Tag archives: Dachshund

If I could be a dog for a week, I think I would enjoy sleeping the most. I’ve occasionally found myself jealous of my little terrier mix, snoring away as I wipe the sleep from my eyes in an attempt to get my day started. On his back, with all four legs in the air and dreams of rawhides in his head, he frequently reminds me that life doesn’t always have to be such a rat race. While both dogs and humans tend to share their appreciation for a little “R and R”, there are many conditions where sleep is no longer just a common necessity, but a frustrating burden. Whether it’s an inability to sleep or an inability to stay awake, most people with sleep disorders will attest to the overall decrease in life quality due to their sleep disturbance. One such troubling disorder that we share in common with our dogs is narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a rare condition marked by excessive daytime sleepiness frequently accompanied by a phenomenon known as cataplexy. Cataplexy is a non-painful recurring condition caused by acute episodes of decreased muscle function leading to a variable clinical presentation from mild muscle weakness to complete collapse ...

Affectionately known as the wiener dog, the short-legged, long-bodied dachshund is consistently one of the top 10 most-registered dogs in the country. It seems the dachshund has always been popular, with kings and queens of Europe in the distant past, as well as with the likes of artists such Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, Presidents John F. Kennedy and Grover Cleveland, writer E.B. White, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and singer Adele in more recent times.  

The popular dachshund originated in Germany and was bred to track badgers, enter their den and fight them to the death. The modern dachshund is much smaller than the badger-fighting ancestor, which weighed between 30 and 40 pounds, and is usually bred for the conformation ring and as a companion animal. However, there are lines, especially in its native Germany, that are still bred for hunting purposes.

The history of the dachshund is somewhat muddled, with some groups claiming it was developed in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, others claim the 15^th Century and still others cite drawings and mummies of dachshund-like dogs that were popular with ancient Egyptians. The modern-day incantation was developed in Germany, but was also ...

Maybe your Doxie has Narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is an inherited condition known to affect Dachshunds. Narcolepsy is a disorder that affects a dog’s ability to stay awake for an extended period of time. Dogs with the inherited form of narcolepsy typically show signs of the disorder between one to six months of age. Affected dogs will fall asleep faster than normal dogs and appear sleepy more frequently. Episodes of narcolepsy tend to occur with positive stimulation like play or food. The affected dog may appear to collapse to the ground with a sudden loss of muscle tone but does not typically lose awareness. Symptoms do not progress over time and do not have other associated health problems.
Genetic testing of the HCRTR2 gene in Dachshunds will reliably determine whether a dog is affected with narcolepsy. Because narcolepsy is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, the breeding of two carrier dogs has a 25% risk of producing affected pups. Testing is available from Paw Print Genetics^™ to determine the genetic status of your Dachshund. It is recommended that carriers with this mutation are not bred to avoid affected pups.