Cannoli monster.

Nova :)

She turned 6 on the 20th last month. 💛

I brought home my 8-week-old miniature dachshund a few days ago and I absolutely adore her. She’s doing really well overall, but I’m finding myself overthinking how to balance bonding with teaching independence.

She LOVES being in my lap and will happily sleep in my arms for hours. At the same time, when she’s loose in my apartment, she’s actually pretty good at playing/exploring independently and doesn’t need to be interacting with me constantly. The harder part is confinement—if she’s in her pen or crate and wants access to me, she can get pretty vocal about it.

She sleeps in her crate at night (and actually slept through the night last night!) and once she settles, she seems very comfortable. I’ve also started working on making the crate/pen more positive and voluntary—tossing treats into the crate with the door open, feeding in the pen, etc.

My biggest goal is to raise a dachshund who is very
bonded to me but also confident being alone. I want to enjoy all of these puppy cuddles while she’s tiny, and I don’t want to unnecessarily withhold affection because I’m afraid of making her “clingy.” But I also want to start laying a healthy foundation for independence and eventually being home alone.

For those who raised a dachshund from 8 weeks: What did you actually do during those first few weeks to encourage independence? How much pen/crate time did you use? Did you let your puppy nap on you? When did you start practicing being out of sight or leaving the house for short periods?

I’d especially love to hear what worked for you during the 8–12 week stage. I think I’ve read so much conflicting puppy advice that I’m getting in my own head about doing everything “right” when she’s only been home a few days.

Picture tax!

Ever the model he is.

Good boy Dougal ❤️

Life is ruff.

I found Lady Sweet Pea at a no kill shelter a number of years ago. She lived with me by my side for at least 7 or 8 years before she passed away. The first Pic is when I first adopted her after a year after my previous daschund Speckles passed away. Her behavior and temperament was the same as his. She never barked nor growled. She was the perfect baby and such a cuddle bug. I miss her and Speckles so much and really wanted them to know each other

This is Deuce. A Dachshund/Beagle mix.

He expects me to drop everything that I’m doing for his belly rub. 🩷

This is my girl Violet. She finished her first heat around 12 weeks ago. A couple weeks ago her *mammary gland started to get swollen and I just assumed that it was a phantom pregnancy. She’s not acting any differently, she’s not nesting she’s not mothering, she is starting to lactate a little bit, but that could just be because I gave her a bath yesterday and was scrubbing her tummy.* Her \mammary glands are not hot to the touch or red and she’s not looking at them. Her eating habits are totally normal and she doesn’t have diarrhoea or anything. Do I need to take her to the vet? Or just keep an eye on her?

*edit for spelling

I asked what breed he was. Shout out the the guy who recommended hand stripping. He's definitely a Dachshund lol.

She’s on patrol on car ridies making sure nobody speeds or else she’ll tell you all about it!! THE KITTIE WEEN PIE and sissy looking out the window

Judy is a 17 week old chocolate dapple and I love her more than anything, but I am typing this with bite marks and bruises on my body.

She’s been mouthy since we brought her home at 8 weeks and now that she’s teething it’s a whole other level. Not gentle puppy gumming — she latches on and hangs there. Hands, sleeves, ankles, whatever’s closest. Worst of it is the evening witching hour.

What we’ve tried:
Yelping / “ouch” — makes her MORE amped, like I’ve joined the game

Dead hands / going still — same, she just keeps working the hand

Redirecting to a toy — works maybe 50% of the time, the other 50% she circles back to skin

Chews (beef gullet, pupsicle), snuffle mat feeding, enforced naps

We do work with a CPDT-KA trainer in person, so I’m not looking for “get a trainer,” I promise. I’m mostly looking for solidarity and whatever weirdly specific thing worked for your dog that no one told you about.

Doxie people: when did it actually stop for yours? Everyone says “5-6 months” and I need to know if that’s real or if it’s the puppy version of “it gets better.”

TL;DR: teething dachshund is a piranha, standard advice backfires, tell me your timeline.

josie is too cute 🥹😭

Having the hardest time figuring out his color. The AKC paperwork the breeder gave me says chocolate and cream but I don’t know… what do you guys think?