Raising happy dachshunds, a heart-to-heart with sausage dog specialist Nicky Hammel

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Yappy Hour, powered byYappily the podcast for dog lovers who
want to better understand and connectwith their four legged companions.
I'm your host, Nathan Dunleavy, and todaywe are diving deep into one of the UK's
most iconic and entertaining breeds.
The d.

(00:20):
Joining me is Nicky Hammel abehaviourist and licensed breeder who
specializes in long hair, dachshunds.
In this episode we'll talk aboutwhat makes this breed so unique, the
common behavioural challenges petparents face, and how to raise a happy,
healthy, and confident sausage dog.
Whether you've just bought a puppy home oryou are living with a feisty middle aged

(00:44):
sausage, this episode will be for you.
We'll also bust a few myths, sharesome practical tips, and reflect on
why working with your dog's naturaltraits, not against them is the secret
to building a long lasting bond.
So grab a cup of tea, settlein, and let's get started.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Welcome back to The Yappy (01:03):
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Hour, powered by Yappily.
I'm your host, Nathan Dunleavy, andI'm so excited to bring you another
episode today, even more excitedthat we've got Nicky Hammel with us.
Welcome, Nicky.
I.
Thanks for being on the yappy hour.
Nicky's actually a really good friendof mine, so it is just gonna be like
having two friends, just having a chatabout our favorite things, which is dogs

(01:27):
or in Nicky's case, Dashan or Dashan.
I don't gotta pronounce it properlynow 'cause I can never spell
Dashan, but I struggle saying itsometimes as well, so, brilliant.
So Nicky, welcome to the Yappy Hour.
I'm so excited to have you.
Thanks for joining us.
How's everything going inyour world at the moment?

Nicky Hammel (01:45):
Yeah, really, really good actually.
Really good dog's.
All well, dog's all happy.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour (01:51):
Yeah.

yeah, really, really good.
Really good.

Perfect.
So tell us a little bitabout how you came to work.
So closely with this iconic little breedand what sparked your love for dash outs.

Well, it's, it's quite a long story actually, so.

We love a long story, so you fill your boots.

so in my previous job I worked for a high street bank as a
mortgage advisor and a really, reallygood friend of mine bought an accent.
the more time I sort of spent withhim and with her, it, it just, the
breed just kind of got me really.

Yeah.

I'd wanted one for quite a while before I got my first one.
It actually took me, I thinkabout a year to persuade my
husband to let me have a dog.
and yeah, that's how, it's just, justkind of escalated from there really.
And I became unhappy in myjob at the bank and, you know,
sort of wanted a way out of it.

(02:51):
So initially we kind of decidedthat we would set up our own
home boarding and daycare service

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's right. (02:57):
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Yeah.

we really wanted to sort of nail down and specialize
in Dexon because they are, they canbe a funny little breed and they
really, really love their own breed.
Not always comfortable around larger dogs.
So we wanted

Right.

of, in our search for, for a service for ourselves, we
wanted to kind of create somethingthat other people could enjoy.
I mean, there were a fewservices around like that,

Yeah.

Not all that many.
So that's kind of where we started.
And then as lockdownhappened, you know, that had a

Yeah.

impact on the business.
So I then kind of took thattime retrain as a behaviourist,

Yes.
Yes,

decided to kind of step away from that a little
bit and then move into breeding.
So,

yes.
And that's where you are now.
So you are still doing a bitof behaviour work, aren't you?

A little bit here and

yeah.

my primary focus really is, is on my breeding program.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Is the breed in? (03:58):
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Yeah.
So you did sort of specializein, so I have said it wrong, so
I'm saying dash sound, but you'vesaid D Sound, so is it D Sound?

DAXs hun.

D so I wanna make sure I say it right.
So DD, it's a bit of aGerman, German word, isn't it?
It's a funny word.

a German word.
Yeah, translated.
So the translation from Englishto German is Badger Dog, which

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Ah, I never knew that. (04:24):
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bred to.

Yes.
Okay, so I'm finally gonna say itwrong all throughout this episode
now, but I'm glad I double checked.
So, yeah, great.
So similar journey to me.
I worked in the bank and thenobviously started off dog walking.
Lockdown hit, had to shut down mybusiness for a couple of weeks, and
then I retrained in, in lockdownas a dog trainer and specifically
separation anxiety specialist.

(04:48):
Yeah, so haven't gone the full hog of you.
As being a licensed breeder, but did doa little bit of hobby breeding, hence why
I've now got four, two po, two poodles.
So we love the little dogs.
And yeah, it's great.
So we're gonna be moving on toour next section now which is all
about getting to know the breed.
So what makes a dasha sound, a duck sound.

(05:11):
I'm still struggling with thatword and I should have mentioned at
the start of this episode as wellthat Nicky is another one of our.
Breed specialists or breed experts.
So we've had a few different breedexperts on so it's really great
that we're gonna be delving moreinto this fantastic little breed.
So for those listening, for ourlisteners who don't know the breed that
well, how would you describe a typicaldexon in personality and temperament?

Personality.
They're absolutely hilarious.
They, for such a small dog, they'vegot such a huge personality,

I have,

every single one of my dogs is different and
brings something different.
So humans, no singleone of them is the same.

yeah.

Within the different coat types that you get within
the Dax and there are three.

Yes,

so what I do sort of find with mine is my short hair is
a lot more kind of overexcited withlife in general and everything.
Whereas.

I, I know this one who you're talking about, so

She was my first ever dog, bless her heart, and seven

Kimmy.

Oh yeah, that's Kimmy.
And she's an absolute angel.
She is just quite hectic.
Whereas the long hairs I dofind a lot more chilled and a
lot more laid back in general.

Yes.

variances between that, but.

Yeah.

