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2. Are the rescue dogs house trained?
3. Why aren't there any photos of available dogs?
4. How do I apply for a rescued dog?
5. How old are these dogs?
6. Have these dogs been abused?
7. Can I adopt a dog even though I live in another city/state?
8. How much does it cost to adopt a rescue dog?
9. I don't want to adopt but how else can I help?
10. I have a dachshund that I can no longer keep. Can you help me?
11. I cannot pay my expensive vet bills. Can you help me?
12. I'd like to buy a puppy from a reputable breeder. Can you help me? A reputable breeder has the welfare of the entire breed in general and their own dogs in particular (as their goal). You may have to wait in order to obtain a dachshund from a reputable breeder, but the wait will definitely be worth it. Along with purchasing a puppy from a reputable breeder who truly cares about the breed and their dog, you will have received a lifetime support system that will be there whenever you need assistance. The person who cares only about the money part of raising dogs is really not going to want to waste time with your questions once they have your money. Once they have sold you a dog, they expect to be done with you. We have numerous puppy mills in the Dallas area. However we have been threatened against calling any of them puppy mills so we will not use that term. We will instead refer to them as mass producers. A mass producer is someone whose dogs are not members of their family but are simply there for raising quantities of dachshunds to supply the public. Many times a mass producer will have a shopping list of dogs available for you to purchase. Again their concern is not for the breed as a whole or the dogs as an individual but how much money they can make. The more dogs they have for you to purchase the more money they make. This is not the primary concern of the reputable breeder. Reputable breeders will only breed the best dogs; therefore you may have to wait before being able to obtain a puppy.Many of our members have had heartbreaking situations in breeding dogs where they have to discontinue lines for health reasons or for temperament reasons. Although they were dedicated to these particular lines and had many years of involvement in this particular line they felt it was to the best interest of the breed as a whole and their dogs in particular to no longer produce dogs from that line. This would not be a concern to the mass producer. In many cases they would not know if there was a problem because they do not keep the animals that they breed. In other cases they simply would not care because money is their all-abiding interest. Yes we know you don't want a show dog, you only want a family pet. It would be nearly impossible for you to obtain a show dog anyway. Show puppies are very carefully kept by the breeder for the most part, and are generally not available for purchase by the public. But, in every litter of puppies there are some puppies that are not destined for the show ring. And these are the puppies that the reputable breeder wants a good home for; a home where the dog can be a family member and where the breeder does not have to worry about the health, welfare or the future of that dog. Reputable breeders sell pet puppies with a spay/neuter contract. If the breeder feels that the dog is of sufficient quality to be in a breeding program, that breeder would have retained the dog and it would not have been available for purchase as a pet. The mass producer doesn't care what happens to the dog once it leaves his or her possession because again, the mass producer has received the money and that's the end of their concern. Additionally, the mass producer doesn't want to make anything difficult or do anything that would hinder a sale. The spay/neuter contract could potentially negate a sale and additionally requires more paperwork. So this is something that most mass producers do not do. (And just to be certain you FULLY understand: A spay/neuter CONTRACT is NOT merely a statment that you "should" sterilize your pet, it is a REQUIREMENT stated by a legal document that is a binding part of your agreement to purchase the pet.) As a general rule you won't find a reputable breeder by going to the classified ads in the local newspaper. Most reputable breeders obtain their clientele by word of mouth. Additionally, most reputable breeders have a waiting list for puppies long before the female has ever been bred. Mass producers on the other hand produce such a large quantity of puppies that they rely on an ad in the classified section because they must have a continual large turnover of buying clients, buying public, people with money......in order to have a ready supply for their product. Most reputable breeders do not allow their puppies to leave until at least 9 to 12 weeks of age. The mass producer, on the other hand, has everything to gain by selling the puppy at an early age, thus reducing the necessity of vaccinations and the purchase of food when the mother no longer cares for the puppy and he must start feeding the puppy. Additionally, very young puppies potty a lot and it is a time consuming job to clean up after them. So mass producers get rid of the puppies at a very early age to make their life easier. If you are offered a puppy at any age younger than 8 weeks, it is not in the best interest of the puppy and you should decline to purchase a dog that young. There are also many things that a mother dog teaches her puppies and these puppies also learn things from their litter mates. A puppy removed from it's litter mates younger than 9 weeks of age may never