Any doxie or mini doxie owners out there? Advice needed

[princessmom29]

So, we are going to look at some mini doxie puppies this weekend. I grew up with a fullsize as did DH, so we know about the breed in general, but ours were both outside dogs, and this would be an inside. Anyone have any advice on things to look for, specifically with doxies? I have heard that they can be difficult to potty train. Is there any truht to this, and what has worked for you? Also, and general advice on care and keeping of inside doxies would be welcomed.

 

[golfgal]

Some friends have one and she has been very difficult to train. She is so fragile feeling too-there is nothing to her. If you have little kids it might not be the best dog. She sure is cute though (her name is Penny).

 

[princessmom29]

I have a 6 and a half year old DD. We have purposely waited to get a dog until she was older for that very reason. The dogs we are looking at are on the larger end of mini, in the 10-15 lb range. My BIL is a vet and he said basically the same thing. Don't go too small becuase the smaller they are the more fragile. They are too big to be show as true mini's but that is not what we care about. We just want a good family pet.

 

[ckay87]

We have a doxie too and we Loooooove him. Great breed, but not for their brains or patience, I'll tell you that. Absolutely wonderful personalities - very goofy and playful. Just funny.

Ours is supposed to be a mini. And he once was. But they do have a tendency to become overweight. He gets the same amount of exercise and even less snacks than our skinny beagle, but he has really packed on the pounds. It's tough to get a dog to diet, so be careful of that from the start.

I have heard that they are difficult to potty train and I believe this. We adopted ours when he was 2. He had been in a home and was fully housebroken, but when he got to our house he decided that those rules no longer applied. We had to train him all over again. Wasn't too hard, we just had to put him out a lot and make sure he never had the opportunity to go in the house.

Now he can be left alone for any length of time and never goes inside. However..... we take him someplace new and he will not hesitate to go on the rug. And it's usually poop, too. I don't understand it. I can only think that in this new place, he can't be sure when he'll be able to go outside again, so he just goes for it.

But don't get me wrong, they are entirely trainable and well worth it. Such a fun dog....have fun!

 

[ilovejack02]

I have had doxies since I was five yrs old, I am 37 now.

Not always the best with children, 3 out of 6 I have owned have been a bit snippy with kiddos and strangers. My current boy is about 10 he is soo sweet, loves everyone. His sister passed two years ago after a horrible back injury. She was NOT nice to kids, my DS learned to leave her alone , but she and I were great friends, such a little love. Children scared her to death, hence the growling and snapping.
Back injuries are a big big deal with this breed. My Teddy just got over about 6 months ago a back episode had to keep him quiet and medicated for about 8 weeks.
Jumping on furniture is bad and so are stairs.

Funny dogs, barkers, can be diggers, not a good outside dog for long term. My guy comes in and out, he loves to yell at the squirrels , running from tree to tree all day . So funny to watch. Not the smartest lol or as someone else said patient . I tend to think they do better with adults or older children.

Oh and the potty training, yes also a bit stubborn in that area too, only way to prevent accidents with my mom's girl is they are on a schedule , every 2.5 hours she is walked.
My boy is really good about letting me know when he needs to go out , but if we don't put him in his room before leaving house, he lets us know he is mad we left him by using potty on rug.

I always use puppy pads in his room while we are gone.

 

[ckay87]

One more thing about the pottying though. With mine, once he was all trained, he has the bladder control of a superhero! Seriously do not know how such a little dog can hold it for so long. He is especially good at holding it when it rains or snows. Oh my but he hates precipitation. He'd rather hold it all day than go outside.

Are other doxies like this?

 

[ilovejack02]

One more thing about the pottying though. With mine, once he was all trained, he has the bladder control of a superhero! Seriously do not know how such a little dog can hold it for so long. He is especially good at holding it when it rains or snows. Oh my but he hates precipitation. He'd rather hold it all day than go outside.

Are other doxies like this?

My mom has to use an umbrella for her precious princess to go out when rainy . I have lots of covered patio areas, my boy won't step foot out in the rain, so he usually hits the concrete when rainy. I just hose it off every evening. At least he makes it out there lol.

 

[princessmom29]

thanks for all the tips, keep 'em, comin!! The thing about the rain is so funny. Mom parents have a 6 year old English Bulldog and she is the sme way. She will hide in her kennel when it rains and you can forget going outside!! She is supposed to be this big tough dog, but is such a baby!!!

 

[clarabelle]

I have two minis
I had one before that we had to give to my sister -it bit -just with the kids.
They weren't mean to him -he just thought he should be alpha. He is fine in a house with no kids.
Now I have a smooth red and a long haired black and tan.
The smooth is more shy, hates getting her feet wet
The long haired is more outgoing and doesn't care about the rain -but doesn't have a brain in her pretty little head. Both have been hard to train.