And you know, they're, they're just such lovely little dogs.
They are lovely and you know,they, they love to have a good
run around and they love theirexercise, they love playing, but

Mm-hmm.

time, they like the balance of being able to, to chill
and cuddle up with you as well.

So they make a bit of a lap dog as well.
So there's a wired hair.
Wired hair, Dax sound isn't there as well.

there

Okay.
And then you've got mini Daksound and then a standard dexon.
Is that right?

do?
Yeah, two

Yeah,

So

yeah.

there's two different sizes in this country, and it's the,
it's the mini longs that I bring.
I don't breed the short hair,but yeah, just the mini longs.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: they're the mini long-haired huns. (07:23):
undefined
And would you say that their temperamentis different from the short hair
to the long hair then as well?

Oh, in my experience, yes, but also not only with my
own dogs, but from when I used todo daycare and boarding as well,

Hmm.

you know, the majority of the dogs that I
had would be the short hairs,

Yeah.

in the daycare.
'cause they, they weremore popular at the time.
So

But

back to.
they were like, albeit they wouldbehave differently in this environment
to what they would at home.

mm.

know, just sort of a comparison with how,
how I see like my long hairs.
Yeah, there, there is

Mm.

a difference there,

And I love it that you had to convince your
husband to get like one, seven years ago.
Now you've got loads.

you know,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's brilliant. (08:14):
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don't you, where you're like, well, what's one more.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: What's one more? (08:16):
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That's what happened to me, but we'veactually stopped at seven 'cause we, yeah.
We couldn't afford anymore,but yeah, I know what you mean.

I can't even remember a time when I had seven.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, well as long as I've known (08:26):
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you, which is a good few yearsnow, you've always had quite a few.
But yeah, I mean, what's, youknow, little dogs, they make up a
couple of big ones, so it's fine.

they

So my next question then would was around
what you think are some of the biggestmis misconceptions around the breed.

I would say.
There's probably two,which I see an awful lot.
And it's around people just assumingthat they're, because of their size,
they're a lap dog and they're gonnacuddle up with you and, you know, just
want human attention and that's it.
Which, to be honest, thatcouldn't be further from the truth
because they are working breed.

(09:04):
Okay?
You

Yeah.

variance between each dog as an individual and, you know, their, their
desire to, to work and be a hound is.
It's more prevalent insome than in the others.

Yeah.

the other thing that I see a lot is people calling them stubborn.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, okay. (09:24):
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And yeah, I hate that saying'cause there's no such thing
a stubborn dog is there.

No, no, no, no.
And that's it.
And you know, thinking back to, youknow, when I sort of do my behavioural
work or I see posts and Facebook groupsand things like that, I think people
kind of labeling them as that actually.
Are you motivating your dog enoughfor them do what you want them to do?

(09:49):
And do they understand what youare actually asking them to do?
And yeah.
So yeah, that, that's what I see a lot.
And you know, people,you know, notoriously say
they're difficult to train.
They're this, they're that,

Really.

and actually they're not.
You've just gotta understandthem as a breed and

I said.

how you can motivate them to, do the behaviours you want them to do.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: So it's all about tapping into (10:11):
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that natural instant, isn't it?
It's, yeah.

Yeah.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, yeah. (10:16):
undefined
And you know every dog can betrained, but it's, you know, some dogs
pick up a lot quicker than others.
You've gotta put in the time.
And yeah, it's about, and I'm abig believer in sort of people.
Doing their researchinto the breed as well.
That's really important, isn't it?
So that leads us nicely ontobehavioural support for Dak Sands.

(10:38):
So you've mentioned that obviously,you know, some people say they're
hard to train and they're stubborn,but what would you say are some
of the most common behaviouralissues that you see in the breed?
And what do you wish moreowners knew about handling them?

I mean, I think probably the, the top behaviour,
you can hear one of mine now

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's okay. (10:59):
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I am surprised mine aren't going.
That's absolutely fine.
It's all about the happy hour.

oh yes, and there's lots of YAP in here.
I would say probably the topbehavioural problems I see is
excessive barking reactivity

Yeah.

probably separation, although I don't
tend to see so much of that now.
That was a really big thing, you know,sort of around lockdown time when we were

Yes,

You know, everybody.
that it was a great time to buy adog 'cause they were at home and
then of course they then went backto work and the dogs couldn't cope.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's, yeah. (11:32):
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I don't really see an awful lot of that at the moment.

Mm.

the excessive barking, the reactivity perceived aggression and yeah,

Yeah.
And obviously they'rebarking for a reason.
It's a natural form of vocalizationcommunication for a, for a dog, so,

course, of

yeah.

you know, particularly with Axon, they're, they're a breed
that was specifically to bark.
So, you know, when they would sort of goto ground after, you know, sort of rabbits
badges and things like that, they had to

Mm,

to bark so their handler could actually locate,
you know, sort of where they were.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's it. (12:13):
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they, they are a breed that.
Is gonna be more prone to barking becausethat's what they've been been bred to do.
So

Yeah.
Yeah.

that would be a top thing that really, if you are, if you are gonna
be looking to get a DAX and one of the topthings that you really need to understand

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Is it they? (12:30):
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Is it they bark?

Yeah, they do.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Well all, all dogs bark. (12:33):
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But yeah, I mean there's some that aregonna bark more than others because
they've been bred for a certain reason andit's just, just the genetics, isn't it?
And what you know.

Yeah, of course.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: And you're saying about sa I I (12:45):
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hadn't worked with many essays in,in Dxi, but recently I just worked
with a short head, short head one.
But I hadn't seen many.
It was mainly sort of likethe cockapoos and the beagles
that I'd been working with.
Yeah.
So yeah, it is interesting.
So how could someone strike the rightbalance between support and their

(13:06):
dog's emotions and setting boundaries?

