Roxie the Doxie - our new miniature dachshund
Discussion
Hi everyone,
Having moved out of our little rented one bed flat in London to a comparatively big house in the (far) regions, the time had come to finally get a puppy! I've always had dogs - still have a gorgeous Chocolate Labrador that lives with my parents (I moved out!), before that a Golden Retriever.
A couple of years ago I stayed at a friends - they'd just picked up a miniature Dachshund and I was absolutely smitten. Swore I'd get one some day - even though she (also called Roxie) wore nappies...
So meet Roxie!
She's a red doxie, just coming up to 10 weeks old. Second set of vaccinations are next Thursday - can't WAIT to get her out and about around a week after that though have introduced her to the Labrador already.
She's absolutely perfect and I can't stop looking at her and playing with her. She is incredibly clean and an absolute ace at the potty business; I've never known a better puppy in this regard. It's quite amazing, will pretty much go on demand less than a week in.
She's taken to crate training exceptionally well and after the first 3 nights she now doesn't cry or yap after the first couple of minutes. I get up around 1am and 4am to let her out for a pee though she doesn't seem to need it, as such. Will drop it to once a night in a week or two and then taper off. Hot water bottle, ticking clock and tons of bedding to burrow in seem to be the key.
Super playful but happy to snuggle for hours too. Pedigree and by all accounts a good lineage but don't intend to breed so we'll spay her in due course.
Those little talons are getting cut next week, by the way!
Cheers.
Having moved out of our little rented one bed flat in London to a comparatively big house in the (far) regions, the time had come to finally get a puppy! I've always had dogs - still have a gorgeous Chocolate Labrador that lives with my parents (I moved out!), before that a Golden Retriever.
A couple of years ago I stayed at a friends - they'd just picked up a miniature Dachshund and I was absolutely smitten. Swore I'd get one some day - even though she (also called Roxie) wore nappies...
So meet Roxie!
She's a red doxie, just coming up to 10 weeks old. Second set of vaccinations are next Thursday - can't WAIT to get her out and about around a week after that though have introduced her to the Labrador already.
She's absolutely perfect and I can't stop looking at her and playing with her. She is incredibly clean and an absolute ace at the potty business; I've never known a better puppy in this regard. It's quite amazing, will pretty much go on demand less than a week in.
She's taken to crate training exceptionally well and after the first 3 nights she now doesn't cry or yap after the first couple of minutes. I get up around 1am and 4am to let her out for a pee though she doesn't seem to need it, as such. Will drop it to once a night in a week or two and then taper off. Hot water bottle, ticking clock and tons of bedding to burrow in seem to be the key.
Super playful but happy to snuggle for hours too. Pedigree and by all accounts a good lineage but don't intend to breed so we'll spay her in due course.
Those little talons are getting cut next week, by the way!
Cheers.
Edited by iphonedyou on Thursday 20th October 13:22
parakitaMol. said:
Yes I was very cynical too, however we have met lots of people with Dachsies (you will find this) and I know many Dachshies who have had surgery including 3 of my very close friends (one has had 3 lots of surgery and another twice). It is extremely common.
The other issue is that it's not something you can ignore or postpone if they need surgery (if the disc has burst, they are screaming in pain and lost use of bowels and legs) they need it immediately for the best chance of being able to return to full mobility. The last thing you need when your pet is in that condition is to be worrying how you will pay the £7-10k for an MRI and surgery. My boy first went down at just 4 years old and he was fit, active and slender with a good shape. So I didn't see him as a 'high risk'. He has since had 2 further episodes.
I have the full PetPlan cover for life. And whilst I loathe PetPlan for other reasons, I would never be with out cover on a Dachs as it is around 1:5 who get a problem! If you are on FB I'd suggest following Ian Seath (chair of the Breed Council) who shares breed and health data .... or sign up to the newsletter. There are regional groups for most areas on FB and they are all very active with events and walks.
https://sites.google.com/site/ukdachshundhealthrep...
http://www.sunsong.co.uk/
https://sites.google.com/site/ukdachshundhealthrep...
Not trying to scare you, just to make you aware, if you don't want to get insurance that's fine as long as you have credit cards or savings just in case
Thank you everybody for the kind words and advice, and particularly you parakitaMol for your contributions including the above.The other issue is that it's not something you can ignore or postpone if they need surgery (if the disc has burst, they are screaming in pain and lost use of bowels and legs) they need it immediately for the best chance of being able to return to full mobility. The last thing you need when your pet is in that condition is to be worrying how you will pay the £7-10k for an MRI and surgery. My boy first went down at just 4 years old and he was fit, active and slender with a good shape. So I didn't see him as a 'high risk'. He has since had 2 further episodes.
I have the full PetPlan cover for life. And whilst I loathe PetPlan for other reasons, I would never be with out cover on a Dachs as it is around 1:5 who get a problem! If you are on FB I'd suggest following Ian Seath (chair of the Breed Council) who shares breed and health data .... or sign up to the newsletter. There are regional groups for most areas on FB and they are all very active with events and walks.
https://sites.google.com/site/ukdachshundhealthrep...
http://www.sunsong.co.uk/
https://sites.google.com/site/ukdachshundhealthrep...
Not trying to scare you, just to make you aware, if you don't want to get insurance that's fine as long as you have credit cards or savings just in case
We've decided to take out insurance and are currently shopping around. Will get cover taken out this week. Have read through your links and whilst I'd researched beforehand they do make very interesting and informative reading, and do make the case for insurance!