learn "bite inhibition". Once removed from the litter mates, the learning experience can NEVER be recreated. Are you always going to be burned by buying a dog from a mass producer? No. You might get lucky. Some of them are very bad, some are not dreadful. However, every time you purchase a puppy from a mass producer you have consigned another female dachshund to living a life not as a member of a family but whose sole existence on the face of the earth is to crank out puppies for the public. And whenever you purchase a puppy from a mass producer you are guilty of consigning that female dachshund to that life. It is your responsibility, your decision as to whether or not you want to have a role in that. Most reputable breeder's dogs are members of their homes. They "may" have kennel runs that the dogs reside in part of the time but for the most part the dogs are members of their family. They generally do not reside in a barn behind the house, they do not live their life on raised wire pens never being held, never being talked to; only being fed once a day and twice a year having a litter of puppies. When you go to look at a puppy, you should be allowed entrance into the home. Do not expect to purchase a puppy from the front yard, from the driveway or the parking lot of a store. You should be extremely suspect if any of these scenarios present themselves at the time you intend to purchase a puppy. Most reputable breeders may need a little notice to do a little surface cleaning. Many of us have full time jobs in addition to our dogs and our homes are not always spic and span nor are they advertisements for House Beautiful. However, it should be reasonably clean and the dogs should be happy to see you and expect attention. However, when you go to visit, you should be ushered in to the home of the breeder. The breeder should be pleased to show you, in fact eager to show you, ALL of their dogs. They're usually quite proud of their dogs. In many cases they will be able to show you other relatives of the puppy you might be purchasing or they might have pictures of the relatives of the puppy you might be interested in. If the breeder brings in a basket or a container of some sort of puppies from different litters, you should ask how the breeder is identifying the different puppies. Puppies tend to look alike. If you have 6 black and tan smooth female dachshunds that came out of 3 different mothers, you should ask how the breeder has identified the puppies so the breeder knows that that puppy did indeed come from that particular mother. You need to be extremely leery of any story that does not allow you to see as a MINIMUM the mother of the puppies. It is possible that the father of the puppies may not be on the premises as the mother of the puppies may have been shipped to another state or the breeder may not own the father of the puppies. But in all probability the breeder will at least have a picture of the father of the puppies. In reality, you should have been allowed to see every single dog that the breeder has on the premises. The "building" behind the house or the kennel runs behind the house should NOT be off limits to your visit. You have the right to see all the dogs the breeder owns.
Before you leave with your new puppy you should receive several things
from the breeder. One of the things the breeder will want to be sure
you have is access... a way to reach the breeder should you have any
problems. A reputable breeder will always be there to help you with
that dog. They probably will provide you with a packet of information,
a small amount of whatever food the puppy has been eating in order to
avoid any stomach upset from switching to a new food. Additionally the
breeder will have supplied you with either the AKC blue slip and/or a
bill of sale. A bill of sale in order to be considered a legal document
must state the date, the registered name of the sire and dam, their AKC
registrations #'s, the date the puppy was whelped, the sex and color of
the puppy and if possible the AKC litter registration # or the bill of
sale should state 'AKC litter registration applied for'. Additionally a
reputable breeder will have stipulations in that contract which state
that the dog may NOT be used for breeding, MUST be sterilized and that if
you are, at any point in the dog's life, unable to care for it that the dog MUST be
returned to the breeder and may not be sold or given away to anyone else.
12. How do I determine if I've found a reputable breeder or not? We are rescuing a tremendous number of dachshunds on an annual basis. Additionally in a year's time we have approximately 150-200 dachshund owners that contact us about giving up their dachshunds. You need to realize when you purchase a dachshund puppy you are making a 16-17 year investment. An investment of time, money and emotion. Please do not obtain a dachshund puppy if you do not have sufficient time to devote to it. If you work a 10-12 hour day, come home to change clothes and then run out for other events, please do not purchase a dachshund puppy because you do not have time to adequately care for it. We understand that you may want the companionship of a dog in your life but it is not fair to the dog to expect it to be alone for that amount of time. It will be impossible for you to train the dog if you are home that little and soon you will be frustrated with the chewing, the destructive nature and the lack of housebreaking that is occurring because you simply do not have time to devote to your new family member. It's not fair to the dog and we really do not want to have to rescue another dachshund if we can prevent that from happening.