So again, I think it's that piece around understanding your
dog and, you know, understandingwhat is natural behaviours for them.
Understanding that, you know, with naturalbehaviours, you know, you can't, I.
Train those out of a dog,they're there and that's it.
I think, you know, in terms of,of, of setting the boundaries and,

(13:33):
and being clear with what you wantthem to do is, you know, actually
realistic with what you're expecting.
going back to the whole barking thing,you know, if you are gonna expect
that a dog is never gonna bark, then.
You know, it, it, it makesit difficult, doesn't it?
But

Yeah.

you know, being able to work with your dog and actually teaching
them that they don't have to bark allthe time and actually, kind of having a
bit of control over that and rewardingthem, you know, for example, when they're
quiet and you know, so on and so forth.

Yeah, tapping into that, you know, those natural
instance and giving them a differentoutlet with some sort of enrichment
and brain games and stuff like that.
Really?

Yeah.
A hundred percent.
A hundred

Yeah.

you know, another example of that is, you know, they're a breed that
you know is specifically bred to chasethings because they're a hunting breed

Yeah,

You know, this is something that I've experienced
myself before I knew any better.
You know, one of my dogs would kind ofbe off chasing everything on a walk.
And actually you can almost like flipthat and give your dog kind of access
to things where they can chase thingsso they don't then have to kind of go
off and make their own entertainment.
So

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: definitely. (14:51):
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setting those boundaries, giving the dog the proper outlet

Yeah.
Yeah.

the natural behaviours

Yeah.

you know, showing them alternatives.

Yeah, and like you say, it's about understanding
what those natural behaviours are aswell, so understanding them and then
sort of setting your dog up for successand playing to those strengths and
giving those, those given those thoseoutlets, which, you know, I love that.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Brilliant.
So we're gonna move onto our next section.
Thanks Nicky for that.

(15:22):
So life as a responsible breeder.
So you are a licensedbreeder of long-haired dins.
What does responsiblebreeding mean to you, Nicky?

I think breeding, I would say, I mean, kind of taking it right back,
I mean, when I first started breeding
I had my first litter.
And then I didn't requirea license for that.
And I thought, right, I'm gonna,I'll have a support from a really,

(15:53):
really good friend of mine who

Yeah.

and mentored me through it because, you know, you,
you know yourself, you know, itcan be quite scary when you're

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: it's, it's very scary. (16:01):
undefined
Yeah.
Stressful.

especially, you know, if things don't quite go as they should do.
So I had my first litter and Iactually contacted my animal welfare
officer and I was kind of like,okay, I really, really wanna apply.
For a license.
And even at that point, she, she kind ofsaid to me, she, she was like, well, how
many litters are you gonna be having?
I mean, I didn't have thatmany dogs at that point.

(16:27):
and she was kind of like,well, because you're not gonna
be having litters regularly.
You don't actually need a license.
And I was kind of like, well, I know Idon't probably need it right now, but

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: But you want, you wanted it? (16:39):
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Yeah.

not so I can just say to people, oh, I've got a breeding license.
But was, it was more around having,you know, something in place where I.
You know, I knew I was followingwhat the government kind of set
out as regulations to protectanimals from a welfare perspective.

(17:04):
I mean, it's not to say if I wasn'tlicensed, I wasn't gonna be doing
that, but, you know, you, you know,I would've followed it anyway.
But,

Yeah.

obtain a license, you have to have the animal welfare officer
come round and inspect your premises.
They

Yeah.

with a vet who spends a good amount of time inspecting your

undefined

all of

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, I didn't know Yvette did as well. (17:23):
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Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

when I first had mine, I had my animal welfare
officer around who I already knewbecause I was a licensed boarder.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Of course it's the same person. (17:32):
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Yeah, so she come around and did an inspection and you know,
sort of gave me some guidance about, youknow, sort of things to put in place.
And then the vet then comes roundand I think she was probably
here with a vet for about a goodhour, hour and a half, you know,

undefined

everything.
They'll look through policies, procedures,they'll look through your premises and
you know, all sorts of things like that.
And then they'll put together a listof recommendations of, you know,
further things that they may wantyou to put in place or things that
you want, they want you to change.
And then once you've done all of thosechanges, the animal welfare officer

(18:09):
then comes back again and reinspectwhat you've already done and decides
whether they're happy to, to sort of

Oh,

license.
So for

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: quite, quite a rigorous process. (18:17):
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yeah, that, that

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's good. (18:21):
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Was one of the most important things to have in place.
But then, you know, sort of followingon from that, it's making sure that all
the breeding stock that you've got are.
Good examples of the breed,

Mm.

to, you know, select the best candidates for your breeding program.
looking at things like health tests,the temperament of the dog, and, you
know, all bits and pieces like that.
then, you know, it's

Yeah.

then sort of made that commitment to breed, you know,
I think one of the most importantthings for me is, although I'm.
Breeding puppies and bringing them intothe world, and you know, they'll go off
to their new homes and things like that.
because I'm the breeder and I've broughtthem into the world, ultimately I have
a responsibility for that dog from theday they're born right up until the day

(19:14):
that they're, you know, they pass away.
So,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, and that's good. (19:18):
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One of the things I have in place with my puppy owners
is I have a contract in place, whichbasically says, you know, if at any
point in your puppy's life you areunable to care for them, they must come
back to me as the breeder and I will

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's amazing because (19:34):
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point

I, I don't, I don't think a lot of breeders
do do that, and I think that's important.
That sets you apart.

And I think as

Yeah.

know, with the amount of pressure that's on rescue centers and

Yeah.

that at at the moment as well, I think, you know, as a breeder, if
you are just gonna sell a dog to someoneand then just almost like wash your hands
and say, well, there you go, then youknow that that's not responsible really.
And.
You know, just sort of following onfrom that as well, it's the whole

(20:09):
process that you go through whenyou select suitable families and
owners for your puppies as well.

