Dachshund Temperament: What Owner Surveys Say About Aggression, Barking and Anxiety
Dachshunds are bold, lively and loyal, and most are friendly. In a UK owner survey run by Dachshund Health UK, 74% of dachshunds were described as always or often outgoing and friendly, and only 2% as always or often aggressive with people. The common problems are different ones: 22% barked excessively, 19% had separation anxiety and 16% were nervous of people.
So if you’re wondering whether a dachshund will bite, the numbers say that’s unusual. What you’re more likely to live with is noise, a dog that hates being left, and some wariness of strangers.
What the breed standards say
The breed council’s survey is the best data we have, but it helps to start with what the breed is meant to be. The AKC standard describes the dachshund as “clever, lively and courageous to the point of rashness” and says any display of shyness is a serious fault.
The FCI standard used in Europe asks for a dog that’s “friendly by nature, neither fearful nor aggressive, with even temperament.”
Both standards describe a hunting dog bred to work above and below ground. Courage was the point, and you’ll see it in a dog that barks at a much bigger one.
What owners report: the numbers
Dachshund Health UK has collected owner reports since 2009. By November 2022 it had 1,067 responses, and about 70% of them rated the dog on ten behaviors. Here’s how often owners said each one happened “always” or “often”, so you can see which problems are common:
| Behavior | Always or often |
|---|---|
| Outgoing and friendly | 74% |
| Excitable or active | 63% |
| Excessive or persistent barking | 22% |
| Separation anxiety | 19% |
| Nervous or fearful of people | 16% |
| Fear of noise or thunderstorms | 15% |
| House-training problems | 9% |
| Aggression with other dogs | 8% |
| Submissive urination | 8% |
| Aggression with people | 2% |
An earlier survey by the same group, in 2012, had about 1,400 responses and shows you a similar picture: 85% outgoing and friendly, and 15% always or often barking excessively.
Are dachshunds aggressive?
Not usually toward people, according to their owners. Only 2% were always or often aggressive with people, while 8%, about 1 in 12, were always or often aggressive with other dogs. That’s lower than the reputation suggests, but you shouldn’t read it as zero.
Where does the reputation come from, then? A US study helps explain it. In a 2018 analysis of behavior surveys covering about 82 breeds, dachshunds fell into a cluster of small breeds that score high on aggression, fear and separation problems compared with the other clusters, and that are also excitable and very motivated by their owners’ attention. It’s a comparison between breed groups, not a forecast for your dog.
A lot of what gets called aggression is noise. One owner on Reddit put it this way:
“I have 7 and the only time I see ‘aggression’ is if someone is in the back yard because that is their territory. Mine don’t really show any aggression at all.”
– r/Dachshund, October 2023 (52 upvotes)
Which dachshund is calmest?
Want the calmest one? Coat and size made a real difference in the survey, and if you’re choosing, these are the patterns the 2022 analysis found:
- Standard longhaired and wirehaired were the most outgoing and friendly, the least likely to have separation anxiety, and the easiest to house-train. If you want one of these, see our guides to the long haired dachshund and wire haired dachshund.
- Standard smooth and miniature smooth were the most likely to be aggressive with people and the most excitable.
- Miniature smooth was the most likely to be nervous of people and the hardest to house-train.
- Miniature longhaired and miniature smooth were the most likely to bark persistently.
- Standard longhaired and miniature longhaired were the least likely to fear noise and thunderstorms, and the least excitable.
The 2012 survey ranked the varieties overall, from most positive traits to fewest: long, wire, mini wire, mini long, mini smooth, smooth.
Are boy or girl dachshunds calmer?
It depends on the behavior. In the 2022 analysis, males were more likely to have separation anxiety in all six varieties, and more likely to bark persistently in every variety except standard longhaired. Females were more outgoing in every variety except miniature wirehaired.
Aggression didn’t follow one rule. With people, standard long and smooth females were more aggressive than males, while in the other varieties it was the males. So if separation anxiety or barking is your main worry, a female may be the safer bet, but there isn’t a calmer sex across the board.
What this means if you’re choosing one
I’ve lived with the two most common problems. Pretzel, my miniature, had separation anxiety, and it took eight weeks of training before he could rest for six or seven hours alone. He also barked at everything when he was young. Neither made him a bad dog, but you’ll want a plan for both before a puppy comes home.
Variety averages won’t tell you about the puppy in front of you, either. One owner described two dachshunds raised the same way:
“One loves humans but hates other dogs, one can’t stand humans that are not family but semi likes other dogs. They weren’t treated differently, they just have different characters.”
– r/dachshunds, December 2025 (9 upvotes)
That’s why meeting the parents matters, and why early work pays off. Our guides on socialising a dachshund puppy, dachshund separation anxiety and stopping a dachshund barking cover the three things most owners end up working on.
What the surveys can’t tell you
These are owner reports, mostly from UK dogs, and the 2022 analysis covered dogs born between 1996 and 2017, before the big rise in miniature smooths.
Owners judge their own dogs, and they don’t all mean the same thing by “often”. The US study compared breed groups rather than individual dogs. You should read the percentages as a guide to what’s common, not a promise about the dog you bring home.
Dachshund temperament: common questions
Are dachshunds good family dogs?
Most are friendly, and only 2% of surveyed owners said theirs was always or often aggressive with people. If you have young kids, our dachshunds and children guide covers what to watch for.
Do dachshunds bark a lot?
Many do, so you should expect some noise. In the 2022 survey, 22% of owners said their dachshund always or often barked excessively, and miniature longhaired and miniature smooth dogs were the most likely to.
Which dachshund has the best temperament?
In the 2012 UK survey’s overall ranking, standard longhaired dachshunds came out best, followed by wirehaired. In the 2022 analysis, longhaired and wirehaired dogs were again the most outgoing, while smooths and miniature smooths were the most likely to be aggressive with people.
