Bandit is very obedient, knows “sit” and “stay”, he is very treat motivated. He is a sweet and
loving dog, and loves nothing more than to be in the room with his people. He spends most of
his days sleeping in one of the beds or on a couch, he will follow us around and settle in
whichever room we’re in. He’s a stereotypical dachshund in that he loves the sunshine, and will
lay outside on the patio soaking up the rays. Bandit likes belly rubs and can be handled, as long
as he sees the hand(s) first. He is excellent in the car (prefers to be on a lap, but also fine on
the floor), does great on walks, and is wonderful at the dog park. He has no issues with people,
kids, or other dogs coming up to him, as long as normal politeness is observed (he needs to see
the hands coming to pet him). He loves to be outdoors and did great on some short hikes, he’s
also really happy to ride in a wagon and get loved on by passersby. He loves to chase balls, the
orange ChuckIt! Brand stand up the best, as he will shred tennis balls. He reacts immediately to
squeaky toys (they make a great distractor), but will guard any toy he has; he is slowly learning
“drop it”, however can still take several minutes of waiting him out.
Bandit was found when he was 8, not neutered, living outdoors with 10+ other dachshunds. He
has a very dominant personality, but seems to be the calmest and happiest when the human is
the alpha. We have been working to help him curb his strong fight response - his reaction is to
go on the offensive when startled or unsure. He has significantly reduced his reactions, both in
aggression levels and trigger points, and he stands down in just a minute or so now. There have
been bites to both people and our other dogs, but nothing in the past year; this is due both to his
progress in behavior modification and our ability to fairly strictly regulate his environment to
avoid known triggers. A regular schedule and controlled environment are critical to helping
Bandit be calm and happy: minimizing unseen touches and surprise interactions is the biggest
key. He barks and charges the front door, but remains inside and has never tried to get to the person outside. If another dog bumps him while in this heightened state, he has pinned them down and used to bite. He has not bitten during this kind of event in over a year, now he just pins the dog and growls until separated. The only grooming he has needed is his nails, they grow very quickly. We take him every two weeks to get trimmed, and use a soft muzzle for the safety of the groomer. He is very fast, and will try to bite if they clip too short or otherwise hurt him. He is very smart and learned that he could use a chair left away from the dining table to hop up and surf the table. He gets what we call “sundowners”, where about an hour after his dinner he will want to settle for the evening, not be touched but still be with us. He loves to wrap up in a blanket ball, but this needs to be done on a chair or couch alone; if startled, he will react aggressively because he can’t see what is happening due to the blanket on him. The best we’ve found is to put up the blankets in the evening, so that Bandit will settle in a bed on the floor; he can immediately see out and will not react much at all.