Dachshund Hiking, Enrichment & IVDD Tips

My mission is to help owners improve the lives of their Dachshunds at any age through education, demonstration, and inspiration.

You Did What With Your Wiener? began as a simple blog and has grown into a lifestyle brand that reaches our audience on the website of the same name, on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and through a newsletter. I also started a Dachshund social meetup club in Washington State 15 years ago, and we now hold 3-5 monthly meetups around the state.

Not only am I a passionate Dachshund owner, I’ve logged over 10,000 hours of hands-on experience with the breed, I’m a Licensed Family Dog Mediator (LFDM) and Certified Canine Enrichment Technician (DN_CET), with additional behavior, training, and health education.

In the story that I typically share, it begins the day I adopted my second Dachshund, Gretel. My husband and I weren’t sure that she would like hiking like our first Dachshund Chester did, so we decided to find out by taking her for a 4 mile hike the day after we adopted her uphill in the snow.

However, the story of You Did What With Your Wiener? starts way before that. It started by me wanting a dog to adventure with and inheriting a dog breed I had never considered — a Dachshund. It continued when I turned him into my hiking and camping buddy and was met with looks of confusion and reactions of surprise when I shared our stories with friends. People couldn’t believe that a small dog with short legs could do all of those things.

While adopting Gretel and being blown away by her ability and enthusiasm on her first-ever hike is what pushed me into action, I’d heard of the “new” website platform called WordPress through my life coaching program and had been noodling on the idea of learning how to use it.

During that first day on the trail with Gretel, it hit me — I could start a blog to share stories of hiking and camping with my Dachshunds for friends and family.

In 2012, as my blog was rising in popularity, I suffered a devastating loss. My Grandma, who was like my Mom, died suddenly. I know it sounds cliché, but my priorities suddenly shifted and the most important thing in my life became spending time with loved ones, including my dogs, while they were still here.

After attending my first BlogPaws conference and learning that people were making money from their blogs, I left my cushy government job to blog full time.

I am not sure there have been any unexpected rewards, just hopes that I wasn’t sure I could achieve.

Running your own online business is difficult, but the benefits make it worth it. I get to be in charge of my time, explore my passions, act on my creative ideas, and devote more time to my physical and mental health.

Life is too short not to go after your dreams and realize your full potential. We only get one chance at life, and you don’t achieve an extraordinary life by sticking with “safe” and other people’s expectations of you.

With that being said, I acknowledge that not everyone has the same freedom to “just do it”. Sometimes, it can look like a slow transition to a life that feels more aligned, making a plan and saving for years until you can afford to take the leap, or making big life changes and letting go of what feels comfortable but keeps you stuck.

In short, enrichment is giving your Dachshund opportunities to do what comes naturally to them in the safest way possible. That includes species-appropriate and breed specific activities like sniffing, shredding, foraging, chasing, and digging to provide mental and physical stimulation.

Typically, the more opportunities you can give your Dachshund to express these needs, the less likely your dog is to develop behavior issues.

A good enrichment strategy is more about quality than quantity. The highest value enrichment activities are the ones that mimic what your dog would do in the wild without the constraints of human lives. This can be accomplished often by tweaking the things you are already doing and taking direction from your dog.

Examples are incorporating a 5 minute sniff break on your daily walk, varying your walking route and the surfaces you walk on ,letting your dog sniff and explore something new you bring into the house, creating an approved digging area in your yard, giving your dog packing paper or cardboard to shred a couple of times a week, or creating a snuffle box for your dog out of natural things you find outside.

You can apply the “Let Them” theory to dogs. If your Dachshund shows interest in exploring something or doing a specific activity, let them. Of course, one must keep safety in mind, but why not let them bark with abandon sometimes, help you open the Amazon package, chase you around the yard for 5 minutes, or lead your walk with their nose once in a while.

One of my other favorite things to do with my Dachshunds is to practice “place” training every morning when I am making breakfast to help tire them out mentally.

Earning my degree in Digital Communications helped to put structure to knowledge gained from my previous 5 years of interacting with people online, my education in environmental education and behavior change, and the messages I was passionate about spreading.

In my program, I focused on storytelling, packaging my messages in a way that reaches people where they’re at, and measuring results. Basically, it took what I was already doing to the next level.

One of my major life philosophies, both with dogs and people that I care about, is to truly see who they are and allow them as much freedom to be that person as possible. My education in animal behavior and applied ethology has helped me truly see my dog’s needs and being a canine enrichment technician gives me the tools I need to meet those needs in a way that fits with today’s modern world.

There are three primary ways that people can work with me:

My training and behavior consults offer emotional support when dealing with behavior issues and gives an owner tools to help deal with them, including management, enrichment, and training exercises.

For people who are interested in starting an enrichment routine, need help figuring out how to fit activities into their busy lifestyle, or who need some new ideas, I offer custom enrichment plans.

I also offer general health and lifestyle support sessions where people can pick my brain about these topics.

The biggest misconception is that small dogs aren’t interested in these things. Small dogs are “real” dogs and they have the same desires and needs as the rest of the species.

While activities may need to be tailored to an individual dog and their capabilities, small dogs can excel at the same things big dogs do.

When we go hiking, even for the day, I prepare for all conditions and emergencies. We often hike in the mountains where the weather can change suddenly, and we’re typically hours from the nearest emergency vet.

The first thing I “pack” is my knowledge from pet first aid and back country first aid for people. There is actually a lot of crossover, and knowing both gives me the confidence that I will be likely to stabilize my dog if something goes wrong.

