The changes seen in dachshund puppies week by week are incredible – these little puppies seem to grow and develop before your eyes! But if you’ve got a new dachshund puppy, you might be wondering what changes to expect during the first few months of its life. Let’s find out everything you need to know with our dachshund puppies week-by-week development guide!
What Should A Dachshund Puppy Look Like?
If you are considering buying a dachshund puppy, you will want one that is physically healthy and free from deformities. Look for a puppy that is bright, alert, and inquisitive about its surroundings.
It can be difficult to look at a puppy and guess what it will look like as an adult, but a reputable dachshund breeder will let you see both the mother and the father of the puppy as well. This will give you a much better idea if you are buying a puppy that meets the American Kennel Club breed standard or not.
When you visit a dachshund puppy at its breeders, it will most likely be quite young and still nursing from its mother. At this stage, your puppy will look quite round, with short, stumpy legs and a lot of puppy fat covering the body.
By the time your dachshund puppy is ready to come home with you, it will have moved past this neonatal phase and lost a lot of its puppy fat.
How Quickly Do Dachshund Puppies Grow?
Dachshunds are a small breed of dog and tend to grow and mature quickly. They reach their adult weight and height when they are eight months old and are considered to be fully mature by the time they celebrate their first birthday.
These little dogs grow rapidly during the first few months of life, quickly losing their puppy fat to become lithe, athletic young dogs. They are full of life and energy, and will keep you endlessly entertained with their fun and games!
It is important to remember that dachshunds are prone to spinal problems such as intervertebral disc disease, so you should not allow your dachshund puppy to jump up and down from furniture and steps.
Dachshund Puppies Week By Week Development Guide
For the first three to four weeks of a dachshund puppy’s life, it is completely dependent on its mother. It will get all of its nutrition from its mother’s milk and will remain close to its mother and litter mates at all times.
At four weeks old, your dachshund puppy will become more independent and begin to move around more. At this stage, it will still have a cute puppy-like appearance with a significant amount of body fat covering its body. The legs will seem short and stumpy and the puppy will waddle rather than walk.
By eight weeks old, your puppy will be much less reliant on its mother, although it will still play continuously with its litter mates. The puppy should be eating some solid food by this age, but may also still nurse from the mother occasionally. Your new puppy would have started to have lost its baby-like appearance and begin to resemble an adult dachshund.
By the time your dachshund puppy is 12 weeks old, it will look much more like its parents, but smaller in size. It will have lost most of its puppy fat and will have a more lithe, athletic body. Its body structure will be much more slimline than an adult dachshund as they do not put on muscle until later on in the first year of life.
Do Dachshund Puppies Have Big Paws?
Adult dachshunds have large paws, and this means that their puppies can also have big paws! All puppies are born with paws that are large in proportion to the rest of the body, and in the dachshund, this can be quite extreme.
The reason for the large paws on a dachshund is the way the breed was created. These dogs were first used for hunting badgers, as they were small enough to send into a badger’s den to flush out these fierce animals. The large outward-facing paws helped the dog dig into tunnels with ease.
What does a pregnant mini dachshund look like?
During the first few weeks of pregnancy, there are not many external signs that a dachshund is carrying puppies. In fact, it can be so hard to tell that you may need a veterinarian to carry out an ultrasound scan to check if she is pregnant or not!
However, during the last few weeks of pregnancy, you will notice some obvious changes that indicate that your dachshund is pregnant. Dachshunds tend to have large litters of around six puppies, and this means that your pregnant dachshund will develop a large abdomen during her pregnancy.
The abdomen to swell outwards as much as downwards, and you may notice the puppies moving around inside her uterus. Your breeding female may start to waddle as she walks, to accommodate her large belly.
A pregnant dachshund will also develop enlarged teats during the last week or two of pregnancy. This is in preparation for feeding her puppies when they are born.
Summary
So, as we have learned, the changes you will see in dachshund puppies week by week can be quite remarkable! This small dog breed grows at a rapid rate, and they quickly grow out of their puppy fat to turn into athletic, lithe young dogs. If you are bringing a new dachshund puppy into your home, it is important to understand the different growth stages of this dog so that you can adjust their food intake accordingly.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on our dachshund puppies week-by-week development guide! Are you breeding your first litter of dachshund puppies and have some questions about how rapidly they will grow? Or maybe you just brought your first dachshund puppy home from the breeder and you have some queries about the different life stages? Leave a comment below and we will get back to you!