Now that you know how to look for a reputable breeder, please let us know
what size and coat variety of Dachshund puppy you are looking for. Be
advised that we have very few names to recommend to you and in all
probability you will have to wait some time to obtain a dog from a
reputable breeder. We will contact you with the names and numbers of
people we feel will deal with you honestly and fairly. We will only
give you the names and numbers we would feel comfortable sending our own
mothers to.
13. I'm having trouble housebreaking my Dachshund. What do I do? Additionally, you don't want the dog isolated from the rest of the family - you want him to be a part of the family, a family member. But, unless you can monitor the dog's movement when you are there it is important that the dog's access to the entire house be restricted until the dog has proven that it is housebroken. One of the very first things they will learn is to be sneaky. Instead of learning NOT to go to the bathroom in the house, they will decide going off and pottying in a bedroom, a dining room or a corner unobserved is the correct thing to do and we would rather not have this behavior get started. So to prevent that from happening that is one of the reasons that we recommend that you restrict their access to the entire house. Something else that is very good in assisting with housebreaking a dog, especially an adult, is that you fasten a leash to the dog and you fasten the other end to your belt and the dog lives with you 24 hours a day with this umbilical cord. You soon will learn the dog's body language to realize when the dog needs to go outside and you can give a slight tug on the leash and a 'Let's go outside' or 'Let's go potty' command, run outside with the dog, release him from the umbilical cord and when the dog goes to the bathroom, then you vigorously praise the dog. Then bring the dog back in, fasten him back to the umbilical cord and have the dog continue living with you. This way you can praise the dog for doing the right thing instead of always having to punish the dog for doing the wrong thing. Just like some children require a firm hand, dogs also require correction. Some require very little correction while others may have to have the level of correction increased until the dog understands the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Consistency is the key to any training. If you are inconsistent the dog will pick up on that and it will take much longer to achieve the desired result. Many dachshunds can be distracted when they go outside to potty. Don't let the dog back inside the house until you have verified that the dog has finished going to the bathroom. If you let them back inside without being certain that they have finished, then you can be assured that the dog will come back into the house and finish on the carpet. Every dachshund owner can describe to you the classic dachshund response "But it's raining...I'm not going outside to potty" This response consists of one front leg up in the air and blinking it's poor pathetic little eyes while it insists it cannot go potty in the rain. Don't fall for this. We know they won't melt in the rain. Insist that they stay outside until they go to the bathroom. If you have had the dog outside rain or shine for a considerable amount of time and the dog has not pottied, do not bring the dog back in to the house and give it free rein of the house. No learning is going to take place if you continue to have this type of activity occur. If you see that the dog has not gone to the bathroom in an appropriate amount of time, bring it back inside and put it back in it's crate. Give it 15-30 minutes time to think about it, then take it out of the crate and go back outside. Stand outside with the dog and see whether or not the dog goes to the bathroom. You may have to become rather invisible, as you may also be a deterrent. Stand quietly and observe the dog. If the dog goes to the bathroom outside, go crazy praising the dog. Let the dog know that he is the most wonderful dog on the face of the earth. However, if the dog has still not gone to the bathroom, take the dog back inside and put it back into it's crate. Continue doing this until the dog gives up and potties outside. If you happen to have a Dachshund that potties in their crate in spite of frequent trips outside, you've got your work cut out for you! Be SURE the dog is getting ample opportunity to potty outside.
Don't expect a Dachshund puppy to be housebroken in just a few days
They're slow to catch on. Make life easier for yourself by only allowing
the puppy access to easily cleaned surfaces. Be patient and consistent.
Eventually, the dog WILL be housebroken. But, if they see you weakening,
they'll increase their efforts to "win".
