The Doxie Home Checklist
Twelve small changes for a house with a long dog in it.
None of this is complicated and most of it is free. It is the list we wish someone had handed us the week Princess came home. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and tick things off as you go.
- 01
Measure the couch before you buy anything
Floor to the top of the cushion, with someone sitting on it if it sinks. Write the number on the fridge. Every stair and ramp decision comes from it.
The fit guide does the rest - 02
Put stairs where she jumps, not where they look tidy
Watch for a day. She has one or two launch points, usually the end of the couch nearest the door and the side of the bed she sleeps on. The stairs go there, even if it is the awkward side.
Royal Steps - 03
Teach the stairs with dinner, not with pushing
Put her bowl on the second step for a week. Dogs learn stairs by walking up to something they want, not by being lifted onto them. By the weekend she will be using them without thinking.
- 04
Give her a spot of her own at floor level
A dog who has a bed she loves jumps on the couch less. Low sides, walk-in, somewhere she can see the room from. If it is hers, she will use it.
The Throne - 05
Block the stairs you do not want used
A full flight of house stairs is a dachshund's worst habit. A baby gate at the top for the first months, until the rule is that she waits to be carried, saves a lot of worry later.
- 06
Rugs on the slippery bits
Hardwood and tile turn a happy trot into a scramble, and a scramble is a twist. A runner where she turns the corner at speed, and a mat where she lands off the couch.
- 07
Raise the bowls a little, not a lot
A long neck folded to the floor twice a day adds up. Two or three inches is plenty for a dachshund; the tall settings on a raised feeder are for other dogs.
Elevated Slow Feeder Set - 08
Keep her lean, and be honest about it
Every extra pound hangs off the same spine. Weigh her once a month on the bathroom scale, you minus you-holding-her, and adjust the food before the vet has to say it.
- 09
Pick her up like a loaf of bread
One hand under the chest, one under the hips, keep the back level, and put her down the same way. Never scooped up under the front legs with the back half dangling. Teach this to every visitor.
- 10
Make the car a flat floor
A back seat is a slope with a gap in it. A hammock cover turns it into a deck, and a carrier that opens from the top means you lift her in instead of asking her to climb.
Back Seat Hammock Cover - 11
Brush her where the hair is going to land anyway
Long-haired dachshunds shed in drifts. Brushing on the bath mat, or with a brush that vacuums as it goes, keeps the drifts out of the corners.
Quiet Grooming Vacuum Kit - 12
Know the signs, and know your vet's number
A dachshund who suddenly will not jump, yelps when picked up, walks with a wobble or hunches her back needs the vet that day, not next week. None of what we sell is medicine. The vet is.
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