Yeah.

not, I mean, I'm sure there's breeders out there
that aren't as thorough, but for

Yeah.

I have to know everything about family and be completely
comfortable with them before I'mgonna let them take one of my puppies.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, no, that sets you (20:32):
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apart from everyone else.
And I think as well for us itcomes down to ethics as well.
'cause we are part of like similargo government bodies and obviously
we've got like a moral compass anda certain ethics that we follow.
So I think from your perspectiveas well, the reason you did that
is because it comes down to your.

(20:53):
And ethics and what youbelieve in are your values.

Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, just sort of going backto, you know, the taking back of a
puppy, you know, if I, I mean, I alwayskeep in touch with my puppy owners.
You know, when someone has a puppyfrom me, I always say to them, look,
you, you are literally part of myfamily now and you're stuck with me.
You're having this puppy

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's lovely. (21:14):
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know, always keep in contact with them.
You know, people that send meupdates, videos, all sorts of things.

Yeah.

you know, if I.
I out that someone was strugglingand they hadn't come to me and that
one of my puppies had ended up ina rescue or something like that.
Not that I'm saying there'sanything wrong with rescues
'cause there's absolutely not.
But you know, if I found outthat one of my puppies had gone
to a rescue, I would be so upset

Yeah.
Yeah.

I would like to have that opportunity to
always have them back myself.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: You are so invested in, in the puppy (21:47):
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and their, and their new guardians.
Perfect.
So that mo, that mo moves us on nicelyto the next question, which is about
how do you support puppy guardiansto feel more confident and prepared
when taking home their new puppy?

So when people have a puppy from me, I mean, depending on when
the puppy owner comes into it, I mean,some people I'll be in contact with.
before a matings taken place, or apuppy's born or anything like that.
you know, some people it will be, youknow, a little bit further down the
line when the puppy's a few weeks old.

(22:26):
you know, I have a lot of contactwith my puppy owners prior to
them taking their puppy home.
You know, they have the option to askme questions at any time whatsoever.
and that's, you know, prior tothem getting the puppy, whether
it be, you know, sort of around.
Feeding equipment set up athome, anything like that?
I mean, when people come, 'causenormally people will come for a visit

(22:51):
before they take the puppy home.
So a lot of this will, we'll talkabout on that initial visit when
they first come to meet their puppy.
So we'll go through a lot of informationat that point, and people will have a
lot of questions, but also when theytake their puppy home, you know, they
go home with a, a full informationfolder of, of information around
vaccinations, worming, health tests,

Yeah.

sorts of things like that.
And you know, I always say to mypuppy owners when they go, you know,
you, you've got my phone number.
You can ring me or message me at any time.
You know, if there's anything you'renot sure of, anything you're worried
about, any support I can give you.
You

Yeah,

only ever a phone call or a message away, so they
know that they've got me basically.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I think that's fantastic. (23:36):
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'cause not everyone offers that ordoes that, and it's nice that they
can feel supported and it, it justsays more about you as well, that
they're getting their puppy from,you know, a really ethical reader.
Perfect.

And not

Okay.

you know, for as, as a breeder, and you'll probably know
from, you know, when, when you'vebred yourself, there's nothing nicer
than somebody got one of your puppiessending you a photo or a little

Yeah, I still get, yeah, I'm still in groups
now and I get updates, so I mean, itcould be a year down the line and I
then get a message and it's lovely.
It's quite, quite heartwarming and.

so lovely.
And do you know what, one of mypuppy owners for Christmas this
year, it actually made me a littlebit emotional when I opened it.
So I dunno if you've seen them,but you can get these like.
Plates or plaques and thingsand you know, you can do like
dog footprints on it or your

Yes.

and stuff like that painted.
And they'd sent me like thislittle plaque with their dog's like
footprint on it and I was just like,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, that's cute. (24:35):
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So lovely.
So

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's nice. (24:40):
undefined
Yeah.
So you've picked, you know, likeyou say, you do your research on
the, the owners, they get vetted.
So you've picked a, you know, you'vepicked some good people there.

Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, I've had people that,well, I think one person who's actually
come back for a second puppy as well,

Yes.
Yeah.
That's good.

that's been lovely as well.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, that's really nice. (24:59):
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Perfect.
So moving on to our next section.
Thank you for that.
So it's all aroundpuppyhood to adolescent.
So raising a happy and fulfilled dexon.
What are the key things you recommendfor the new Dexon guardians to
focus on during those early weeks?

So early weeks, I would say take things slowly.
Don't expect too much, at the sametime, you know, sort of start doing
things as you know, as soon as you,you take pup home, because I mean,
obviously while the puppies with me,I will have done a certain amount
of socialization and habitation.

(25:39):
So, you know, puppies will sortof leave me with, you know, sort
of being comfortable around avariety of different people.
Particularly children as well.
You know, I'm very fortunate in thatrespect because, you know, a lot of
the time you, you can hear storiesabout people's Dax ands not liking
children and, and, and things like that.

Right.

you know.

Okay.

If they've never been around children or the new home
doesn't have children, that actuallybe quite difficult, especially if
they've got family that have gotchildren that then sort of visit

Mm

So, you know,

mm.

kids are, well, they're nine and nearly 10 and nearly 18.
So, you know, they're, they're very,very much hands-on with the pups.
They get handled by them, you know, theyget to spend a lot of time with them.
So.

Yeah.

