An analysis of Dachshund temperament and behaviour
Background:
We have been collecting health reports from Dachshund owners since 2009 in an online survey accessible from our health website. In addition to collecting information on health conditions and deaths, the survey provides an option for owners to report on their dog’s temperament and behaviour.
It asks owners to rate their dog using 4 possible responses: “Always”, “Often”, “Sometimes” and “Never”. The behaviours are as follows:
· Aggression with people
· Aggression with other dogs
· Nervous/fearful of people
· Submissive urination (piddling)
· Noise/Thunderstorm fear
· Separation anxiety
· House-training problems
· Outgoing/friendly
· Excitable/active
· Excessive/persistent barking
As of 1st November 2022, we had received 1067 responses to this survey. Of these, around 70% included owner ratings against the behaviour/temperament questions. This report summarises those (70%) responses. The dogs in this report were born between 1996 and 2017; i.e. largely before the massive increase in popularity of Mini Smooths (and, to some extent, Wires).
Aggression with people:
Smooths and Mini Smooths were the most likely to be aggressive with people. Longs, Mini Longs and Wires were least likely to be aggressive with people.
In Longs and Smooths, bitches were more aggressive than dogs; in all the other varieties, dogs were more aggressive than bitches.
Overall, 2% of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often aggressive with people.
Aggression with dogs:
Smooths, Mini Smooths and Wires were more likely to be aggressive with other dogs. In the Longs and Wires, bitches were more aggressive than dogs.
Overall, 8% (1 in 12) of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often aggressive with other dogs.
Nervous of people:
Wires and Longs were least likely to be nervous or fearful of people. Mini Smooths were most likely to be nervous of people. Long, Mini Long and Smooth bitches were more likely than dogs to be nervous of people. In Mini Smooth and Mini Wire varieties, it was dogs that were more nervous of people. In Wires, there was no difference between the dogs and bitches.
Overall, 16% (1 in 6) of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often nervous/fearful of people.
Submissive piddling:
Mini Smooths and Mini Wires were most likely to be submissive piddlers. In Mini Smooths, Mini Wires and Wires, bitches were more likely to be submissive piddlers. In the other varieties, it was the dogs.
Overall, 8% of owners said their Dachshund Always or Often was a submissive piddler.
Noise/Thunderstorm fear:
The Longs and Mini Longs were least likely to be fearful of noise/thunderstorms. In Longs and Mini Longs, bitches were more likely to have this fear.
Overall, 15% of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often fearful of noise.
Separation anxiety:
Longs and Wires were least likely to suffer from separation anxiety. In all 6 varieties, dogs were more likely to be affected than bitches.
Overall, 19% (1 in 5) of owners said their Dachshund Always or Often suffered from separation anxiety.
House-training problems:
New owners commonly ask questions in social media groups about how to get their Dachshund puppy house-trained. Owners of miniature varieties seem to have the most trouble. Our survey data shows the Longs and Wires are easiest to house-train. The Mini Smooths were the most difficult to house-train. In the Wires, dogs were easier to house-train than bitches. In the other 5 varieties, it was the bitches that were easier to house-train.
Overall, 9% of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often difficult to house-train.
Outgoing/friendly:
The Longs and Wires were the most outgoing and friendly varieties. In all varieties except Mini Wires, bitches were more outgoing than dogs.
Overall, 74% of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often outgoing and friendly.
Excitable/Active:
Arguably, it is open to interpretation whether “Excitable/Active” is a good thing or a bad thing, so responses to this question may not be particularly helpful. Based on the “Always” and “Often” responses, the Smooths and Mini Smooths were the most excitable/active varieties, and the Longs and Mini Longs were the least. Dogs were more excitable/active than bitches in the Mini Smooths and Mini Wires.
Overall, 63% of owners said their Dachshund was Always or Often excitable/active.
Excessive/Persistent barking:
Barking is a well-known Dachshund trait but when it is excessive, it can be a real problem for owners and their neighbours!
Mini Longs and Mini Smooths were the most likely to have these traits. In all varieties except Longs, dogs were more likely to be persistent barkers than bitches. In Longs, dogs and bitches were no different.
Overall, 22% of owners said their Dachshund Always or Often barked excessively or persistently.
You can find our 2012 analysis of behaviour and temperament here and the summary table below.
