How To Socialize Your Dachshund Puppy
Socializing your Dachshund helps them get used to new people, places, sounds, and animals at an early age so they are less likely to have behavior problems later in life.
Learning how to socialize your Dachshund puppy is essential for proper development.
When Should I Socialize My Dachshund?
The best time to start socializing your Dachshund puppy is around 10-12 weeks old.
But Wait! Your puppy needs to be wormed and have their first vaccines before socializing with other animals and visiting new places. Safeguard your pup from other dogs who are not vaccinated to protect them from dangerous diseases.
After reading through this post, keep this in mind: the ultimate goal is to try to get your Dachshund’s socialization training established before they are 6 months old. Socialization doesn’t stop after they are 6 months old, it should continue into their adult years.
Why Socialize Your Puppy?
So many Dachshund parents ask me why their adult doxie doesn’t like other dogs, barks at other people, or panics when an alarm goes off.
Socializing your Dachshund puppy will help them become familiar with new sounds, smells, and sights in a positive way.
Correctly socializing your pup will prevent them from becoming frightened or timid towards new people or experiences. Dogs who are not socialized at the correct age often become fearful and aggressive later in life.
Fact: One of the top reasons dogs (especially Dachshunds) are surrendered to a shelter is because of behavior problems.
My Experience
Confession Time! Our dog, Bastian, wasn’t socialized as a young puppy. From the start, Bastian had his den mates… our Dachshund, Reno, and our German Shepherd, Artemus, to play with.
We didn’t reach out and meet other people with dogs because they were so good with each other at home.
We didn’t realize how crucial it really was for us to take him out and meet other dogs that didn’t live with us.
So, when we introduced our new Dachshund puppy, Eko, we made sure to socialize him as soon as we could.
Easy Ways To Socialize Your Dachshund Puppy
Once your dog has been wormed and received their initial vaccines, it’s a good time to start gradually introducing some new friends and experiences. Gently introducing your Dachshund to a variety of people, places, and sounds will make a huge impact on their temperament as an adult dog.
Here are some great tips to help socialize your Dachshund.
Introduce New Friends
Introduce new people and animals gradually. Too many new faces all at once can make things scary for your Dachshund. Try your best to expose your doxie to the following:
People:
- Young Toddlers /Babies
- Older Kids
- Men / Women
- Adults / Seniors
- Neighbors
- Different Ethnicities
Animals:
- Other Dogs (different sizes)
- Cats
- Farm Animals
Get Down To Their Level:
When people are introducing themselves to your doxie, ask them to get down to the dog’s eye level and let the dog approach them slowly. This allows your dog to make the decision if they want to give a sniff or receive a pat on the back.
Make sure young children have help petting your Dachshund. Being gentle to animals doesn’t always come naturally to kids. Help them show kindness to keep it safe and positive for both the child and your dog.
Car Rides
Dogs love car rides. Even if it is just a brief ride to the park or to grandma’s house, allow your Dachshund to tag along.
New Places To Explore:
- Park
- Vacation
- Dog Friendly Stores
- Veterinarian
- Friend’s House
Motion Sickness: If your dog is prone to getting car sick, try shorter trips in the car and be prepared with some cleanup gear just in case. Read more about how to prevent motion sickness in dogs.
Ride Safe: Make sure your dog is safe and secure in the car for the ride. You can have them in their small travel crate, sit them on a passenger’s lap, or you can even buckle them up with a dog seatbelt.
Post You May Like: Best Car Seatbelts For Dachshunds
Leash Walks
When you hook up your new Dachshund puppy to a leash, they probably won’t have a clue what to do with it. Don’t plan on a normal stroll down the street. This will be a slow, sniff walk.
Keep your leash walk short and sweet. Gradually work up to a longer walk as your pup gets used to the leash. Be gentle and patient, call to your pup to get their attention, never pull too hard on the leash.
Hold on Tight: Always secure the leash around your wrist. When your Dachshund sees another animal, they may try to bolt.
Ask First: If you encounter another dog walker on your path, wait for the other dog owner to confirm if their dog is ok for a meet and greet.
Don’t Push It: If your dog seems scared, don’t force them to meet with the other dog. Just move them away from each other and walk on.
Introduce New Sounds
Introduce some new sounds to your Dachshund. Turn on the radio at a reasonable volume while you are home and when you are away.
Gradually introduce the sound of the vacuum cleaner. Allow your doxie to lay in a comfortable spot a safe distance away from the loud sound. Don’t chase them with it, it isn’t funny, it is terrifying to them.
While playing outside or on walks, listen for the fire engines or a distant passing train. Allow your Dachshund to listen, stay calm and let them know they are OK.