13. My formerly housebroken Dachshund has started urinating in the house. Now what do I do?
14. I'd like to give a Dachshund puppy as a gift (Birthday, Christmas, etc) to someone.
15. I want like to use my male dog at stud. Can you make any recommendations? Additionally, as the owner of a working stud dog the safety, care and responsibility of caring for someone else's in season bitch is quite a burden. Traditionally the in season female goes to the home of the stud dog which can cause quite an uproar in the household and will definitely increase the marking that the dog will do in your home. Taking care of someone else's dog, being careful that it doesn't escape, being sure that it is properly cared for is quite a responsibility. For those of us who have done it we can assure you it is not worth the money. While the bitch is in your possession it will also be your responsibility to insure that no one other than your stud dog breeds the bitch. Since the fact that the scent of an in season bitch can travel for many miles you in all probability will have many neighboring dogs gathering on your doorstep wanting to come in for a "piece of the action" It's also not a simple matter of putting your male up in a crate while the in season bitch is in there for visiting because many males have been known to tear right through crates, scream for 24 hours a day and make quite a nuisance of themselves over the fact that there is an in season bitch on the premises. This is not a nice pet to live with at that point in time and once the bitch goes home it takes quite some time for the dog to settle down...and hopefully it will not continue forever.
Sometimes, the bitch and dog need help with the act of breeding.
Especially unpleasant is the visiting bitch who is trying to bite you
or your male dog and wants NOTHING to do with the entire process.
We can assure you that the very best thing for your male dachshund
is to be neutered. Additionally neutering helps to decrease the chance
of testicular cancer. It also helps to decrease the chance of perianal
cysts which is common in older, un neutered male dogs. Contrary to
popular opinion, neutering a dog does not make the dog fat. It is usually
necessary to decrease somewhat the amount of food that the dog is
fed after he has been neutered.
16. I want to breed my female Dachshund. Can you help me? Additionally, with small bitches it is not inconceivable that you would be facing a C-section. These days C-sections easily cost $800 and usually need to be done at 3 A.M. in the morning. If you are not prepared for this financial burden or the possibility of it, perhaps you might want to reconsider breeding your bitch. We often ask people why they want to have a litter of puppies and it is a question that we would pose to you. If the answer is that you want to make money you need to realize that this could very easily not happen. First of all, you need to consider the stud fee. The stud fee for a nice dog from a reputable breeder would probably be in the range of $250-$350. Prior to the female being bred the stud owner would require a Brucellosis test on your bitch. The vet bill for that test is approximately $50. Also, prior to being bred the bitch's inoculations should be up to date so that the puppies can have a high titer. If the bitch's teeth are dirty they would need to be cleaned prior to being bred so as not to pass on infection to the puppies when she cuts their cords. Since you want to be a responsible breeder, it will be your duty to insure that the puppies have at least 2-3 sets of vaccinations before they leave for their new homes. This means you will have them at least 9 weeks, possibly 10-12 weeks. Count on the cost of these shots being around $20-25 per puppy. The puppies, in order to be healthy and leave in the best conditions, will also need stool checks for worms at least twice before they go to their new homes. Another vet expense. And we know that you want ONLY to be a responsible breeder. You decided to have this litter and you must want to do it right since you have already put so much thought in to this decision. Due to the current 'lawsuit happy' world we live in, it is not unheard of for puppy buyers to come back to the breeder and demand compensation for the vet bills they have incurred because their puppy got sick due to leaving their birth environment too early and without proper inoculations to prevent the disease from occurring. So to protect yourselves and the puppies, 2-3 sets of shots, 2 stool checks/worming and a "well puppy check" before they are able to leave. And obviously all of your AKC paperwork must be in order prior to the bitch being bred. You may not breed a bitch that has only a blue slip. That means that only her litter was registered but the bitch herself was not individually registered and her puppies would not be AKC registered in that case. You would need to have your dog individually registered in order to have a litter of AKC registrable puppies. That means your papers should be white with a purple border from the AKC. A white slip with an orange border would not allow her puppies to be registered either. If your dog was not individually registered and it is more than a year from the date of issuance of the blue slip, the AKC "may" allow you to register your dog but will levy a fine for the tardy registration of the dog. More information may be obtained on the AKC's web site. When considering the cost of rearing a litter of puppies, you should consider time lost from work. It would be irresponsible to allow a bitch to whelp on her own so you need to plan on taking at least 10-14 days off from work. Obviously it helps to have an understanding boss at this point! Puppies should not go to their new homes until they are at least 9 weeks of age. Assuming you had a litter of 3 puppies and you decide to keep one that you simply cannot stand to live without, you have two puppies for sale. If you sell them for $250-$350 each, you can see that you have lost money on this business venture. Even if you have a relatively easy litter to care for with few expenses, it is still a great deal of