts: 2
mini doxy

my bella is 3 months old and a real yapper!!!!!!!!!! Can not leave her in a room by herself, she follows me to kitchen, bathroom shower laundry, you name it. If you leave the room and she is on the bed (shes too small to jump off), she dets herself to the computer chair and sits there and yaps and yelps. It almost sounds like she is saying mama mama lol. She sleeps in bed with me and hubby, under the covers. She starts out across my throat when i am on my back, then moves under the covers between me and hubby. She must be always touching 1 of us when sleeping. We love her to death. We have 5 dogs altogether and she gets along great with them. She also is fine with my 10month old grandchild. Very lovable to strangers and very loyal to us. Love the little wagging tail lol
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:46 AM.