Long Haired Dachshund

A long haired dachshund carries a double coat, a longer topcoat over a softer undercoat, and October is when both layers start doing something different at once. The shift is triggered by shortening daylight more than by temperature, so it can start before the weather actually feels like fall. The result is the same every year: noticeably more loose hair around the house, and a coat that needs a bit more attention than it did all summer.

The Coat Does Twice the Work This Month

What feels like sudden shedding is really the undercoat thickening in to insulate for winter while old summer hair releases to make room for it. Both processes run at the same time for a few weeks, which is why October often feels heavier than September even though the temperature hasn't dropped that much yet. It's normal, not a sign anything's wrong with your dog's coat.

Brush With the Grain, More Often

A longer coat needs the brush to follow the direction hair actually grows, working from the skin outward, or it just skims the surface without reaching the undercoat underneath. During the fall blow, a quick daily pass catches loose hair before it has a chance to mat, which matters more than one long session done once a week. A grooming kit gives you the right combination of tools in one place, useful since a longer coat asks for a bit more than a single brush can handle.

Mat-Prone Spots Need a Closer Look

Feathering behind the ears, along the legs, and under the tail is the first place a long haired dachshund's coat mats, since it's finer and gets less airflow than the topcoat elsewhere. Those same spots are usually the first to get properly wet on a damp fall walk too, so a full dry afterward matters more here than a quick towel-off. Keeping a towel by the door big enough to work through the whole coat, not just wipe the surface, makes that easier to actually do every time.

Wipe Down Before They're All the Way In

A dachshund's low, long build means their belly and leg fur brush through more mud and wet leaves on a fall walk than a taller dog's ever would. Catching that at the door instead of after they've already jumped on the couch saves the furniture and keeps debris from working into the coat overnight. A stack of kitchen towels kept by the entryway turns that into a fast habit rather than an afterthought.

Rain Is Harder on a Longer Coat Than a Short One

Wet fur takes longer to dry the more of it there is, and a coat that stays damp for hours is more likely to mat and hold onto smell than one that dries quickly. Evenings are also getting darker earlier, which matters for a dog as low to the ground and hard to spot as a dachshund. A raincoat with a leash hole keeps the coat underneath dry through a drizzly walk, and the reflective strips earn their keep once daylight starts running out before your walk does.

Their Favourite Spot Needs Washing Too

Wherever your dachshund naps most is collecting a lot more loose hair than it did a month ago, right along with everything else in the house. Washing it on the same rhythm as your grooming routine, rather than waiting until it looks like it needs it, keeps ahead of the shed instead of chasing it. Swapping in a washable blanket for their bed or your couch turns that into a five minute wash instead of a bigger clean.

Move Grooming Into the Evening

Shorter days are a reasonable excuse to stop squeezing grooming in before a rushed morning walk and move it somewhere slower instead. Ten unhurried minutes after dinner gets through a coat more thoroughly than five distracted ones ever will, and it's a nicer way to spend the evening besides. Pulling on something comfortable, like a pair of pyjamas, is a small way to make that wind-down time feel like part of the routine rather than one more task before bed.

A Small Fall Refresh Around the House

None of this is about coat care specifically, but October is a reasonable time to let a few small dachshund touches settle into the house along with everything else changing this month. A toothbrush holder on the bathroom counter or a decanter on the bar cart are small enough that they don't take any real effort, but they're the kind of thing that makes a space feel like it's caught up with the season.

Make the Most of the Good Weekends Left

October usually still has a run of decent weekend weather before it turns properly cold, so it's worth getting out for it while it lasts, a park loop, an orchard trip, whatever gets you both outside a little longer than a normal walk. A lunch bag keeps snacks and water cold enough to make a half-day outing easy to say yes to instead of something you talk yourself out of.

A Coat That's Built for This

None of what a long haired dachshund's coat does in October is a problem to solve, it's just what a double coat does when the season turns. A closer brushing routine, a bit more attention to the spots that mat first, and drying them off properly after a wet walk cover most of what actually changes this time of year. The rest is just settling into it together.

Explore Daizy Dogs for grooming tools, blankets, walking gear, and home touches made for long haired dachshund life as the season turns. 🐾💛