A great way to help your doxie adjust to new noises is to play the sounds in the background while they are eating or playing. Here is an example YouTube video of Soothing Music and Desensitization Sounds For Dogs.
Here are some noises you should introduce to your Dachshund:
Inside Noises:
- Fire Alarm
- Microwave Beep
- Vacuum Cleaner
- Hair Dryer
- Door Bell
Outside Noises:
- Garbage Trucks
- Fire Truck Siren
- Cars
- Thunder
- Animal sounds
Gentle Behavior
Always treat your Dachshund with kindness. They depend on you, their loving owner, to love and protect them.
Keep young children away from your doxie if they get too loud and crazy. Allow your dog to escape the room when they feel uncomfortable.
Now, don’t coddle your Dachshund too much. They are allowed to have their own unique experiences, just keep watch and keep them safe.
Keep It Positive
Whether it is a quick introduction with your neighbor or attending a puppy play date, make sure things stay safe and positive.
If there is ever a situation when your dog acts scared towards another animal, person, or place, don’t force them.
Forcing your Dachshund into a frightening situation will cause them to become defensive. When a dog feels threatened, they will defend themselves.
Reward A Good Experience
Attend a puppy class or playdate with your Dachshund. If your doxie gets along with the other dogs, give them a treat afterwards.
Just as a child is rewarded for good behavior, your Dachshund should be rewarded too. A verbal “Good” or a yummy dog treat will reinforce that good behavior going forward.
Take Your Time
Now, don’t go out and fill your days with social events and loud noises, please take it slow.
Fitting in a couple of these socialization experiences each week will get your Dachshund where they need to be. Overwhelming them with too much all at once will just set them back.
It’s ok if your Dachshund isn’t the neighborhood socialite. Your dog may not want to greet every dog or person around, and that’s totally fine. Having them get used to a handful of new faces occasionally will help them be comfortable around others.
Bonus Tip: Get Some Help
If you need some extra help socializing your pup, it’s ok! I like to recommend K9 Training Institute – It’s online dog training!
They have awesome doggie parent reviews and offer a free training session too. And the best part, it’s online, so you can attend the training from the comfort of your own home.
Fact: It can cost thousands of dollars in vet and behaviorist fees to fix the problems caused by a lack of socialization.
Dachshund Traits
Dachshunds have a unique disposition and a bold attitude. Here are some common traits to keep in mind when socializing your Dachshund.
Roaming:
Always keep your Dachshund in a fenced in yard or tied to a lead to prevent them from wandering off. They are scent hounds, they follow their nose wherever it may lead.
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Ruling the Roost:
Dachshunds are brave and feisty dogs. When raising a dachshund, you will learn that they follow some of your rules and maintain a few of their own.
Understand that some dachshunds believe they dominate over other dogs, no matter their size.
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Digging:
These dogs just love to dig. They will dig in the dirt, dig their blankets to make a comfy nest – Dig, Dig, Dig!
Put down a blanket on their spot of the couch or chair to help prevent any rips in the furniture.
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Barking:
The Dachshund dog breed was created to hunt. Chasing, digging, and barking are all part of that special heritage. They will bark when they are excited, irritated, or just want more attention.
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What About Older Dogs?
If you have an older Dachshund who isn’t socialized. Don’t lose hope. Socializing as an adult Dachshund will take some extra work, but it still can be done.
Gradually introducing your doxie to new experiences, while keeping things positive and safe can help your dog adjust over time. If your adult Dachshund struggles severely with fear or aggression, seek help from your dog’s vet.
What is your biggest struggle with socializing your Dachshund? Let us know below.
References:
- Lunis, Natalie. 2009. Dachshund the Hot Dogger. New York, NY: Bearport Publishing Company, Inc.
- Schweitzer, Karen. 2010. Our Best Friends the Dachshund. Pittsburg, PA: Eldorado Ink.
Hi, I have an older dachshund around 3 and always had a bit of trouble socializing him. He lunges and snaps at people when they come into our room and will sometimes do it to people he already knows. Not sure why when they’ve spent so much time together. I want him to be more comfortable and enough to have new guests and even other pets around. ive thought about getting a trainer as well.
Hello, yes, taking your dog to get some doggie training is an excellent idea. Also, make sure your pup is getting plenty of daily walks for exercise. Dachshunds who don’t have enough to do tend to get aggressive.
They also get some major hormone changes around the age of 3 – if they aren’t fixed.
As far as the possessive behavior, watch this YouTube video on dog possession, it is really helpful: Dog possessive behavior
Hi our dachshund puppy is now 17 weeks old and is brilliant with all other aspects of her training she is potty trained and have taught her simple commands such as to sit, lie down and paw. We have socialised her with family and friends with their dogs from a young age, however Unable to go to puppy classes due to covid. Recently she has started excessively barking at strangers when we take her out on walks Do you have any tips on how to control her barking it’s not making walks enjoyable at all!
