Like any other dog dachshund shakes for several reasons. They tend to shake because of cold and fear, and many other reasons. In this article, we will dig deeper into why dachshunds shake.
Fear
When they feel scared or anxious, their body releases stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline to deal with this situation. Increase blood flow throughout the body, causing a fight or flight response.
Hearing loud noises (thunderstorms, fireworks, vacuum cleaners), meeting unfamiliar people or dogs, visiting the vet for the first time, being left alone at home, and having sudden movement in the environment can trigger fear and anxiety in your dachshund.
Cold sensitivity
Dachshunds have a thin coat compared to other dog breeds, especially smooth-haired types. They are prone to colds. When they feel cold, their body naturally shakes to keep warm by increasing blood flow in their body.
Shaking produces heat by contracting and relaxing muscles quickly, which provides heat and keeps the body warm. When dachshunds feel cold, their body naturally starts to shiver to keep themselves warm.
Excitement or anxiety
Dachshunds can also shiver because of excitement or anxiety. This is a response connecting to their nervous systems to react to strong feelings. When they are excited (eg, seeing their owner or receiving their favorite treat), their brain releases adrenaline, the stress hormone, which makes their body fully active, causing increased heart rate and blood flow, causing trembling muscles.
Medical condition
Health conditions ike low blood sugar, ear infection, allergies, neurological issues, and shaker syndrome can cause shivering and shaking in your dachshund.
Sometimes your dachshund’s shaking is caused by neurological disease, which can cause shaking in your dog without any visible reasons; it affects their central nervous system (CNS), leading to continuous, uncontrolled muscle tremors.
Pain or discomfort
Shaking can be a sign that your dachshund is in discomfort or pain. Pain and discomfort release stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones prepare the body for fighting danger, leading to increased heart rate, blood flow, and shaking.
When your dachshund is injured in their body or they feel discomfort, they can shiver.
Old age
Shaking and shivering are mostly seen in older dogs due to muscle weakness. When a dachshund gets old, their testosterone drops, a hormone that plays an important role in maintaining muscle mass. When testosterone drops in their body, they lose muscle mass dramatically, causing unstable walking, shaking, and shivering.
Despite their hormonal changes, we can control their health by regular exercise and a healthy diet. Getting old makes their immunity weaker, which makes them prone to many other health issues, which can also cause shivering and shaking.
Is shaking normal or not
Shaking can be a normal phenomenon, but it can also be a sign of pain and discomfort. Understanding the underlying cause and treating it is important. Parasites like fleas, ticks can also cause shaking if they occur with excessive itching. Some neurological issues are also related to shivering, body shaking because of nerve damage; understanding their health problem before it becomes a big problem, and treating them is important to avoid severe problems in the future.
How to treat their shaking
Dachshund shakes for different reasons; treatment depends on their underlying reasons.
Keep them warm
If your dachshund is shivering due to the cold, then providing them with a warm coat is important to keep them warm. In an area where the temperature is very low (below 10 degrees Celsius), dachshunds may feel cold and shivering to reduce their coldness and provide them warm coat, which maintains their body temperature by dont letting their body temperature go out.
If you live in an area where the temperature remains below 10 degrees Celsius, like some of the places in usa and uk, this temperature is considered cold for a dachshund, especially with short hair.
Reduce excitement or anxiety
If your dog is shaking because of excitement or anxiety, then doing such activities that help them stay calm is important. Some dachshunds are sensitive to fussing, and showing unnecessary excitement in front makes them nervous.
If your dachshund is sensitive to these activities, you can provide them a separate living room with a crate and blanket in a quiet room or comfort corner. Reward calm behaviour and teach commands like settle.
Here are tips on how to reduce excitement in a dachshund
Stay calm yourself first
Your dachshund can copy your activity. They can be nervous if they see their owner is excited, so staying calm in front of your dachshund is very important to keep them less excited.
Dont react much when they are excited
Dachshunds are known for their attention-seeking behaviour. They often show overexcited behaviour in this situation. You should ignore their behaviour, which helps them to stay calm.
If you pay attention to their behaviour, they may repeat the same activity again and again to be noticed.
Practice controlled greetings
Dachshunds are often excited when people come home. Ask your visitor to ignore your dog until it becomes calm. Train them to sit and stay at the door before greeting.
Let them feel secure
Fear is the biggest cause of shivering and getting nervous. If your dachshund is shaking and shivering because of fear, then avoid a punishment-based training method, use gentle reassurance, but don’t over comfort.
Providing them a toys helps them to distract and may reduce fear-based shaking. If your dachshund feels fear excessively, then normal consulting with a certified dog behaviorist is recommended.
Dachshunds often shake their body due to feeling insecure. Avoiding fear-based training is crucial for them to feel safe, and some dachshunds are very sensitive to aggressive training methods; aggressive training method also makes the training process harder instead of making them easier.
Conclusion
Dachshunds’ shaking and shivering are considered normal, but they can signal a severe health problem. As a good dachshund owner, we need to try to know their actual reason behind this. If your dachshund is shivering and shaking due to the outer environment, like cold, fear, or anxiety, this is a normal need to pay attention to overcome this. If your pups are shaking without any of these reasons, you need to pay strong attention to their activity and consult with a veterinarian, who will help to recognize the dog’s health problem by seeing their symptoms.
Why is my dachshund shaking his head?
They generally shake their head because of irritation or discomfort. They have floppy ears, which make them prone to many types of bacterial and fungal infections, causing excessive itching cause shaking their head. They can grow parasite-like mites, fleas, and ticks in their ear, which can lead to shaking.
One of the common reasons for a dachshund shaking its head is because of water debris in their ear. After swimming and bathing, their ears are filled with water, and their head are fully wet. In that case, they shake their head to remove water from their head.
