Care
How to pick up a dachshund
It is not a detail. It is the gesture you make twenty times a day, for years, on a back built like this.
You pick a dachshund up badly without noticing: two hands under the armpits, the back end hanging, a toss from the arms onto the sofa. It is the most repeated gesture of life together, and on that spine it weighs more than a walk. You learn it in a minute. You forget it in three days, unless it becomes a habit.
- 01
One hand on the chest, one under the hindquarters
The body stays level. No “upright baby”. No armpits only.
- 02
You set it down, you do not drop it
On the sofa, in the car, on the floor: you go down with it, you do not open your hand in mid-air.
- 03
Children use the same gesture, or they do not pick it up
If the hands are small, you help. A kaninchen from the arms of a four-year-old is a risk, not a cuddle.
This way
- Chest and hindquarters supported together.
- You warn before you lift, with your voice.
Not this
- A grip under the armpits, the back hanging.
- Tossing it onto the bed “because it is small”.
Picking it up properly is not fussy. It is the least respect owed to a dog built this way.
Written by LA BANDA BASSOTTO, dachshund breeder in Lodi (Lombardy, Italy), ENCI/FCI kennel affix Villa Quattro Zampe.
These pages are born from daily life with our dogs. For their health, your veterinarian remains the dearest and truest voice.
Keep reading
Care · 5 min readEars, nails, and the five minutes that countYou do not need a salon. You need the puppy to learn, early, that a hand on the ears is not bad news.Read the article
Care · 5 min readRain, mud, and the dachshund that will not go outNot drawing-room fuss. The chest is low and the nose is on the ground: a puddle is work for this dog, not a stroll.Read the article
Care · 7 min readTeeth, ears, nails: everyday careYou do not need a salon. You need three short gestures, done often, from puppyhood. A dachshund handled calmly when small will let you do it when grown.Read the article
Your story starts here.
Tell us who you are and the life you dream of sharing. We listen, and we answer with the heart.
Small steps, great destinies.