How to Train a Dachshund to Do Advanced Tricks
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Introduction
Dachshunds are adorable little pups with big hearts that make up for their small stature. These little dogs love to learn and are perfect candidates for advanced tricks. Attempting to train a Dachshund advanced tricks is not much different than training a larger dog, but you'll need to be consistent and patient. It's easy to underestimate these cute, sausage-shaped dogs, but they are as smart as they are stubborn and you'll need to stick to your guns and resist the urge to give in to their adorable faces.
Dachshunds are life-long learners and carrying your training beyond basic obedience is important to keep your pup engaged and entertained while strengthening your relationship. Advanced tricks like shaking, begging, rolling over, or bowing are fun and challenging tasks your dog will enjoy learning. The best part will be showing off new tricks to friends and family who may not expect your cute little buddy to be so skilled.
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Defining Tasks
Before you can teach a Dachshund advanced tricks, you need to make sure he knows basic commands like 'sit', 'stay', and 'wait'. Basic training will get him used to learning and looking to you for direction. These advanced tricks may take a little more time for him to master so be patient and work at his pace. Dachshunds are stubborn and often have short attention spans to limit your sessions to five or ten minutes at the most.
Another important factor to consider when training your pup is that his long back and little legs that make him so cute also make him more susceptible to injury. Be gentle with your dog and thoughtful about the tricks you try to teach. Choose tasks that don't put too much pressure on his back or hips and never force him into a specific position. Your Dachshund is capable of learning dozens of tricks, so don't be afraid to be picky with your training.
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Getting Started
Teaching a Dachshund advanced tricks won't take too many specialty items, and you don't need fancy training tools to get started. It will be helpful to have these few items on hand to begin.
- Small training treats
- A quiet place to learn
- A clicker for clicker training
- A healthy serving of patience
Below you'll find three advanced tricks to try teaching your Dachshund. Read through them and try one or all three. With some consistency, your dog will be performing these new tricks in a few short weeks.
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The Teach Shake Method
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Start with 'sit'
Ask your pup to sit and stay.
Touch his leg
Touch his leg gently just above his shoulder to get him to lift his paw. Click as soon as he lifts his paw and give him a treat.
Hold out your hand
When he begins to lift his paw up consistently, hold out your hand instead of touching his shoulder.
Take his paw
Encourage him to place his paw in your hand. Click and give him a treat.
Introduce the command
When he's comfortable giving you his paw, start to introduce the command "shake" right before you give him a treat.
Take away the treats
When your dog offers his paw when you say shake, you're ready to start reducing the treats.
The Teach Bow Method
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Start standing
Train in a quiet place and make sure your pup is standing at attention.
Use a lure
Take one of your treats and bring it to your dog's nose.
Encourage a bow
Slowly bring the treat down to the ground between his legs. Make sure he keeps his hips up and only brings his nose down between his front paws. Give him a treat.
Say "bow"
When he starts following the treat quickly, say "bow" before you give him a treat.
Test the command
After several sessions saying "bow" before you give him the treat, try saying the command to initiate the action. When he bows without the lure, give him lots of praise and treats.
The Teach Beg Method
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'Sit' is the first step
Ask your dog to sit at attention
Use a treat
Get his attention by showing him a treat.
Hold it up
Slowly bring the treat up and back above his head. When he sits on his back legs, click and give him a treat.
Ask him to beg
When he begins to sit up on his back legs as soon as you move the treat, introduce the command by saying "beg" before you give him the treat.
Test his trick
After several weeks of training, ask him to beg without showing him the lure first. When he sits up on his back legs, give him lots of treats and praise.
Remove the treats
Start to treat him less and less for performing the trick. Soon he'll beg on command without the need for treats.
Written by Katie Smith
Veterinary reviewed by:
Published: 03/16/2018, edited: 01/08/2021
Training Questions and Answers
Duke
Dachshund
11 Years
Question
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
How do I get our daschunds to differentiate between " down" and " bow"? I think I've trained the " down" too well
March 12, 2022
Duke's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello Sue, I hold something gently under pup's belly while luring into bow, so pup feels the resistance on their abdomen when they start to lie down completely and only lower their front end. Eventually, once pup has learned the command well, I start to remove the object in the way slowly, using my hand to give a gentle touch upwards ion their belly f pup forgets and still goes down while practicing at that point in the training. Make sure pup is comfortable with touches and not aggressive about that first though. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
March 14, 2022
Spanges
Dachshund
1 Year
Question
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0 found this helpful
I am trying to teach my 1 year old wire haired dachshund to give paw then I will hopefully want to teach her other tricks after this but she gets very frustrated and barks if I don't give her a treat and isnt taking in the commands
March 1, 2022
Spanges's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello Tara, Many dogs will bark when you train if they get frustrated. Ignore the barking, don't give the treat when pup barks. You can even freeze and put the treat behind your back until pup gets quiet again. Since pup is getting frustrated, I would slow the training down, rewarding pup for small progress and not just the end result during the learning process. Break the training into small baby steps. First just rewarding pup lifting their paw, then lifting it higher, then lifting it even higher, then touching it to your hand when you put your hand right under their paw, then placing their paw on your hand when your hand is an inch further away, then being able to put their paw into your hand themselves without you sticking it right below. This gradual process is called shaping, and it's important for trick training, to help pup see when they are on the right track without getting too discouraged to want to train. When pup barks, withhold the treat and wait a second until pup gets quiet. You can also tell pup "Ah Ah" or teach the Quiet command and use that, then resume training when pup stops barking, but make it a little easier the next time for pup to earn that treat since pup is getting frustrated. Also, some dogs need to train for only 10-15 minutes often, instead of 30-60 minutes in a row when first learning obedience and tricks. Often their attention spans will increase the more things they are taught, but they can hit a wall where they are too distracted and frustrated to focus and training not go as well if you train for too long at first. Short but frequent, with breaks, is often better for beginners. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
March 2, 2022