You know, and they get to meet a different variety of people.
You know, we have visitorsand things like that.
And, you know, they have a lot of thetime they, you know, they're, they're
downstairs in an area of the livingroom where they can see everything
that's going on, all the sightsounds, smells, everything like that.
I mean, some breeders you know, willsort of have dogs and kennels and

(26:49):
things like that, and, you know.
I dunno how much they get toexperience a home environment.
But you know, we make sure when ourpuppies leave that, you know, they've
kind of experienced most things thatthey sort of need to experience and
it's really about the owners, you know,sort of keeping up on top of that and

Yeah.

to build on that, but obviously not doing things too quickly.

Yeah.

So for them to sort of start doing that.
And also as well, know, sort of gettingthem to build the pup's confidence, you
know, sort of alone and things like that.
So, you know, the, the most temptingthing to do when you've got a new puppy
is just to pick, pop up and cuddle themall the time, which saying is wrong.

(27:36):
all do it.

We do.

them have that little bit of independence where they can kind of.
Go and do own thing and actually putproof in the home so you know it is
safe for pup and you're not sort ofalmost like telling them no every five
minutes or Come here, don't do that.
It's, you

Yeah.

opportunity to be confident and, you know, sort of go and explore

Yeah.

getting into trouble, if that makes sense.

Yeah.
And I think the, from my experienceworking with puppy owners, the things
they struggle with initially isprobably like toilet training and yeah.
So have you got any tips onsort of toilet training at all?

I mean, in terms of toilet training with, with mine,
I will just sort of, you know, afprobably every sort of 15, 20 minutes

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's it. (28:28):
undefined
Yeah.

them outside particularly after they've eaten
or had playtime or they've just

Yeah.

up and things like

Yeah.

I mean, we start toilet training with the pups
around sort of three or four weeks.
So we have them, you know, sort of,kind of in a welcoming box up until
three or four weeks till they geta little bit more mobile and then.
really good at cleaning upafter them, you know, sort of

Yeah.

they're there.
But

Yeah,

a little bit older around, you know, sort of
three and a half, four weeks,

yeah,

of create in a pen, you know, a separate sleeping and toilet area.
So, you know, they do start tounderstand the difference of,

yeah.

of where to go and where not to go.

Yeah.

and one thing I do sort of say to my puppy owners is, don't
fall into the habit of using puppy pads.
I'm, I'm

I know.

I think they've got a place,

Yeah.

Nelly, I'm not a fan of using a puppy pad indoors because I think
it's confusing and it kind of teachesthe pup that it's okay to go to the

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, your, your encouraging to go (29:29):
undefined
indoors, but I know that like for somepeople that were using them, I, what
I used to say was, we'll put it bythe back door and then slowly move it
outside so that the puppy knows to go.
But I.
With a lot of this, it is forlong getting a new puppy and we
don't know what we don't know.
So it's all about sort of educationand research and stuff like that.

(29:53):
And, you know, getting a reputablesort of dog trainer positive
reinforcement dog trainer.
Early on, that's mine.
Sort of probably having a scrapdown there now on the floor.
Yeah, getting help early on doing,I'm really big on sort of education,
doing your research into the breed.
Particularly obviously if it's likeyou know, a breed that, like you say,
you've not got kids or, you've not gota garden, you, you're just in a flat

(30:15):
that's gonna make toilet training harder.
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.
So people don't realize that youhave to be so rigid and get them
out every sort of 15 to 20 minutes.
So I, I'd say like youjust have to put 'em out.
And even if they don't do anythingwhen they do go, you've gotta
fully praise them and reinforcethat with a nice, tasty treat.
But like clockwork, you haveto set a, a timer and get

(30:37):
them out every 15, 20 minutes.
And they, they, like you said,after any form of excitement, play
eating, they've just woken up.
You need to just put 'em out.
'cause they don't, they can'tcontrol their bladder straight away.

Absolutely.
And then, you know, not gettingupset if they do have an accident

Exactly.

it is gonna happen.

It does.
I used to say create the party outsideand all your neighbors probably think
you're crazy, but you know, when theydo go outside, just wave your arms
around and get all, get all excited.
So you picked, I picked up on some, asyou said, so some of our pet parents
listening, they may know what'sof, they may have heard the word
socialization, but you mentioned habit.
It's another word I can't say habitation.

(31:19):
Yeah.
Are you able just to tell us whatthat word means if you don't mind?

the difference, I mean, socialization, pretty much
everyone knows what that means.

Yeah.

introducing the dog to all living creatures, whether that
be humans, dogs, cats, any otheranimals you might have in the house.
But habituation relates to, you know, sortof things that are in the environment.
So, sight, sounds, textures,all bits and bobs like that.

Yeah.

well.
So what we sort of tend to do withour puppies as well, we do do a bit
of the early neurological stimulationand the early scent introduction.
So the early neurologicalwhat you call it the early

a,

neurological stimulation.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's A-N-S-A-N-S, in other words, (32:07):
undefined

I was trying to use the correct name.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that that's. (32:13):
undefined

you know, there, there's various exercises that you can do
which kind of relates to touch.
So it's kind of touchingtheir feet, holding them in
different positions and whatnot.
And it's designed to,you know, sort of create.
A little bit of stress, but alsoto help build but good stress, not
stress in a bad way, but good to helpbuild their resilience a little bit.

(32:37):
And then, you know, you sortof do that for the first week
from day three up to day 10.
And then you can also dothat with scent as well.
So you pick a different scentfor each day, whether it be.
You know, sort of household things like,you know, some of your herbs, not the ones
that are like really strong, like cayennepepper or chili powder or something

(33:00):
like that, but your na, your naturalherbs that you get, you know, like your

Yes.

and things like that.
You can grab bits and bobs,you know, sort of from outside

Yeah.

would be, you know, you can record the pup's reaction to it.
So it's things like, you know,if they have no reaction, whether
they move towards the item or sent.
Or, and whether they sortof like move away from it.
So again, it's just building thatlittle bit of resilience there as well.

