Dachshunds and older children who understand dogs usually do well together — the breed is playful, funny and up for games. The classic difficulty is with toddlers: dachshunds can be possessive of food, toys and laps, and they do not tolerate being grabbed, squeezed or startled.
Most breeders suggest dachshunds suit families with children of school age and up, and advise close supervision with anyone younger. Teaching children to let the dog come to them, and never to pick it up, solves most problems before they start.
Protecting the back in a busy home
The physical risk runs the other way. A child carrying a dachshund and dropping it, or a dog leaping off a bunk bed to join the game, is a genuine cause of spinal injury. In a household with kids, ramps, baby gates on stairs and a firm no-jumping-on-furniture rule matter even more than usual.
Give the dog a child-free retreat — a crate or bed the children are taught is off limits — so it can opt out of the noise.
Cats and other dogs
Raised with cats, most dachshunds coexist happily, though a strange cat outdoors is prey. Small pets — rabbits, guinea pigs, rodents, birds — are a poor match: this is the exact animal the breed was built to hunt, and the drive is not trainable away.
With other dogs, dachshunds are often confident to the point of rudeness, squaring up to dogs many times their size. Early, positive socialisation and interrupting the swagger before it escalates keeps them safe.