Roxie is still doing really well, and her personality is developing every day. She doesn't eat a lot so I'll be interested to see what the vet thinks of her weight, but due to her age and not having had her second round of vaccinations she's not exercising loads really.
Now that we're around 10 days in I'm starting to up the training each day. Including walking her round the garden on a lead, which is an experience for both of us.
Tumbledryer - yours are gorgeous! More pictures!
Great pictures Tumble, thanks for posting. They're just lovely and look like proper little characters! Hoping to get some decent pictures of Roxie soon, but presently suffering from a cold, fairly chronic sleep deprivation and work getting a bit crazy!
Unfortunately Roxie's first vaccination set turned out to be parvo only - so we've another three weeks before we can properly take her out, which is worrying from a socialisation point of view, and to be honest she's definitely realised there's a world out there she isn't getting to see apart from our little walks around the front and back garden! I'm taking her to my parents tonight where she'll meet our Labrador again which will be good.
Regarding your point on potty, tumble - I'm coming to agree with you! As her confidence has increased she's started just going in the house in preference to going outside. After 10 days of zero 'accidents' we've had 5 transgressions in 4 days. Last night she pee'd right outside her crate despite having been let out not more than five minutes previously (and doing nothing) so she definitely needs to be watched. So potty is on the radar as something to watch, and she's bitier than a bitey thing when she's excited so we're doing a lot of 'time out' in the back garden just now.
She's up to 2.5kg now from 1.5kg two weeks ago, despite in my view not eating very much. So that's definitely good news. And she's a happy little character; wouldn't change her for the world.
Unfortunately Roxie's first vaccination set turned out to be parvo only - so we've another three weeks before we can properly take her out, which is worrying from a socialisation point of view, and to be honest she's definitely realised there's a world out there she isn't getting to see apart from our little walks around the front and back garden! I'm taking her to my parents tonight where she'll meet our Labrador again which will be good.
Regarding your point on potty, tumble - I'm coming to agree with you! As her confidence has increased she's started just going in the house in preference to going outside. After 10 days of zero 'accidents' we've had 5 transgressions in 4 days. Last night she pee'd right outside her crate despite having been let out not more than five minutes previously (and doing nothing) so she definitely needs to be watched. So potty is on the radar as something to watch, and she's bitier than a bitey thing when she's excited so we're doing a lot of 'time out' in the back garden just now.
She's up to 2.5kg now from 1.5kg two weeks ago, despite in my view not eating very much. So that's definitely good news. And she's a happy little character; wouldn't change her for the world.
Thanks for that link - as Bex says, loads of information and all of it useful.
Roxie is now lifetime insured, licenced and her chip is all updated.
Here she is with Claude, an 8.5 week old Frenchie that our very good friends took home on Saturday. We spent a nice evening taking it in turns to clap two puppies doing pees.
Promise I'll get some better pictures soon.
Roxie is now lifetime insured, licenced and her chip is all updated.
Here she is with Claude, an 8.5 week old Frenchie that our very good friends took home on Saturday. We spent a nice evening taking it in turns to clap two puppies doing pees.
Promise I'll get some better pictures soon.
parakitaMol. said:
Weirdly I was going to post Lafora information earlier today, I wrote it out but I deleted it as I didn't want to scare either on what is a joyful 'new pup' thread.
Laforas as Bex says can occur spontaneously in other dogs but is an inherited condition in mini wire Dachshunds. The Breed Council has been running a testing programme and awareness campaign in the last couple of years. There is a database which is now extensive (my wire was tested 3 years ago as his Sire was Affected and his Dam was Unknown = BAD BREEDER!) http://www.whdc.co.uk/lafora-test-results.php. Thankfully my wire is clear but one of his litter mates was affected
Anyone looking at a Mini Wire Dachshund should ensure they know the status of both parents (and the PRA status too) - it is horrific and I know people who have lost dogs to this awful condition - very sad indeed.
Parakita's link is:Laforas as Bex says can occur spontaneously in other dogs but is an inherited condition in mini wire Dachshunds. The Breed Council has been running a testing programme and awareness campaign in the last couple of years. There is a database which is now extensive (my wire was tested 3 years ago as his Sire was Affected and his Dam was Unknown = BAD BREEDER!) http://www.whdc.co.uk/lafora-test-results.php. Thankfully my wire is clear but one of his litter mates was affected
Anyone looking at a Mini Wire Dachshund should ensure they know the status of both parents (and the PRA status too) - it is horrific and I know people who have lost dogs to this awful condition - very sad indeed.
http://www.whdc.co.uk/lafora-test-results.php
Here we are, five months in!
She's the centre of our little family. Loves getting out and about, but loves even more lying scrunched up against us on the sofa watching TV with the fire on.
Dislikes cyclists, prams.
Please forgive image quality; I've ripped them from my instagram, so they're compressed.
She's the centre of our little family. Loves getting out and about, but loves even more lying scrunched up against us on the sofa watching TV with the fire on.
Dislikes cyclists, prams.
Please forgive image quality; I've ripped them from my instagram, so they're compressed.
Time for an update - Roxie is turning one on Tuesday!
She continues to be the most amazing little article - she's just incredible and we love her to bits. Can't even explain it! Everybody is besotted by her. She's also the best running buddy I could ever hope for. Fit beyond belief!
Sorry for photo quality - taken straight from my (her) Instagram account.
She continues to be the most amazing little article - she's just incredible and we love her to bits. Can't even explain it! Everybody is besotted by her. She's also the best running buddy I could ever hope for. Fit beyond belief!
Sorry for photo quality - taken straight from my (her) Instagram account.
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