Are Miniature Dachshunds Hard to Train?

Dachshunds are not hard to train. They are hard to convince.

That sounds like a technicality, but it is the whole thing. A miniature dachshund learns exactly as fast as any other dog. What she does not do is take your word for it. She was bred to work alone, underground, out of earshot, making her own decisions with a badger at the end of the tunnel. "Just do what the human says" was never part of the job. Once you understand that, the reputation makes sense and the training gets a lot easier.

Why they get called stubborn

"Stubborn" is what people call independence when it is inconvenient. Dachshunds are smart, scent-driven, and self-employed by design. Give one a reason that beats the smell of the grass and she will happily comply. Give her a boring reason, or no reason, and she will file your request under "noted" and keep sniffing.

Being small works against them too, quietly. A lot of dachshund "disobedience" is just a little dog who has learned that humans give up, or scoop her up, before the lesson finishes.

The two genuinely hard parts

Let me be honest about where dachshunds really are harder than average.

Potty training is the big one. Small bladders, long bodies close to a cold floor, and an independent streak make house training slower than it is for most breeds. It is very doable, it just needs more patience and a tighter routine than the internet tends to promise. There is a full guide to potty training if that is your current battle.

Recall is the other. A dachshund locked onto a scent is a dachshund who has genuinely stopped hearing you. That is not defiance, it is wiring. Train recall early, indoors first, then outdoors on a long line, and never chase her when she bolts.

What actually works

Short sessions. Dachshunds get bored, and a bored dachshund invents her own game. Keep it to a few minutes and stop while she still wants more.

Food that is actually worth it. Not kibble. Something she would sell you out for. You are competing with the entire scent world, so pay accordingly.

Reasons, not repetition. Drilling "sit" twenty times mostly teaches her that "sit" is boring. Ask once, pay well, move on.

Read her before she quits. This is where body language does the heavy lifting. The freeze, the look-away, the sudden intense sniffing are all "I am done" in dachshund. If you learn to read your dachshund's body language, you can end the session first, on a win, and keep her in the game. When she is stressed rather than simply bored, the signals are different and worth knowing too, which is what calming signals are all about.

Crate training helps more than you'd think

A crate is not a cage to a dachshund, it is a burrow, which is the most on-brand thing in the world for a dog built to dig into dens. Used kindly, it speeds up potty training, gives her a safe off-switch, and turns your "stubborn" dog into one with an actual routine. Here is how to start crate training gently.

Here is the flag I'll plant

A dachshund who won't train is almost never a dachshund who can't. She is a dachshund who has not been given a good enough reason, or one who is quietly telling you she is overwhelmed and hoping you will notice. Training a dachshund is less about control and more about negotiation with a very short, very confident colleague.

Get the reasons right and read her honestly, and the "hardest breed to train" turns out to be one of the quickest studies in the room. She just wanted to know what was in it for her.

Want the full vocabulary for reading her? Start with the Beginner's Guide to Dog Body Language, and keep the printable cheat sheet nearby for your sessions.