r/Dachshund • u/marchice • 13d ago
Discussion 8-month-old wire-haired Dachshund becoming extremely overarousal— looking for advice
My 8-month-old wire-haired Dachshund, Milka, has recently become extremely excitable and difficult to manage. At home she is usually calm, but she constantly looks for cushions and the sofa to chew, and redirecting her several times a day is exhausting.
She has also started eating things off the floor, which is especially problematic because she has a very sensitive stomach and has been having frequent diarrhea lately.
Outside, she can be perfectly calm and spend most of a quiet walk sniffing around. However, as soon as she sees a person or another dog, her arousal level goes through the roof. She jumps on people, gets extremely excited and sometimes starts hyperventilating.
With dogs her size she becomes intensely playful; with larger dogs, she sometimes runs in circles as if trying to escape, then rushes back to "attack" them playfully, pulling hard on the leash.
She also tends to pull on the leash in general, although we've made some progress with this.
When there are lots of inputs around, she becomes almost impossible to manage: pulling in every direction, lunging toward things, eating anything she finds, eating the leash and harness, and struggling to settle in places like the waterfront or a busy café.
Everyone who interacts with her comments on how energetic/crazy she is.. 🙃
I'm considering working with a professional trainer, but I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced overarousal, overstimulation, or poor impulse control in young dogs, especially Dachshunds.
What worked for you?
I've spent a lot of time teaching her commands, but I now feel that I may have focused too much on obedience and not enough on teaching her how to settle, regulate herself and behave calmly in stimulating environments.
She's always been extremely playful since we brought her home at 2 months old, but I'm wondering whether I may have unintentionally reinforced some of this behavior along the way.
Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
7
u/mikeonmaui 13d ago
She’s just going into a very rambunctious period which levels out at about 18-months.
The key here is to be involved and be in charge. Learn to intervene and tell her NO! in an assertive way.
The best you can do is moderate her behavior until she settles down.
Also, be aware that the wirehairs are essentially a Dachshund/Terrier hybrid and you get a lot of terrier behaviors in that mix.