I had my first dachshund, 'Sadie-Louise' back in the 60s -- she lived a long and happy life -- died at the age of 19 ---
none of the back or skin issues that doxies often have -- she came from a family who had a very small breeding operation (one litter a year and all dogs in the house) side note -- Sadie and I often shared Hershey's chocolate bars (eeeeeeeek!) when she died, I told the vet about the chocolate and he said, 'Well, think how long she might have lived if you hadn't given her that chocolate!'
Now we have a b/t doxie who is 14 years old -- adopted from HUA (check it out -- they are the BEST!)
again, no problems except that like all dachshunds, she's waaaaaaaay smarter than we are ---
the 'disability' that she has/enjoys is that of 'greed' -- gotta watch her --- and digging is her best-of-all hobbies ----
We love 'Greta-the-Great' ---- but we do have to watch her diet or she'd truly look like a 'sausage dog' --
we also have had Cavaliers for more than 25 years -- before they became the 'breed of the moment' --- first one had hip dysplasia -- not all that rare in Cavaliers altho they are a 'toy' breed and ours have never weighed more than 16 pounds --- others have had auto-immune disorders as well as the well-known heart issues and now SM (luckily, we haven't that one yet)
AKC 'took over' Cavaliers some years ago -- before that this was a breed that was more-or-less 'protected' by the original Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA -- we love ours but will not likely have another one ---
We have Japanese Chin and these guys are the real clowns here -- but, as they are 'snub-nosed' we have to watch for breathing problems --
The last dog to join our 'pack' is an old brindle mixed-breed girl who was found freezing in a barn along with 5 big, healthy puppies -- 'Amy' was on her way to having 'given her life' to nurse the babies -- vet rescued them -- all the cute puppies found homes but no one wanted 'Amy' -- she will never be a 'normal' dog but, after living here with us for nearly 3 years we are seeing an occasional 'waggy' tail and she comes up to my husband for attention -- still shies away from me most times -- we are trying to 'make up' to her for all the neglect --- so sad to think of her past life -- :-(
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doggie dental care is something we knew nothing about until 10 years ago --- who knew dogs needed their teeth cleaned? We didn't.
and picky glands -- who knew these needed to be expressed (and learning that precision technique was an adventure!)
and all the clothes that are 'out there' (and, I must confess, some are 'in here') -- I knitted sweaters for the doxie years ago and she had a leather leash (we didn't call that a 'lead') and collar -- along with comfy cushions and a spot on our bed, that was it -- she would have LOVED 'dressing up' but, again, we 'didn't know!'