What’s the Best Food for Your Dachshund? What We Feed Ours

“What food should we feed our sausage dog?” was one of the first questions we had when we decided to get a dachshund.

It sounds simple until you actually start looking. There’s dry food, wet food, fresh food, raw food, breed-specific food and an enormous range of brands, all making slightly different claims about why their food is best.

After plenty of trial and error with Rocky, we’ve settled on a combination of Lily’s Kitchen dry and wet food. Most importantly, it’s something he actually enjoys eating and has done well on.

That doesn’t mean it’s automatically the best food for every dachshund, though. This is what worked for ours and what we learned along the way.

What we fed our dachshund as a puppy

When we brought Rocky home, our breeder gave us a small bag of Royal Canin Puppy kibble, which was what he’d already been weaned onto.

We kept him on it rather than changing his diet immediately. Once he was old enough, we moved onto Royal Canin Dachshund Adult following advice from our vet.

Initially, we had no problems with it.

Over time, however, Rocky became increasingly uninterested in his food. Some days he’d barely touch it. We tried adding Royal Canin wet food to make his meals more appealing, which worked temporarily, but eventually he started turning his nose up at that too.

Anyone who owns a dachshund probably won’t be shocked to hear that he can be quite opinionated.

Eventually, we decided it was time to try something else.

What we feed our dachshund now

A friend recommended Lily’s Kitchen wet food,

so we initially started adding a small amount to Rocky’s existing dry food.

The difference in his enthusiasm for dinner was pretty obvious.

We liked the small trays because they were convenient and gave us different flavours to rotate between without having several large open tins sitting in the fridge.

 

After having success with the wet food, we decided to try Lily’s Kitchen dry food too.

Rocky’s favourite has been Wild Woodland Walk, made with duck, salmon and venison. We’ve been feeding him Lily’s Kitchen for years now and, unlike some of the foods we tried previously, he still gets excited when it’s time for dinner.

We currently feed him a measured portion of dry food with some wet food added.

It costs more than some of the alternatives we could buy, but because it works for him and he reliably eats it, we’ve been happy to stick with it.

What should you look for in dachshund food?

There isn’t a special ingredient that makes a food suitable for a dachshund.

What matters most is choosing a complete and balanced dog food appropriate for your dog’s life stage, then feeding an appropriate amount to keep them at a healthy weight.

In the UK, look for food labelled as complete rather than complementary. A complete food is designed to provide all of the nutrients your dog needs when fed according to its instructions. Complementary foods are intended to be fed alongside something else.

Puppies also have different nutritional requirements from adult dogs, so make sure you’re choosing food suitable for your dachshund’s age.

If your dachshund has a medical condition, allergies or particular dietary requirements, that’s something I’d discuss with your vet rather than relying on a general breed feeding guide online.

Keeping your dachshund at a healthy weight

This is arguably more important for dachshunds than finding a particular fashionable ingredient or brand.

Dachshunds are predisposed to intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), and keeping them at a healthy weight avoids adding unnecessary load to their body.

We measure Rocky’s food rather than estimating it by eye and take treats into account too.

The feeding guide on your dog’s food is a useful starting point, but it isn’t an exact prescription. How much an individual dog needs will vary according to their size, age, activity and whether they’re neutered, amongst other things.

You should be able to feel your dog’s ribs without having to press through a thick layer of fat, and they should have a visible waist when viewed from above.

If you’re unsure whether your dachshund is an appropriate weight, your vet can assess their body condition and help you work out an appropriate amount to feed.

Dry food, wet food or both?

We’ve ended up using both, but there’s no requirement to do the same.

Dry food

Kibble is convenient, easy to measure and easy to store. That’s one reason it makes up the majority of Rocky’s meals.

One thing I wouldn’t rely on ordinary dry food for, though, is keeping your dachshund’s teeth clean. We still treat dental care separately rather than assuming eating kibble is doing the job for us.

Wet food

Rocky finds wet food much more exciting than dry food on its own, which is why adding a little works well for us.

Wet food also contains considerably more moisture than kibble, although it can be more expensive and needs refrigerating once opened.

If you’re feeding wet food as the main diet rather than simply using a small amount alongside something else, check that it’s labelled as a complete food.

Mixed feeding

This is our preferred option.

We use dry food as the basis of Rocky’s meal and add some wet food to make it more appealing.

The important thing when combining foods is not to give a full recommended portion of both. The calories from everything you’re feeding still count, so portions need adjusting accordingly.

What about grain-free dog food?

Rocky’s current dry food happens to be grain-free, but that isn’t why we chose it and I wouldn’t specifically recommend choosing a food because it’s grain-free.

Dogs don’t generally need to avoid grains unless there’s a particular reason for doing so.

If you suspect your dachshund has a food allergy or intolerance, speak to your vet before eliminating ingredients yourself. Properly identifying a food allergy is more complicated than simply switching to a food marketed as hypoallergenic or grain-free.

What about raw feeding?

We’ve never fed Rocky a raw diet.

We considered it, but the practicalities didn’t particularly appeal to us – not least the freezer space it requires – and we ultimately decided it wasn’t something we wanted to pursue.

Raw feeding also comes with additional food-safety considerations because uncooked meat can carry harmful bacteria. There’s also the question of nutritional balance if you’re creating meals yourself.

If raw feeding is something you’re considering, I’d discuss it with your vet or a suitably qualified veterinary nutrition professional rather than trying to formulate a diet from information online.

 

How to change your dachshund’s food

Unless your vet has told you otherwise, don’t suddenly replace your dog’s normal food with something completely different.

We transitioned Rocky between foods gradually, mixing increasing amounts of the new food with decreasing amounts of the old food.

A gradual change gives your dog’s digestive system time to adjust and makes it easier to spot whether the new food disagrees with them.

If your dachshund develops persistent diarrhoea, vomiting, significant changes in appetite or other symptoms you’re concerned about, contact your vet rather than continuing to experiment with different foods.