Yeah.
Brilliant.
I love that.
I was gonna mention as well, is that whenthe puppy goes home, if that's either
eight, 10 or 12 weeks, and we've gotthis thing with vaccinations now that
they have to wait or they get spacedout, and that's quite a key, what we
call the sensitive period for, for dogs.
And they need to sort of, you know, haveall these different novel experiences.

(33:49):
So don't get so hung up on that.
You can't take your puppy out.
You should put it in likea puppy sling so they can

sling.
I

Yes.

all of

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's, yeah. (33:59):
undefined
So I just thought it would good to touchon that, that even though they don't
have their second vac, you wouldn't letthem interact maybe with other dogs or
out on the street, but take them out sothey can experience those novel sounds.
Sight and smiles.

Or you know, if you've got vaccinated dogs in the family.
It's fine for them to comein and, and and visit pup?
absolutely.
As long as they're vaccinated, it's just,yeah, pup can't go on the floor outside,

Yeah,

wrong with, you know, bringing in novel
things from outside as well.
You know, sort of like leaves other

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: good idea. (34:34):
undefined

you know, sort of stones and anything like that at all that,
you know, sort of pup can explore.

Yeah.
Brilliant.
Perfect.
So moving on then to when the Daksound goes through adolescence, so
it's quite a tricky time for them.
So it can be a lot for the, thedog and the owners the pet parents.
What tips do you have or would youlike to share for this tricky stage?

so I, one of my dogs was quite a difficult
adolescent dog, and yeah, I cancompletely relate to anybody who.
May struggle with this and youknow, from my own experience, the
only thing I can say is, firstof all, it doesn't last forever.

(35:19):
And you do come out the other side of it,

Yeah.

being aware that it's gonna happen.
Behaviours and things that the dogwas maybe happy to do before could go

Mm.

Things like toilet training could go backwards.

Yeah.

Know, particularly with my male dogs, I've found they can all of
a sudden become more fearful of things.

Mm.

You know, they, they can be seen as, you know, sort of ignoring
things that you are asking them to

Right.

And just in general.
You know, being able to do thethings that they could do previously.
And again, you know, it comes back to thatthing that we were sort of talking about
right at the very beginning when we were,you know, sort of saying that they get
branded as stubborn and things like that.
It's,

Hmm.

it's not about them being stubborn, it's about
they are not understanding.
you are wanting them to do.

Yeah.

how the brain and everything is developing and all
the hormonal changes and, and, andthings like that, it, know, everything
just kind of tends to go backwards.
So again, it, you know, it's beingreally, really aware of that and
that you might have to go back tobasics with a lot of your training.
Things like your toilettraining and things like that.

(36:36):
You know, if they were happywith being alone before and
they may not be happy with.
sort of being alone right now.
Again, that

Hmm.

a factor and I

Yeah.

just about being patient

Hmm.

expecting them to do too much and just having
that real understanding.
And it's not them beingstubborn or a difficult dog or
doing anything to fight you.

Hmm.

just one of those, you know, developmental things that
everybody goes through and, you know,you know, humans go through it as well,

Yeah.

All sorts of stories about teenagers getting up to

Yeah.

next thing you know when they go through adolescence
and when you know they're intheir teens and things like that.
And it's

Yeah.

for our dogs.

So yeah, obviously it happens a lot earlier.
So I wanted to touch on the point yousaid about males being a bit more fearful.
So they do go through, and nota lot of pet parents may know
this, it's the second fear cycle.
It's normally from abouteight to 10 months.
Is that right?

And although it's kind of called a second second
fear cycle, it is more to do withadolescents and the hormonal changes.

I did wonder that, because I was thinking
they've got this second fear circle.
I don't really know what that means.
But then they've got adolescents,they've got all this brain fog, and
like you say, they're by no meansmeaning to, to ignore you or to do
like things that they shouldn't be.
But they're, they've got a lotthat they're, they're dealing with.
So you, you are saying it's actuallysort of more of the same then the, the,

Yeah, I think so.
And you know, again, I like tomake the comparison to humans.
'cause I think a lot of the time whenyou're speaking to people about it in
relation to their dog, if you can link it.
To the human concept, it'seither something they've gone
through themselves or they knowsomeone that's gone through it.

Yeah.

interesting what you were sort of saying about the
brain fog and things like that.
You know, obviously when women gothrough perimenopause and menopause
and, and things like that, youknow, I'm at that age now, you
know, you kind of become a little

My.

You

My mum.
My mum, bless her, she's in her sixties.
She's been going through it for years,and she's still having problems.
Bless her.
So I've, yeah, you've got my,you've got my respect you ladies.

But you know, it all joking apart, it is
exactly the same for the dogs.

Yeah.

you know, if people can kind of relate to that and understand
that, I think that gives people adeeper understanding of their dog.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, it's always good to (39:03):
undefined
compare, make comparisons.
And can you is it with smaller dogs,do they tend to start adolescents
in six months or does it just vary?

It varies.
It varies.

Hmm.

you know,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: I know with bigger dogs (39:18):
undefined
it's like a Yeah, go ahead.
My love.

no, no, no.
I was just gonna say, you know, with someof my dogs, I've not even noticed them go
through adolescence and hormonal changes

Oh,

same and you know, they've not been any different.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's interesting. (39:32):
undefined

But then of them you really, really do notice the change.
And like I was saying, one of my dogsreally, really sticks out for me,
and you probably know who that is.
Anyway, my dogs,
yeah.
Yeah, it, it does vary so much.
And you know, even with like,some of the girls, I mean, the
girls mature at different rates.

