Michael - ADOPTED Dachshund Wilmington, DE

Michael is a purebred miniature longhaired Dachshund from the country of Taiwan.  He is 1.5 years old and weighs 11 pounds (as of 2/20/2013).


Michael's rescued story


Michael was specially bred and trained to be a show dog by his owner who boarded Michael with a dog trainer since Michael was months old to prepare Michael to enter into dog shows; however, after months of boarding, Michael's owner had stopped visiting him and paying boarding fee.  He totally disappeared and was nowhere to be found.  All the trainings had been stopped and Michael started to spend more time being locked in a cage along with some other small breeds that have the same situation as Michael's.   The dog trainer did not dump those dogs as many other irresponsible Taiwanese owners nor starve them, but he did not give them freedom of getting out of the cage either.


In last November, a dog rescuer accidently visited the dog trainer's facility and was shocked by those dogs horrible living conditions.  She offered the help and started to take few dogs each time and provided them medical exams and treatments they needed.  Michael is one of the lucky ones in the first rescued group.


Completed medical information


After a serious of medical exams including 4 Idexx (Heartworm, Lyme, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma Phagocytophilum), CBC blood work, Biochemistry blood work and a DNA test for six different diseases that are transferred by fleas or ticks, Michael luckily appeared to be a healthy dog that did not carry any diseases and was also negative on distemper.


In a routine X-rays check on Michael's hip joints and spine that showed Michael had very mild hip dysplasia on his left hip but his right hip is normal.  The hip dysplasia does not affect Michael's daily activities.


Michael is neutered, de-wormed, up to date on all vaccinations including a rabies shot.  He is heartworm negative and on preventative treatment and is micro chipped.  All his medical documents including X-rays films on his hips will be given to the adopter when he is adopted.


Michael's temperaments and personality


Even spending months being caged, Michael never changed his sweet personality.  He loves to be hugged and stay at people side; he is also very friendly to every person he meets.  Michael is currently living with his foster parents and their toddler daughter in Taiwan.  Because of Michael's small size, the foster mom often carries Michael in her front with a baby carrier while she is out to the bank or post office.  She said Michael seems to enjoy staying in the baby carrier and is extremely well-behaved and quietly.  He seems to like this kind of attention from the people.


Michael enjoys walks; he is a small dog but not easily be scared by noise surrounding him.  The foster mom often walks Michael on the leash on busy streets, sometimes there was road construction on the road but Michael responded to the noise and heavy traffic calmly.   Because of receiving training before, Michael is excellent on the leash, even the toddler can walk Michael with leash.  Michael is gentle and has great temperaments toward children.  The foster mom indicated that sometimes her toddler accidently stepped on Michael's tail but Michael never showed upset or aggression toward her daughter.  He is a calm and submissive dog.  The foster mom also said Michael is very behaved while she is bathing him.


Michael is neither food nor toy aggressive or possessive toward people and children.  He does not mind his bowl being taken away while he is eating.  Michael's foster mom is a music teacher who teaches piano class to elementary age children at her own studio.  She brings Michael to her studio every day, she said all her students love Michael because Michael is affectionate; he would lie next to the piano chair while the student was taking the class.  He also likes to sit on the students' lap while they are chatting.


Michael does not like to be left alone nor be crated; he would cry for a bit.  But if he has a dog buddy to keep him company then he would be fine and quiet.  Michael gets along very well with dogs of all sizes.  We think Michael will do best with family who does not crate Michael and also has a dog as mellow as Michael.   

 Being caged for a long period of time in his puppyhood, Michael was never taught to potty outside until being rescued.  He is progressing everyday but still not complete housebroken yet.  Michael  does not show to be a chewer in his foster home so far, but he does not know how to play toys either, so we still do not know what type of his favorite toy is.  He needs people who understand where he came from and patiently give him time and chance to learn and find out what he has been missing.


More videos of Michael are as follow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=210uVr_dG8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phg7y59maxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3ZtNc7MU9U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoCmEHLIVCg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppd1JYmOPg8

Michael is currently living in Taiwan and will be in the US by April 10th, 2013; he will be staying with our foster family in North Wilmington, Delaware after his arrival. A visible fencing yard for Michael is preferred.  If you are seriously thinking to give Michael a loving permanent home, please contact us to ask for an adoption application.  Sorry, we do not accept drop-by visits.  Before meeting our dog, the prospective adopter needs to fill out the application and gets approved.