Is Your Dachshund Living Their Best Life?

My goal is to help your Dachshund be the happiest and healthiest they can be.

What does that mean?

It means that you are here to:

• Learn how to improve your Dachshund’s health through a better diet, properly caring for their backs, appropriate exercise, and more!
• Find out how to enrich your Dachshund’s life through hiking, camping, traveling, and providing more mental stimulation.

If you are interested in giving your Dachshund the best life possible, you will discover a lot of helpful information on this blog, especially if you stick around and explore a little.

Breaking Stereotypes Is Our Thing

We like surprising people and making a difference so underlying all of this is the theme of breaking stereotypes like:

• Dachshunds are aggressive and impossible to train
• Only big dogs need a lot of exercise (small dogs need regular exercise too – energy level is more dependent on breed than the size of the dog)
• Because of their propensity for back issues, you need to vigilantly protect your Dachshund from activity and being a “real dog”
• A Dog’s outdoor adventuring is over if they deal with a chronic condition that puts them at risk for re-injury (Gretel is a senior dog with a bad back and Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD)
• Pleasantly plump dogs are cute (No, no they are not. They’re just fat and at risk of developing weight-related health issues. It’s sad really)

If you want to learn about the Dachshund breed, or how to hike, camp, travel, and adventure with your small dog, from an expert, you’re in the right place!

The Best Resource for Dachshund Parents on the Web

Hi, I’m Jessica. I have a PhD in Dachshundology.

Kidding. There is no such thing. But if there was, I would have earned it!

I started the first Dachshund on the blog for pet parents back in 2010.

I quit my job as a scientist in 2012 to be a stay-at-home Dachshund Mom and apply my research skills to study the breed full time.

I’ve gained experience with hundreds of Dachshunds over the years through:

• Rasing 3 of my own
• Hearing stories from readers and our Dachshund club members
• As a Dachshund-specific dog walker and sitter for 8 years

I’ve also been hiking, camping, traveling, and adventuring with my small dogs since 2002.

I am not a veterinarian but, honestly, I know more in-depth information about Dachshund traits, characteristics, and health issues than most of them do.

Disclaimer: I’m happy to share my knowledge and experience but ALWAYS recommend that you check with your veterinarian after doing  your own research.

My blog has been been used as reference by Wikipedia.com, the Parsemus Foundation, Dachshund IVDD UK (exercise) (neutering) (body condition), and has appeared on Matador Network (Seattle Bloggers You Need to Follow) and SheKnows (Top 5 Pet Bloggers).

Credentials:

• Over 4,000 hours studying Dachshund genetics, behavior, health, training, and more!
• Certificate: Growly Greeters Foundation Skills
• Personal (Pet Care) Coach certified through the Certified Coaches Alliance (Cert #: 18521)
• Walks N’ Wags 10-hour Pet First Aid with Off the Grid supplement

Have Any Questions?

If you’re saying “tell me more about” but can’t find and answer using the navigation menu on the home page, please send your question to me at Jessica(at)PetTalkMedia(dot)com or message me via our Facebook page.

If I don’t have the answer for you (I probably do), I will find out or point you in the direction of someone who does.

Wait, Don’t Go!

Have you checked out our most popular posts page?

Articles that our readers love include:

7 Reasons Why Hiking with a Small Dog is Better

21 Things About Dachshunds Every Owner Should Know

11 Funny Things About Dachshunds Only Owners Will Understand

We’d appreciate it if you checked them out and shared them with your friends.

Oh, and don’t forget to keep coming back for more!

Expert Interviews and Features

I have experience with both TV and Radio Interviews.

I’ve have been quoted as an expert on the topic of hiking and camping with small dogs, the Dachshund breed, and turning a blog into a small business, many times over the years.

If you are interested in having me as a guest on your podcast or TV show, please contact me.

Below are some of the places that my interviews and this blog have appeared.

The Outdoor Minimal Podcast: Hiking with Small Dogs (Episode 34)

People are used to seeing large or medium-sized dogs when out hiking, but dogs of all sizes enjoy hiking and playing outside. In this video, I share my best tips for taking small dogs on outdoor adventures.

Feature: Hot dog! Wiener dogs strut their stuff at Gateway Park – Kitsap Daily News, March, 2022

The February meetup in Silverdale, WA for the active Dachshund Club  – The Adventureweiner Club – we founded was featured featured in print and online.

Interview: How This Dog Mom Makes $5-$10k a Month Through Her Blog – Wear Wag Repeat Podcast – November 17, 2021

The Wear Wag Repeat podcast features conversations with women in the pet industry about business and dogs.

In this interview, I speak with Tori about how I turned a hobby blog about my dogs into a little “blogging empire” that provides an income exceeding what I made at my last mid-level corporate job.

This is a follow up to a previous interview about how to optimize your pet content to get more people to your website.

Interview: Dog Waste and the Environment – National Park Paws – December 2018

Before becoming a professional blogger, I worked in the environmental field for 10 years.

A self-dubbed “dog poop queen”, I studied the impact pet waste has on the environment and all of the potential ways to manage this waste.

In this interview, I discuss how dog poop left on the trail impact the environment and the proper, and best way to dispose of it while you’re hiking.

Humarian Health Podcast – Pet Blogger Interview – June 20, 2018

Podcast Interview: I join Dr. B. to talk about miniature Dachshunds, why it’s unwise to make assumptions about the physical capabilities of a dog based on its size, hiking with small dogs, precautions to take when hiking with dogs.

TV Interview: King 5 Evening Magazine – May 2018

Headline: Adventurewiener Club in Seattle Proves Size Doesn’t Matter

“The misconception with a lot of people is that the size of the dog equates to their athletic ability or endurance, but that’s not true,” said Jessica Williams, Founder of Adventurewiener Club.

Interview: These Short-legged Hikers Lead Their Owner to New Heights – March 2017

Interview: How to Make Your Workspace Equally Comfortable for You and Your Pets – May 2017

Monthly Radio Segment: The Dog Buzz – approximately May 2013 to December 2014

I appeared on the KIRO Radio 97.9 FM show – It’s Raining Cats and Dogs with Shawn Stewart – for a feature interview segment called The Dog Buzz. I was a regular on the show for a over a year and a half.

Northwest.com – It’s Raining Cats and Dogs – May 7, 2013

Radio Interview: Big Adventures with Little Dogs

AKC Family Dog Magazine – May/June 2013

Expert Interview: Small Dogs, Big Adventures – Preparing Your Pint-Sized Dog for the Great Outdoors p.32