(39:56):
You know, I've, I've had dogsthat have come into season, you
know, and had their first seasonwhen they've been five months old.
And then at

Oh wow.

you know, I've had a dog that didn't have her first
season till she was 13 months old.
So, you know, it is all

Mm.

very, very different.
Very, very

Yeah.

what

Do female and male D Dashon Ds go through
adolescents at different ages or.

would say some of the girls earlier,

Yeah.
Mm-hmm.

I mean, I start to notice things with the boys around
sort of seven, eight months.
And like I say, with the girls,they can come into season sort of
as early as five or six months.
So

Yeah.

it does.
I do think in general the girls probablygo through it a little bit earlier.

Yeah.
And what I was saying earlier isthat I think the bigger dogs tend
to be later around about 18 months,or 12 to 18 months, but the smaller
dogs do tend to start earlier.
So, yeah, that's really interesting.
So if there's one thing that youw that you, if there's one thing
you wished all D and pet parents,guardians knew, what would it be?

I would say probably the biggest

I.

Is whatever you are going through, you're not alone.
You're not, and know it's absolutelyfine for you to reach out for help.
Don't sort of

Yeah.

by yourself or think you're the only one that's going through it.
You know, a lot of the time.
You know, when people get a newpuppy, it, it is very overwhelming.
You know, it's like when you have achild for the first time, it is, you
know, it's very, very emotional and, andyou know, sort of very, very similar.
And, you know, peoplestruggle and, you know.

(41:41):
like to call it the puppy blues, but youknow, that is something a bit like the
baby blues, again, the human analogy.
It's,

Yeah.

very real for a lot of people.
And you know, if you've got a dog orpup that's keeping you up half the night
and you know, you're sleep deprived andyou know, you can't get your dog to do
what you want them to do and they're notdoing this and they're not doing that,
you know, it is, it is really, reallyemotional and you know, to anybody,
I would say don't suffer in silence.

(42:09):
Reach out for help.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Brilliant. (42:11):
undefined
My God, we've literallysailed through this episode.
It is literally been jampacked with information.
It's so, I love it.
So we're gonna spend the next sort of fiveminutes or so just sort of wrapping up.
So for someone who might be strugglingright now, what would you say to
them to make them feel more hopefulor to help them feel more hopeful?

just.
Whatever it is that you're goingthrough at the moment, it is just
a point in your pet's journey,

Mm.

know, and you know, just sort of reiterating around, you know,
the adolescent side of things, you know?
Yes.
That can start at any time from, youknow, 5, 6, 7 months and go on, you know,
until sort of 18 months to two years and,

Yeah.

you know, it's, it is just that moment in time and.
You know, once you've kind of gonethrough that and things settle down,
you know, you'll kind of look backon it and think, it wasn't that bad.
I probably would do that again.

Yeah.

you know, whatever anybody's going through, you
know, it, it isn't forever.
And like I say, it isjust that point in life.

Yeah.
I love that.
And basically if someone was looking atgetting a d you, you'd, you'd recommend
them researching the breed, wouldn't you?
And doing their homework.

percent.
And you know, I think particularlyjust sort of going back to what we were
talking about earlier with how I selectmy puppy owners, so I have a form that.
A potential puppy owner has to fill inbecause I basically wanna know everything
about this person, you know, what they do,what their work is, what their family set

(44:01):
up is, and this, that, and the next thing.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's good. (44:04):
undefined
Your father.

one of the questions that I do ask on there is around
they aware of the potentialhealth issues that DAXs can have?
And there

Yes,

know, sort of some quite serious health issues that they can have.
So I think.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: that's right. (44:20):
undefined

You know, not to put the sort of downer on someone wanting to
get a puppy, but I think, you know,with anything, you've gotta go into
it, you know, with your eyes wide openand actually, you know, be prepared
for the fact that, you know, we asbreeders do as much as we possibly
can around, you know, selectingdogs for temperament confirmation.

(44:43):
We do all

Mm.

health tests to make sure you know that we're.
Breeding the healthiest puppiesthat we possibly can, but

Yeah.

only so much we can do because there is still a
small chance that, you know, some,something might happen, you know,
sort of later on down the line.
So really it's, you know, sort ofnailing people down and, you know, making
sure that people are aware of that.
And

Yeah.

does go wrong, are they gonna be prepared for it?

Yeah.

and what that's likely to involve.
And then, you know, it's aroundsort of researching the breed.
You know, things like how muchexercise the breed needs, what, what
sort of exercise they need, whatsort of things they're gonna find
most rewarding, what sort of mentalstimulation are they gonna enjoy.
You know, I.
Things like, for example, you know,the fact that they're a scent hound

(45:35):
and they're very, very cent driven.
So tapping into that sort of thingand you know, just getting people to
research so they can understand what.
The dog is that they're getting and how

Mm.

provide the best possible enriching life for that dog.
And,

Yeah.

we can educate as much as we possibly can, you know,
as breeders and, you know, there's,there's probably breeders out there
that maybe don't go into as much detailand give as much information as I do.

Mm.

you know, I of like people to.
everything before theythen make a commitment.

Yeah.
I just want to quickly, really touch,quickly touch on just about IVDD.
So we mentioned about obviouslythey're doing their research, but
IVDD is something that potentialpeople should know about, isn't it?
'cause it could happen.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

And you know, it's also as well being aware of the condition
you know, it's a condition that.
Affects their back and can

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: That's right. (46:42):
undefined
Yeah.

dogs need surgery for it.
Other times, you know, they can berehabilitated with, you know, sort
of conservative treatment like painrelief, crate rest, things like that.
I mean, I've seen dogs recoverwithout surgery and then I've seen

Oh.

have needed surgery.
You know, I've seen some that have hadsurgery two or three different times.
So, you know, it is being aware of that.