I am getting ready to work on potty training some more with a tether (keeping her tied to me whenever she is not in her crate.

One dog had an overbite that resolved itself and one had hernias that resolved on their own. Both issues would be worth asking a breeder about -I understand they are breeding issues.

We love the dogs. Lots of fun and personality
But not a "sure thing" with kids like a golden or lab would be

 

[ugadog99]

Oh my but he hates precipitation. He'd rather hold it all day than go outside.

Are other doxies like this?

We have three dachshunds now (our 18 year old passed away almost two weeks ago). I have always had dachshunds in my life, and none of them liked the precipitation! They can be difficult to train. They are fiercely loyal, but that loyalty can be agressive, too. My male will literally try to eat anyone that comes near me-and especially if he is with me at the time. I love my doxies, but they can be difficult.

 

[clarabelle]

 

[ckay87]

OMG Clarabelle, just beautiful!

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks
We stay on their diets so they don't get heavy

 

[KandD]

I have a dachshund and she is wonderful. She was hard to housetrain though. She is about two years old and she never pees in the house but every once in a while she will doodle. She does NOT like to be outside when it is raining and she really doesn't like to be outside at all, she does her business and comes right back in while my other dogs could stay out all day if we let them.
I don't have kids and I was worried that she was going to be nasty to my nephew when he visited last summer but she was GREAT with him! I couldn't believe it, they slept together every night, she let him play with her, she cuddled on his lap.
She is a VERY cuddly dog, she is almost always on my bf's lap or my lap. She is the smallest of my four dogs but she RUNS the house. She keeps the other dogs in line and they listen to her.

 

[DisneyLover83]

We have a 5 year old female mini and she has gained a lot of weight in the last year or two. She gets walked a few miles a day and played with, plus she is on a high protien, low calorie diet but is still heavy. She was hard to potty train and like others have said is not very smart, but her personality is so much fun and she always wants to play

In a breed book my husband saw in a book store they rated breeds by "trainability", 1 paw being the worst and 5 paw the best..... miniature dachshund are a 1 paw

 

[doxdogy]

As you can tell by my username we are owned by doxies too. There are 3 coat varieties, smooth, longhair and wirehair and two sizes standard and mini. The ones that are to big to be a mini and to small to be a standard are called tweenies and aren't an "official" AKC size for showing. The smooth variety can tend to get snippy, the longhairs are known as the loving ones and the wirehairs as the clowns. All of ours are longhaired and generally the breed can be quite stubborn. We had one that literally refused to potty train and went outside when it suited her. We had one that was kicked out of obedience class, she saw no reason to be obedience trained, so she wouldn't budge. We also tried to show her in conformation, but after a couple of times of sitting in the ring and refusing to budge, we gave up. Intelligence is literally a crap shoot. We had some that were smart as a whip and a couple that were dumber than dirt. The smooth and longhair require little to no grooming except for bathing and brushing. The wirehair would need to have it's coat stripped every so often.

They can be good around children if they are raised with children, though truthfully I would go with a longhair or wirehair for the kids. We have never had any dietary issues with them. Basically they will eat anything that won't eat them first.

 

[LBAK]

I have an 8 yr old mini who is great. My DD was 6 when we got her. She is wonderful with kids.
She is extremely stubborn and will pee outside but not poop. She uses a wee wee pad. We tried everything. The vet wasn't surprised when we told him.
She tends to get heavy. She just lost 2 lbs. and feels much better. We have her on prescription food.
She's playful and fun and a great member of the family. Wouldn't trade her for the world.

 

[debyc]

I have a 10 month old mini, long hair, shaded red, named Princess Belle, got her at 8 weeks, its still an ongoing challenge to get her potty-trained, she has her good days, where she will go where she is supposed to, but mostly she goes where she wants
She is a great dog, has a great personality, has never been anything but sweet to everyone, very patient even with my 4 years old--the breeder I got her from had 5 kids so I'm sure she was used to being touched all the time when I got her. She is also very cuddly, and follows me from room to room. My MIL thinks Belle is dumb
She gets along with my other 2 dogs, a minpin and retriever mix too

 

[ilovejack02]

My mom's girl, or my sister as my mom likes to say.
Don't let those sweet baby girl eyes fool you, she loves who she loves and she a nipper with some people, no rhyme or reason behind who she loves and who she hates.

Id post a pic of my boy, but he refuses to look at camera.

 

[ilovejack02]

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