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by Tamar Love Grande
Doxies are notorious food hounds, so please keep yours at his optimum weight; if left to their own devices, doxies can literally eat themselves to death. Also, a fat dachshund, while cute, is increasingly prone to back problems and other medical conditions.
Although the grocery store sells many different brands of dog food, please do not buy your doxie’s food there! Most commercial dog foods contain large quantities of corn, wheat and other binders, which are basically empty calories. Iams, Science Diet, Beneful—it’s all crap. Sorry.
Head to the pet supply store (Red Barn, Centinella Feed, your local mom-&-pop or feed store) for a quality food. Yes, it is less convenient and slightly more expensive, but your doxie’s health and longevity begins with a good diet—which will also help you save potentially thousands of dollars in medical bills—so spend a little extra up front so that you and your doxie can reap the benefits for years to come.
Southern California Dachshund Rescue recommends (and sells!) Flint River Ranch, which is only available online for delivery. I won’t attempt to sell you on the benefits of the food; check out the website and get a free sample. Your dogs will love it, even picky eaters. Other good brands that I personally endorse are:
- Canidae
- Flint River Ranch
- Innova/California Natural
- Merrick
- Natural Balance
- Nature’s Variety Prairie
- Nutro Natural
- Solid Gold
- Wellness
- Wysong
Once you find a food that works for your doxie, don’t switch brands. Although the foods I recommend are all high-quality foods, not every food will agree with every doxie. Besides, if you switch foods frequently, your doxie will become a picky eater, turning up his nose at plain kibble.
Try to feed your doxie twice a day, which helps prevent bloat and other intestinal problems. Follow the feeding instructions for each brand of food, as the recommended portions differ from brand to brand. Your doxie needs much less food than you (or he!) thinks, so don’t be alarmed if the dog bowl looks a little pitiful. Try to keep your doxie on a kibble-only diet, unless your vet recommends otherwise. Wet food is tasty, but it is not as good for your doxie’s teeth.
In addition to kibble, you’ll want to give your doxie treats. Here are a few I like:
Shaped like a small, green toothbrush, Greenies help clean your doxie’s teeth. Fortunately, doxies love these treats. Unfortunately, they cost a fortune, up to $20 for a bag of 24 petite-sized Greenies, which are the right size for most doxies. Because each of my dogs gets a Greenie a day, I buy my Greenies online, at Animal World Network, which sells them for less than $10 a bag, the lowest price in the country. The small shipping cost is well worth it.
Okay, so these aren’t really treats. However, because they are liver-flavored, your doxies will think they are a very nice treat indeed! Visit the pet section of Trader Joe’s for a great glucosamine tablet your dog will gobble down, or pick up a supplement called “Move Free” from the human pharmacy section of your local Costco.
Dehydrated chicken breast tenders are an extremely popular snack with doxies. Although Costco stocks a really good, inexpensive bag of these treats, I like Happy Hips, which are fortified with glucosamine. You can also get these treats at Animal World Network, for about $13/bag.
Not everyone agrees with rawhide, but I’ve never had a problem with it. Don’t get anything but compressed rawhide, as the other types can perforate your doxie’s stomach and kill him. Trader Joe’s and Target sell compressed rawhide.
These are dried bull penises. Doxies love them and will spend hours chewing one up. The smell is horrible, but bully sticks provide the most nutrition for the least amount of calories than any other snack—plus, they keep a rambunctious puppy busy for hours. My favorite place to buy them in bulk is Bullysticks.com.
Pig ears are really bad for dachshunds for a variety of reasons, the most compelling of which is that they are 100% fat and can cause pancreatitis. Please don’t feed them to your doxie!
Although you should never feed your doxie any cooked bones, a raw bone is a very nice, inexpensive, healthy, safe treat. Marrow bones have no nutritional value whatsoever, so save those for a special treat. Knucklebones, “soup” bones and raw chicken wings can take the place of a meal. Don’t give your doxie any weight-bearing bones (legs or thighs), as these can splinter, which is BAD. Some of our favorite bones to feed are frozen raw beef ribs, which are inexpensive and provide a lot of nutrition.
Dachshunds love veggies! A few fresh green beans are a great treat for your doxie, as are carrots and snow peas. If you are trying to diet your doxie, get a couple of bags of frozen green vegetables (broccoli, spinach, green beans), puree them in your food processor or blender and re-freeze them. Keep a thawed bag in your fridge and supplement your doxie’s reduced portion of kibble with a cup of the puree. Your doxie will think he’s getting a lot of food, but he’s really getting very few additional calories.
Plain, nonfat yogurt is a great yeast inhibitor! Because doxies have floppy ears, they are at greater risk for yeast infections in their ears. Feeding your doxie a dollop or two of yogurt every few days will stave off yeast infections and make your doxie quite happy.
Because they will eat almost anything, dachshunds are prone to a lot of gastrointestinal problems. Here’s what to do when that happens.
The best home remedy for doxies who are constipated OR afflicted with “dire rear,” pumpkin fixes most poo problems. Add up to a quarter cup of plain pumpkin puree to each meal until your doxie is pooping normally. If more than a week goes by, see the vet.
The easiest way to take weight off a doxie is to cut his kibble in half and add a cup of fresh or frozen raw veggies. He won’t know he’s dieting, but he’ll consume fewer calories. If your doxie is prone to carrying a lot of extra weight, consider switching to Nutro Natural Weight Management kibble.
If your doxie develops a sensitive tummy, cut his kibble in half and supplement it with a quarter cup of cooked white rice and a tablespoon of wet food.
To control weight, enhance happiness and have generally healthier, more beautiful dogs, I also support a raw diet. Most vets are not supportive of raw diets, mostly because not everyone is able to follow the rules with the precision your doxie needs for a balanced diet, but you will find that many serious dog people feed raw.
If you would like to feed a 100% raw diet, I urge you to do your own research, as this diet, while extremely beneficial to all dogs, can be tricky to manage if you don’t know what you are doing. The best resource for research is BARF World.
With some practice and a few basic tools, a raw diet is less expensive and far more beneficial than any other diet, controlling allergies and many illnesses, preventing flea, tick and parasite infestation, helping to develop strong bones and healthy organs and ensuring your dog lives a long, healthy, happy life.
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