Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers and have the same high drive as German Shepherds, but owners treat them like toys. Without rules, boundaries, and mental outlets, they become reactive and anxious. Train them like working dogs instead: set expectations, play tug and scent games, enforce consistency.
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Your sausage dog likely has the same, if not more, drive than your German Shepherd or Malinois. And if you do not treat it as such, you are inevitably going to experience a plethora of behavioral issues, just like so many, if not all, sausage dog owners do, or most anyway. I have two of them, I adore them, and I would be lying, frankly, if I said I didn't treat them differently to my big dogs. I do. They're like cuddly, hilarious little teddy bears. However— Hello, Luigi.
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I'm here today to explain that internally in their brain, they don't think too dissimilarly, too dissimilarly, too dissimilarly, you know what I mean, to a high drive capable working dog. We all know by now these dogs initially had a working role. Those short legs and long bodies were designed to go down burrows, and that incessant fucking barking was designed to flush out animals, and we shouldn't ever forget their intended purpose. The main problem is that they are adorably cute. They are hilarious. It's literally like living with a genuine Disney character, and it's just so easy to forget and respect their origins. They have huge personalities, and it's just easy to treat them like a toy. You carry them everywhere, they sit on your lap, and with that comes a lack of rules, a lack of boundaries, and ultimately a lack of structure. And then we are sat left wondering why they're absolute fucking nightmares. These are tenacious dogs. They were bred to hunt badgers underground. They have a lot of drive and a lot of intensity. They need an outlet and they need boundaries, just like your Malinois would. It might not look the same. It might be a small game of tug on the living room floor like I do with Luigi and his blankie, as opposed to a full bite work session like I might do with my dog Stark. But the principle is pretty much the same. If your Malinois behaved how your sausage dog is currently behaving, you would already have sought out help. You would've set rules, you would put parameters in place. But because it's a dachshund, people give it comic relief and they just laugh. But those laughing tears turn into real tears when your sausage dog bites someone it shouldn't, maybe a child. And it actually happens so much because children see a sausage dog and they think, "Oh my God, it's a sausage dog. It's Slinky off Toy Story." I hear that one all the time. And then before they know it, Slinkies hanging off their fucking lip or something, you know. If you click download our behavior Bible, it will show you step by step exactly how to take your anxious, crazy, reactive sausage dog into a model citizen like young Luigi here. I'm making this video to encourage you to proactively address your dog's behavior. If you have a young sausage dog and you're not having issues yet, chances are you will if you don't train them right and you treat them like a teddy bear. It's probably one of the most popular dogs we get in worries about. You need to set the same rules, same boundaries and expectations as you would a bigger dog. You could just use our channel. When you see a big dog, just imagine in your head it's a sausage dog and all the concepts work exactly the same. Yes, the margin for error isn't as big if you had a Great Dane or a Shepherd or a Malinois. I'll admit that. But in the brain, their brain works exactly the same. And if we continue to treat them like cuddly little toys, you will end up with issues. And that dog, you love will end up in a very shitty situation because of you are too busy laughing at how clingy they are or making TikToks about their behavioral issues instead of getting actual help. Treat your small dog like a big dog and you will be able to do so much more with them. At the end of the day, these dogs are dogs with a lot of drive and a lot of capability. And if you've ever seen a Dachshund in full flight using its nose, digging, chasing, hunting something, you will always be pleasantly surprised with what they're capable of. So I'm just encouraging you to treat them like big dogs that they are inside their brain, because it's all fun and games until someone gets bit, and then your beloved little baby will unfortunately get put to sleep, and then the behavioral issues are no longer funny. I'm sorry to bring a very morbid spin to this. I do have two little Dachshunds that I basically see as my little hairy children, but at the same time, I do all that I can to still respect their genetic inclinations as hunting dogs. Maybe it's a slight oxymoron, but Again, I'm only making this video to help the breed and owners of this breed because I care about them. A couple of years ago, I wouldn't have given a shit, frankly. I didn't like them at all. I thought they were little knobheads. And then I got my own and realized they're the best breed of all time, bar none. But anyway, if you enjoyed this video and you want to hear my story about me and Luigi, the sausage dog I adopted, click this video right here and I'll see you in the next one.