work to properly raise a litter of puppies. Someone will need to stay home at least the first two weeks for the puppies to be sure the mother doesn't lay on them and accidentally kill them. The nursing mother needs to be fed 4 times a day and you need to be certain that all the puppies are staying warm and out of a draft. It will be necessary to set up some sort of a pen in the house for the mother and babies that will need extra heat; puppies who do not have a constant source of warmth in the first 7 days of their lives are subject to death because they cannot regulate their own heat. Sometimes mothers won't care for their puppies which forces you to take over. It can be exhausting to hand rear a litter! Once the puppies are up and toddling on their own, there are puppy pen papers to be changed...as soon as fresh papers are down, they're dirty and needing to be replaced. Taking care of a litter of newborn puppies is a full time job! If the answer to the question was that all of our relatives love this dog and think that she is a wonderful dog and want to have a puppy out of her, why would you consider putting your dear pet at risk and jeopardize your finances just to supply your friends and relatives? There are many wonderful dachshunds already on the face of the earth and only the very best need to be bred. We simply have an animal overpopulation problem which means that every person that intends to breed needs to think seriously about the ultimate ramifications. Something else to consider if the relatives are looking for something out of your wonderful dog. On many occasions we have heard that it was the intent of family members to take a puppy but what they really wanted was a red female and what was actually born was a black and tan male and when it came time for the puppies to leave the relatives didn't really want a puppy because it wasn't the puppy they wanted. At that point the owner of the bitch was left holding a litter of puppies with no potential families for them If the answer to that question is that you want another dog JUST LIKE this one. Well, it's just not that easy. No matter how special your dog is to you, a puppy out of it is not guaranteed to be just like or even similar to your dog - half its genes will be from another dog! You will have to find another dog that also has the characteristics you want in your puppy; that dog will have to be un neutered; and the owner of that dog will have to be willing to breed her/his dog to yours. Even a litter mate to your dog wouldn't be JUST like your dog. They are all individuals and no two are alike. If it were as simple as recreating exactly what you want, show breeders would have accomplished this feat long ago and all of them would be producing 'Best In Show' quality dogs. It's just not that easy to reproduce what you want. What you want and what you get are usually two different things! It is an old wife's tale that having a litter of puppies will make a dog sweeter, calmer, nicer, better. Your dog is what she is and having a litter of puppies is not going to alter her, nor is it going to satisfy her, it's only going to put another litter of dachshund puppies on the earth, and it's hard enough to find suitable homes for puppies. There are many people out there who simply do not provide the type of home that our dogs deserve and it can be quite frustrating interviewing people who want a free, easy, quick puppy that they had no intention of providing a good home for.
One of the biggest issues today with being a breeder is that of
responsibility. Because of animal overpopulation today, IF you are going
to be a breeder, you MUST agree to take responsibility for every single
puppy you produce. That means that you have an iron clad contract with
puppy purchasers in which they agree to ALWAYS return the dog to you if
they are no longer able to care for the dog. It doesn't matter what the
reason is or how old the dog is. If it needs a home, YOU must take that
responsibility. If you are not willing to do this, PLEASE do not
consider breeding one single litter of puppies. There are too many dogs
bred by irresponsible breeders. Those dogs are the very ones we're
having to rescue!
17. My female dog is AKC registered. Shouldn't I breed her?
18. Should I spay or neuter my pet Dachshund?
19. How do I find a new home for my Dachshund that is biting? There are many times dogs in have been in abusive situations and yet they do not bite. So what is the explanation for a dog that has been loved and adored but rewards his owners by biting? The propensity for biting is genetic. It is difficult for us to tell whether you have a bad dog or whether you have a dog that needs to know who is boss. If we were to assist you in finding a new home for a dog that was a biter, and that dog bit someone, there could very well be a lawsuit and we could be included in that lawsuit. Because of this, we cannot assist you in locating a new home for a dog that is a biter. Additionally, it's not very fair for anyone to have to own a biting dog. If you intend to place this dog and the dog has bitten someone, you need to be aware that you are legally placing yourself at great risk. In the eyes of the law you would be considered to be harboring a vicious animal and knowingly placing this animal. Should this dog be placed in another home, bite someone and there be a lawsuit, you, in all probability would also be included in that lawsuit. If this dog still continues to be a biter and you no longer wish to keep him, then perhaps you need to consider having the dog euthanized. This is an unpleasant action to consider, but you need to consider the consequences. If the dog has become unacceptable in YOUR home, why would it suddenly become acceptable in someone else's home? How would you feel if you placed this dog and then discovered that this dog had bitten a child who, for the rest of his life was afraid of dogs because of this dog? There are many who would disagree with this opinion and feel that given enough time, a home could be found for any biting dog. While we respect the right of individuals to have this opinion, we must disagree.