The dog-specific items I bring when hiking are a collapsible dog bowl, enough water for myself and my dogs, an extra leash, poop bags, a harness and leash for my dogs, treats, a first aid kit that includes items specifically for dogs, an extra layer (jacket), and a dog backpack carrier to carry my dog out in an emergency.

I think the #1 mistake people make when hiking with dogs in general is not knowing their own dog’s limits — the body language signs that they are getting tired — and recognizing those limits. As the saying goes, when you are hiking with your dog, you’re “hiking your dog’s hike”, meaning that you are accepting that your dog will set the pace and you may have to cut your hike short if your dog is not up to going on.

The second mistake is not accounting for the return distance. For example, if you know your Dachshund can handle hiking 5 miles, you should only take on a trail that is 2.5 miles one way so your dog is able to make the hike back to the trailhead on their own.

Photo credit: Tails N Trails Pet Photography (@tailsntrailspetphoto)

My two current Dachshunds are Summit and Otter. Summit is determined, a bit serious, spunky, a fierce hunter, and sweet on her own terms. Otter is pure joy, has impeccable recall, can be a bit timid at times, and is a lover.

The key to creating an adventure companion like her who has hiked almost 15 miles in one day and 30 miles over a period of three days is to start with lower mileage easier hikes and work your way up to longer, steeper trails. The article above shares our general training strategy.

A pet backpack carrier makes sense if your Dachshund is used to hiking but becomes too old to cover a significant distance — or is recovering from an injury.

I also think it’s smart to bring a dog carrier backpack in case your Dachshund gets injured on the trail and needs to be carried out.

The most important thing to look for in a backpack for carrying your Dachshund is a model that lets your Dachshund lay horizontally in the pack, or at least sit in a natural position with “four on the floor”.

Beyond that, it’s desirable to find a backpack carrier that has –

• A security tether inside to help keep your dog in the pack
• Adequate ventilation for your dog
• Pockets that let you also carry your hiking supplies (if hiking alone)
• Adjustable and comfortable design for you to carry

It’s important to introduce your Dachshund to the backpack before hitting the trail.

If your Dachshund feels comfortable in the carrier, they’re much less likely to wiggle their way out while you’re carrying them or feel nervous and stand up the entire time.

When a dog stands up in the pack, it’s similar to balancing on a wobble board. That instability can put stress on their muscles and ligaments, and potentially lead to back discomfort after the hike.

Except for emergencies, I don’t typically use a backpack to carry my dogs on hikes unless they are seniors and don’t have the energy and endurance like they used to.

The things that caught my attention with the DJANGO dog carrier backpack are the well-padded, ventilated back panel, the more ergonomic straps (relative to others), and the built-in storage pockets for carrying gear. I also like the straps underneath the pack, which let you attach a jacket or stuff sack for extra storage.

The top 3 Dachshund behavior issues I’m asked about most often are reactivity on leash, potty training, and separation anxiety.

Many people believe that Dachshunds are difficult to train, but what they see as “stubbornness” is an independent thinker that needs the right motivation to do what you want instead of what they would rather do. It’s very important to provide structure early and consistently reinforce your expectations throughout their lifetime.

The most important things to focus on in a dachshund puppy’s first 6 months are potty training, socialization, exposure to new things (resilience), confidence building, and building a bond that motivates your dog to listen when you give direction.

Many dogs are at risk for developing a significant health issue that their breed is genetically predisposed to. Dachshunds are one of them. As owners, our influence over whether our Dachshund’s develop back issues is limited, but not completely out of your influence.

The #1 thing you can do is study the early signs of back issues and take your dog to the vet before it progresses (do note that sometimes a disk just ruptures spontaneously — a dog is fine one minute and paralyzed the next — and it is not your fault).

Other environmental factors that may influence the severity and frequency of back issues include keeping your Dachshund active and strong, preventing jumping off of high things, high-quality nutrition and age of spay/neuter (12+ months old is the new recommendation and closer to 24 months if you can).

I wanted others to experience the joy of being active with their Dachshund like I do. Initially, my goal was to encourage others to hike and walk regularly with their Dachshunds. Over the years, what kept me going was connecting owners within the Dachshund-owner community to enrich both the lives of the Dachshunds and their owners.

My favorite events are walks with a bit of a social component. For example, when we meet for a walk, we hang around the start for about 15 minutes to visit each other. After the walk, some of us gather at the end to do some more catching up.

That sounds great, and I hope to join one day when I’m visiting Washington state with my doxie!

For me, it’s less about what content belongs where. To have the biggest impact, my overall messages stay pretty consistent on all channels. Each channel has a different audience, so all of the channels are like a comprehensive ecosystem to reach as many Dachshund owners as I can.

With that being said, the format of my content changes depending on the channel. While there can be some crossover, typically, I have to create content in the format specific to each channel.

In the past, I really neglected our YouTube channel. It was an afterthought, but that is changing this year.

Honestly, I’ve never done one career for over 10 years, but I don’t feel like this chapter of my life is finished. In order to keep myself motivated and continue to reach new people, I’ve shifted my primary focus to YouTube.

This is the story of my life. Early on, I had to decide if I was going to sacrifice my unique voice for viral fame.

Educational content — some of which is outside of the common beliefs (and misconceptions) perpetuated on the internet — is never going to go viral by nature.

I go deep and nerdy. My audience really values my perspective, knowledge and style, but it’s smaller than the cute, silly Dachshund accounts. I’m ok with that… although I do still dream that one day one of my videos will go viral.

I really appreciate this approach — and for any dachshund parents who want to learn more, I highly recommend checking out Jessica’s YouTube channel and following along.