Thankyou any help appreciated!
Hi Sam, she sounds like a great little dachshund. Great job on the socializing and successful potty training! Yes, the barking on walks does tend to be annoying. My puppy, Eko, does the same thing…and we are still working on this, he is over a year now. With covid, it is hard to get these poor pups around others.
Begin the “less barking” training in your home. When your pup barks at someone outside the window or door, thank her, then lead her away into a quiet room where she can’t see them. Help her to learn that she is great at alerting you of another person’s presence, but you only need a couple of barks and it then needs to stop.
At the very bottom of this barking post, there are some more ‘quiet training tips’ and and couple of helpful videos that have been helping me with my own doxie pup:
https://www.dachshundstation.com/why-dachshunds-bark-all-the-time/
Under Helpful links, there are 2 YouTube videos that can help with training.
I adopted two 6 year old female dachsunds from a hoarding-puppy farm. They are fine with me, but socializing them has proven to be very difficult. They hide, run, bark, shake and generally freak out. I am looking for any suggestions.
Hello Nancy, I’m so glad that you have adopted these doxies that needed a home. That’s great that they are comfortable with you. Yes, socializing them at this age and with their background will be harder and may take longer than other dogs. It’s ok, they have a very good excuse why they feel and act this way. Take each day one step at a time with them.
I would start with ‘new sounds’ in the house and outside the house. Garbage trucks, microwave beeping, etc… When the sound occurs, remain calm, sit and be with them, offer small dog treats. Have them understand that the sound will not hurt them, it is ok to stay cool and calm when it occurs. This will take time, and that is ok.
When I was puppy-sitting a Goldendoodle (large puppy), he heard a garbage truck down the road while we were on a walk and he literally climbed me like a tree! I sat down on the sidewalk with him held him, let him look at the cause of the noise and tried to calm him down. When we saw other garbage trucks, we kept our distance, looked at the noisy truck for a few moments, and then walked away.
Take them on a hike in the woods or a park where there aren’t a lot of other dogs or people (weekdays would be best). Walk them in the woods, allow them to sniff around and listen to the noises outside. They can experience lots of positive new things in nature. Reward them after, on the way home.
Give a brief positive experience, give a small treat and praise for reward is the pattern you can try. I know we can’t control every situation to keep it positive, but keep at it.
Gradually start to introduce them to your friends and family, 1-2 people at a time. Have them come over and let the dogs approach them when they are ready and comfortable. Have them offer small treats and praise.
Do the same with a friend that has a dog that has a ‘similar playstyle and personality’. Dog parks are probably not the best idea for them. I hope this helps, here is a nice video from McCann Dogs about Socializing that is really helpful: https://youtu.be/YVvd8RrRjRA
Well my dear, our little Wire haired came to us at about 6months from the breeders. Our son got the sisiter of him a month earlirer. It was a bit of a rescue mission as sdaly the breeders are very old and I am 75! Things had got on top of them etc. Our boy was the quietist of the litter when we visited it early December last years. So the delay was us moving bacl home due to flooding and our old Basset hound having to be put to sleep. We rescued one of these in the Army in Germany and she was to die for. But this boy has moved into us home and just loves us and is `almost` dry if we follow him with a laser! But from day on some 12 weeks ago he is very fearful of any person near or far. He is on calm dry food vet recomemded and at times some wet food all for puppies. But how to stop the barking and growling without using a horsewhip on him???Best wishes. Rev. Dave peachell. Norfolk. UK
Hello Dave,
So sorry to hear about your Basset Hound. Happy to hear that you have adopted a dachshund. I have heard that the breed ‘attitude’ is very similar… ha ha.
My dachshund puppy also has a barking problem with other people and dogs when we go out for walks.
Don’t use any physical punishment, it won’t help, it makes things worse. Your pup needs a safe “time out” place like a puppy playpen or kennel when people come over to visit so he feels safe and the people stay safe.
Socializing a dachshund starts at the puppy age, but it also continues as they get older. If you have some friends with dogs, you can try to have small dog play dates to start getting the puppy used to others. It does take time and patience.
They also have dog training sessions at pet stores that are a really big help for not only training, but also socializing the dogs during the sessions. Consult the vet on the barking or anxiety if your doxie still needs some help.
Here are some Reasons why dachshunds are BIG Barkers, and how to stop it:
https://www.dachshundstation.com/why-dachshunds-bark-all-the-time/
I hope this helps you. Good luck with everything.