For some, smaller breeds of dogs can be a great way for less active owners to have a dog and feel companionship. But like any breed of dog, you need to know how to properly train them in order to make them better companions.

There are more than a few dachshund tricks that you can teach them. Here is your guide for knowing some of the more frequent behavioral problems as well as what commands they tend to do best with.

Commands to Teach Your Dachshund

There are a few dachshund tricks in particular that they should know. These aren’t groundbreaking commands, more so the type of commands that every good dog should know. They can be relatively easy to teach as well.

Lie Down

This is one of the most common commands there is. Of course, they should know how to be able to sit down first and foremost before they can progress to “lie down.” When they have mastered sitting down, you can then start to implement this “trick”.

Make sure that you get them to lay fully on the ground, belly touching. Do this regularly, providing treats each step of the way. Positive reinforcement goes a long way with a lot of breeds, particularly dachshunds.

It takes time to get consistency. Start with “lie” and then progress into “lie down” when they show consistency. Over time, and with some regularity, they will wind up not only laying down but staying down for longer periods of time.

Shake

Similar to “lie down,” it is essential that your dachshund has mastered “sit.” When you manage to get them to sit regularly, touch their shoulder gently. It may take some time but they should lift their paw up.

The minute they lift their paw off the ground, reward them. It will take some time to get them to develop consistency, but they will become normalized with lifting their paw when you touch their shoulder. You can then also begin to introduce a command, “paw” or “shake”.

The key to any trick implementation is to praise them constantly and offer rewards in the form of treats. Just to remember to show them patience and understanding each step of the way.

Speak

This can be a great trick to teach your dachshund for another added reason: it can actually reduce how much they bark. Just make sure that you pay attention to the things that make them start barking in the first place. You can take advantage of those things in the training process.

Maybe it’s a toy. Maybe it’s the doorbell. In a lot of cases, it will be because someone walks by. You can recreate the scenario that causes their barking and employ the “speak” command, giving them a treat when they bark.

How does this stop them from barking? Well, when you go to reward them, they will stop. They will then associate your command – and stop the barking – which will become their regular response instead of simply barking in the first place.

Of course, you can try to put them into environments that are less prone to trigger barking. This command in particular can require a little bit more repetition than the others, but it can wind up paying major dividends. Dachshunds are smart dogs, they just take time and patience to get these things down. Make sure to reward them for each of the positive behaviors that they display to positively reinforce what they are doing right.

Dachshund Behavior Problems

Part of establishing discipline and teaching tricks for your dachshund means knowing where they have challenges. Every dachshund needs to be properly understood, including some of the most prominent traits that they display.

For starters, dachshunds tend to “borrow” things. No matter what the temperature outside may be, they will want to borrow something. If you notice that something goes missing, the most likely explanation is that they have absconded with it.

Dachshunds also tend to bark quite a bit. Believe it or not, they are natural hunters and part of their breed is alerting their owners when there is something that they need to be notified of. They also can bark because of anxiety, fear, possessive behavior or a lack of training.

Separation anxiety is also quite common with dachshunds. If you leave them home alone for more than a few hours at a time, they can be particularly prone to that separation anxiety. When they are anxious, they can bark, nip, dig, chew, or become self-isolated.

How to Discipline a Dachshund?

As is the case with just about any breed of dog, the best way to train them is through positive reinforcement. It is important to remain calm and to ignore their bad behavior rather than reacting to it.

Make sure that you praise them each step of the way, encouraging the good behavior rather than punishing the bad behavior. With that positive reinforcement can help to teach them what to do and how to behave.

One of the best ways to improve their discipline is to set clear boundaries. Make sure that they know clearly what they are and are not allowed to do. If there is uncertainty about that, they won’t be properly trained and won’t know how to react in certain situations.

Conclusion

Like training any dog, teaching your dachshund tricks takes a lot of positive reinforcement. It takes consistency as well to ensure that you are teaching them the appropriate things and allowing them to recognize what is okay and what isn’t.

With some time and patience, you should be able to teach your dachshund proper behavior and even a few tricks along the way. This guide can be a helpful way of knowing how to properly manage expectations as well.