Yeah.

that, you know, the disease does exist and whilst we do everything
we possibly can to, to minimize it,

Mm

you know, as a breeder, given your puppy owners advice on
how to mitigate against the risks.
So the types of exercise, theactivities you allow your doctor to do.
Things like

mm.

their weight to a good weight, looking at diet and, you
know, sort of everything like that.
And it, you know, it'skind of given people.
That awareness around that.

Yeah.
I just thought it was really importantjust to touch on it because it is
something you know that you do see, andI just think if someone was new to the
breed, it is something they should reallybe aware of and they wanna look into.

But also, you know, sort of off the back of that as well,
you know, there is another conditionthat they can suffer from, which is
a condition that affects their eyes.
So it's called progressiveretinal, a trophy.

PRA.

ERA, so you've

Yeah.

So yeah, basically what that is, that that's a
condition that affects their eyes.
So what, as a breeder, what you haveto do is you have to test all your
breeding stock to see whether theycarry the gene or whether they're
clear of it and what you have todo within your breeding program.
Dogs that carry the gene, absolutely fine.
They won't be affected by it.

(48:24):
They just carry the gene andthey, it means that they can
pass it on to their offspring.
But what you have to do with breedingis you have to then put them to
a dog that's clear of the gene.
So what will then happen is eachpuppy within that litter has a
50 50 chance of being a carrieror being clear of the gene.
But what you can't do is if you'vegot two carriers of the gene.

(48:47):
can't breed them together because there'sa 50 50 chance that the puppies will
either be carriers or they'll be affected.
And if they're affected, itmeans they could go blind at some
point later on in their life.

Oh gosh.
Yeah.

yeah, again, health testing and you know, if anyone's
looking to get a puppy, these arethe sorts of questions that you
know, that people need to be asking

It,

And

it

what help

should,

been done.

yeah.
The only reason I knew about, 'causethe toy peles had to be tested for it.

Yeah.

So it is important, like you say, if you
are, if you are getting a puppy thatyou do ask that they've had these
relevant health checks and stuff.
Yeah.

absolutely.
And not only just ask him,but actually ask to see

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: the result. (49:27):
undefined

it.

Yeah.
See the evidence.
Yeah.

Yeah,

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Yeah, definitely. (49:30):
undefined
Brilliant.
So I absolutely love the breed.
Obviously I've met your, I'veobviously helped look after your
guys a couple of times and seen themwhen I come around for a couple,
but, and Kimmy like seems to love me.
But I'm sure she's like witheveryone, she likes to gimme a wash.

She loves everyone.
That dog.

So I mean they're just, I, I walk a few as
well, so we've got a few Dax on our booksand like they're just full of character.
I just think like they're justreally, they're really spirited.

They, they really are.
And they're so funny.

Yeah.

funny.
And you know, each, like I say,each of my dogs, they bring
something completely different.
To

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Their own personalities. (50:12):
undefined

I mean, I've, I've got dogs that make me laugh from
the minute I get up to the minuteI go to bed because they're just so
funny and the things that they do.
And then, you know, you've gotthe real, like soft ones that
are like really, really cuddly.
And then you've got the others.
That are more scentdriven than the others.
So, you know, you can go out and do sometraining and have some real fun with them.

(50:36):
Whereas some of the others,they're kind of like, they're,
they're not too fussed about it.
They'd rather sit andhave a cuddle on the sofa.
But you know, each one of my dogsbrings something different to the
table and yeah, they're amazing.
I'm

they're,

they aren't.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: yeah, I love, I love them as well. (50:50):
undefined
They're such, such,such little characters.
So I'm Nicky.
Where can our listeners findout more about your work or
to follow your gorgeous gang?

So I have a Facebook page, which is opi d
din, so that's O-P-I-E-D-X, dins.
That's my

Yeah.

And then I've got a website, which is www.opax.co
uk.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh, and they can reach out to you (51:18):
undefined
if they wanna get a, a new gorgeousDexy puppy or join your waiting list,

Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, our waiting list for thisyear and next year is already open.

right.

so, you know, if anyone is looking for a part and they want to join
a waiting list, absolutely get in touch.
But also as well, you know, if, ifthere's anybody sort of listening
that's struggling with any elementof their Dixon's behaviour,

Yeah.

like I said, you know, don't suffer in silence, reach

Mm.

you know, I'm more than happy to, to help anyone.
So yeah, feel free to get in contact.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Brilliant. (51:55):
undefined
They can just get in touch withall your website or on Facebook.
Yeah.

Yeah, Eva is absolutely fine.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Oh brilliant. (52:01):
undefined
So do reach out to Nicky NickyHammel one of our breed specialists.
It's been fantastic talkingto you about the danne today.
Thank you for joining me on theYappy Hour powered by Yappily.
It's been a great conversationand we will chat again soon.

Thank you for having me.
It's been lovely.

Nathan Dunleavy - The Yappy Hour: Thank you. (52:26):
undefined

I.
What's a brilliantepisode with Nicky Hammel.
Here are just a few of thetakeaways from our chat today.
Number 1D sounds are bold,bright, and deeply sensitive.
Understanding their emotional worldis the key to supporting them.
Number two, common struggles likebarking or reactivity, often stem from

(52:50):
fear or frustration, not naughtiness.
Number three, early support enrichmentand positive training can make a world of
difference for both puppies and adults.
Number four, responsible breedingplays a huge role in setting
up dogs for a lifelong success.
Nicky, thank you so much for joining me.
Today and for being such a brilliantvoice for this amazing little breed.

(53:13):
If you'd like to learn more aboutNicky's work, be sure to check
her out on social media and followalong with her fabulous Dashan GaN.
If you enjoyed this episode,don't forget to leave a review.
Share it with a fellow dog loverand sub and subscribe so you never
miss an episode of the Yappy Hour.
Thanks for listening, andI'll see you next time.

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