Assuming that you have exhausted all avenues of obedience training and
the dog continues to bite, we see that you have only 2 options.
The first being to keep the dog yourself and try to always keep the dog
away from the situations in which he bites. The other option is to have
the dog euthanized. Obviously we cannot make this decision for you.
We understand how difficult a position this is and we sympathize with you, but
other than our sympathy and advice we are not able to offer assistance.
20. I'm planning to have a Dachshund as an outside dog. Can you advise me as to what the dog needs in order to live outside. If you're obtaining a dog for protection, he can not protect your house if he's outside. Most dogs kept outside cause far more nuisance than anything else. Complaints from barking, digging due to boredom and escaping will probably be the norm with an outside dog. Such complaints cause teasing, antagonism, release and poisoning. The dog ends up being a helpless victim. Most thieves know that if they just open the gate, 9 out of 10 dogs will run off! Or, they can shoot, stab, spear, poison, snare, strangle, or dart through the fence. Not only did you just lose your dog, now the thief has unlimited access to your home. If your dog is tied up and the burglar keeps out of reach, he's useless. Your dog may bark, but outside dogs bark so much, they're usually ignored. But most thieves will tell you that they'll leave a house in which a dog is hitting the other side of a door or window and kicking up a fuss. It's creating too much noise and attention which they don't want. Protection and aggression are not the same. Protection is defensive, reactive, often passive, and threatens or injures no one. Aggression is active, harmful and offensive, threatens all and benefits none. Yard dogs often develop far more aggression than protectivity because everyone who passes by or enters has already violated the territory that dog has marked dozens of times a day for years. That's not protection, it's not desirable and it overlooks two facts of life today. First, property owners have implied social contracts with others in the community. Letter carriers, paper boys, delivery people, law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, meter readers and others are allowed near and at times on your property without your specific permission. Second, even if the intruder is a felon, few places allow you or your dog to cause physical injury to prevent property loss. Maybe the neighbor children don't have permission to be in your yard but neither you nor your dog are allowed to cause them injury if they do. The more a dog is outdoors, the less behavioral control you have. It's easier to solve four or five indoor problems than one outdoor problem. The reason is valid and simple: The more you control the stimuli that reaches your dog, the more you control the responses. When your dog is bored, but teased by every dog, cat, bird, squirrel, motorcycle, paperboy, airplane, firecracker and backfiring truck in the county, OF COURSE he'll dig, chew, and bark. Would you sit still all day everyday? When a dog is alone indoors, you are still 30% there because your scent and things he associates with you, constantly remind the dog of you and your training. When he's out, your dog is alone whether you're home or not. Another problem with outdoor dogs is that of dog theft which is a common problem. Here in the metroplex, dog theft seems to rise dramatically the week before a large near by flea market which also has dogs for sale. Dogs are also stolen to sell to research labs or to sell to puppy mills. Dog thieves are very good at what they do. Do not assume that your barking dog will be safe. ANY dog outside unattended, no matter how brief the time is an accident waiting for a place to happen. Here in Texas, the miserably hot summers are killers for dogs outside. Maybe our winters are milder than some climates but we have plenty of unpleasant days that I wouldn't want to be outside in. Would you? Don't think a dog house offers protection. Those dog houses which advertise cool in summer and warm in winter? Try getting in one for a few minutes in the summer time and we think you'll agree it's not very cool! An outdoor dog has an address, not a home. Dogs offer real value as companion animals. Stop behavior problems and start enjoying real protection and companionship. Bring your dogs inside.
21. My dog just died. I'm devestated. I think I need another dog exactly like him/her right away. |