Basic Care

Choose a high-quality small-breed puppy food with a named meat as the first ingredient and an AAFCO statement on the bag. Small breeds burn energy quickly and have small stomachs, so quality matters more than quantity.

Change food gradually over a week, mixing increasing amounts of the new into the old. We will tell you exactly what your puppy has been eating so you can decide whether to switch at all.

Start the day they arrive. Sit, down, come and a reliable recall are worth more than any trick. Positive reinforcement works; corrections mostly teach a Dachshund to be sneakier.

Consistency across the household matters enormously. If one person allows the sofa and another does not, the puppy will simply learn who to ask.

A useful rule for growing puppies is five minutes of formal walking per month of age, up to twice daily. Free play in a safe space on top of that is fine and mostly self-regulating.

Mental work tires a hound faster than distance. Scent games, snuffle mats and food puzzles do more for a restless Dachshund than an extra mile.

Grooming depends entirely on coat. Smooth coats need a weekly rubber-brush. Long coats need brushing every two or three days, with attention behind the ears and under the front legs. Wire coats need hand-stripping to keep their texture.

Bathe only when genuinely needed. Over-bathing strips the coat oils that keep the skin healthy.

Register with a vet before your puppy arrives and book the first appointment within seven days — that visit also activates our health guarantee.

Stay on schedule with vaccinations, worming and parasite prevention, and learn what normal looks like for your dog so you notice quickly when it changes.

Puppy-proof before arrival, not after. Remove toxic plants, secure cables, close off stairs with a gate and pick up anything small enough to swallow.

Give the puppy one place that is entirely theirs — a crate or bed in a quiet corner — and teach the household to leave them alone when they are in it.