Many dachshund owners wondered how long can a dachshund be left alone. I also had the same question when I was new to dachshund owning. Dachshunds are among the dog breeds that form a deep emotional connection with their owner. When their owner leaves them even for a short time, they can become anxious and stressed and show behaviour like excessive barking, howling, and digging. This condition is known as separation anxiety; for that reason, we should know the safe time we can leave them alone.
What are the potential consequences of leaving your dachshund for too long?
Separation anxiety
Dachshunds tend to form a deep attachment with their owner, which can cause them to experience anxiety and stress when left alone.
Destructive Behaviour
Dachshunds need high activity to feel well. If they are left alone without enough stimulation, they can become bored, which may lead to destructive behaviour.
Potty accidents
Due to their small bladder size, they can’t hold their urine for a long time. If you leave them for a long time, they can urinate inside the home. And once they get used to urinating inside the home, it becomes hard to potty train them in the future.
Health Problems
Dachshunds need frequent bathroom breaks, and when you lock the door and let them go for long hours, they need to hold urine for a long time. Holding urine for a long time can cause bladder-related issues.
Depression
Dachshunds need high physical activity and mental stimulation to feel good. When they are left without enough exercise and stimulation, they feel bored and potentially feel depressed.
Risk of Injury
They are very energetic dogs. When left alone, they go away and can jump from heights like a table or a chair, which can cause back injury.
How long can we leave our dachshund puppy?
This depends on various things, such as a dog’s individual personality and how they were trained. The amount of time we can leave them alone depends on their age; small puppies and senior dogs are more prone to separation anxiety, so they can’t be left for long.
If your dachshund puppy is under six months old, you can leave them for 2-3 hours because they are more prone to separation anxiety than adult dachshunds.
When we think about leaving dachshund puppy home alone, we need to consider their fragile, developing spine. If they jump from high, it is likely to cause injury and further problems. Before leaving them, you can close them in a room that is free from furniture, like a table or bench, to avoid them jumping and save their fragile back.
And they can feel bored to reduce boredom for them, you can use interactive toys like Kong classic, which is especially designed to avoid boredom for your dog. I also use it for my dachshund.
How long can we let our adult dachshund?
We can leave our adult dachshund for a long period, compared to a puppy like for 4 to 6 hours if your dog is trained well. Adult dachshunds are more emotionally mature; they can be alone for many hours without feeling stressed.
But sometimes adult dachshunds also feel anxious when they are alone. To avoid this, you can include interactive toys for them and puzzle toys, which keep their mind engaged and avoid boredom.
If your dog is able to stay for a few minutes like 20-30 minute of period of time, then you can increase their time gradually.
Can I leave a dachshund puppy alone without training?
Leaving your dachshund puppy without proper training can lead to problems like separation anxiety and destructive behaviour.
I do not recommend that you leave your dachshund puppy alone without proper training to be alone. When they are young, they are very young. If you leave them alone for a long time before they are used to it, they may be at a higher risk a developing separation anxiety in the future.
But if your dog is in the process of training, you can try with a small session, like 20-30 minutes. If they still bark, it means they need more time to be fully trained. You just need to stay consistent in training.
There are many other reasons why we must avoid leaving them alone for a long time without train them for some time. They have a very small bladder, which cannot hold much urine it and potentially cause potty accidents, and once your dog gets used to urinating inside the house, it becomes very difficult to train them to urinate outside. And dachshunds are very energetic dogs. When you leave them alone, they can jump from furniture and injure their fragile back.
Here are some potential problems when we leave our dachshund alone without training them.
Separation anxiety
Dachshunds tend to form an immensely emotional attachment to their owner when making them vulnerable to separation anxiety. When we leave them alone without training them to be home alone, they feel uncomfortable and potentially have separation anxiety.
Separation anxiety is a condition where your dog feels stressed and anxious to be alone because of overattachment to their owner. That’s why you need to train them to be alone, which makes them happy to be alone. You can check out our blog post about how to overcome separation anxiety.
Destructive Behavior
To prevent boredom in dachshunds, we need to provide them with daily exercise. When we are away, they don’t get enough physical exercise and mental stimulation, which makes them bored. Destructive behaviour is work as a way of coping with the lack of stimulation in a dachshund. That’s why your dog can show destructive behaviour when you leave them alone.
Health and Safety Risks
If we make being alone seem like a big or scary thing to our dachshund from their young age, they might become afraid of being alone. This can increase their chance of developing anxiety towards being alone, and habits formed in their childhood can be very difficult to change later.
Conclusion
How long we leave our dachshund depends on their age, training status, and anxiety history. Generally, you can leave a dachshund puppy for 2-3 hours and 4-6 hours for an adult dachshund in proper trained condition. If your dog is not trained, then you can’t leave them for a long time. Leaving them without being trained properly to stay alone can lead to problems like separation anxiety, sadness, potty accidents, and an increased risk to their health. If you want to train your dachshund to stay alone, you can check out our previous blog about how to overcome dachshund separation anxiety.
