Life with a Dachshund...

by Tania
(Ostend, Belgium)

Archie!

I adopted Archie when he was about a year old... he's now been with me for about 8 months.
I have to admit that I made the mistake of many-a first-time dog owner: I didn't do my research!

Dachshunds are notoriously hard to train and I don't really have any experience, so it's an uphill battle for me. My main challenges are: leash walking (he tends to lag behind and ping-pongs from right to left), getting him to "stay" for any longer than 1 minute, taking him places (he will very quickly become "impatient" and start whining or barking, which makes it impossible for me to go and have a coffee somewhere - I know you're meant to ignore that kind of behaviour but how do you do that when you're surrounded by people who are obviously annoyed).

He HATES (and no, it's not playful at all) cats and I know very many people who have cats, so I can't really go visit my friends with Archie, he can be quite aloof and distant (with me - not so with my mum!). All I know about his "previous life" is that was crated most of the time and became a barker, hence, his original owners got rid of him...

As soon as I see some progress in a particular area of training/education, he quickly reverts back to not listening to me at all... and doing that Dachshund thing (going off on his own to sniff out the world). I'm feeling quite frustrated with it at this point but I will persevere. I do so want Archie to be happy and well-adjusted, and I'm doing everything I can, with what little experience I have. It's obvious that I have an awful lot to learn if I want to achieve this: it's dangerous to let him do his own thing out there if he doesn't obey basic commands. I shouldn't even be letting him off leash at this point, I'm aware of that. I only do so on the beach, when there aren't too many distractions, because I feel like a dog needs to be able to run and expend energy. He doesn't play with toys... I guess he just wasn't taught to play when he was a puppy. He shows no interest whatsoever in chasing balls or sticks... all he wants to do is sniff and try to find "edibles" (and non-edibles, for that matter).

There is one thing that upsets me more than anything else, though, and that is that we don't seem to bond... I mean, really bond. I sometimes feel like he doesn't really enjoy my company...
My (homeopathic) vet says that he might just not be ready yet to fully trust, out of fear of being abandoned again, but 8 months seems like a long time to me... I've not had this discussion with many people. You tend to blame yourself, but I think I'm providing him with everything he needs: good quality raw food, clean water, several comfy sleeping places, blankets, long beach/park walks (EVERY DAY), mind-stimulating games, hide-and-seek and I take him with me almost everywhere...

Maybe I'm too clingy...

Maybe I'm overbearing…

I'm sure it will all be fine in time... just feeling a little insecure right now...