Left, Samson, a purebred longhaired Dachshund / Right, Copper, a Dorgi hybrid
"Copper is 6 months old in this photo and he is a Dorgi. His dad was a pure Corgi and his mother was a pure long haired Mini Dachshund. He weighs 13 pounds, I don’t expect him to get much larger."
"His little sidekick in the photo is Samson, a purebred long haired Mini Doxie that was going to be put to sleep or given to a shelter, and we couldn't have that."
"Copper is very full of energy, but not destructive at all, and he has some of the Dachshund traits in that he is very much a free thinker. He’s got a lot of “common sense”. He doesn't want you angry at him, but once he’s set his mind on something, it is very hard to get him away from it. He does have a tendency to “follow his nose” so we can’t ever let him off his leash."
"He’s very playful with Samson and I am surprised that there’s never been any real fighting between them, especially given their sizes. Copper gets along great with our 3 cats, but he doesn't always understand why they don’t want to play with him. :)"
"We have 2 acres and for the majority of the day they are out of their crates and frolic around the office on the property or out in the backyard. Once they are worn out, they take a nap in their crates for about 2-3 hours. They like to be crated together, so we do have a big crate we can put them in and we call it “cage fighting” they just wrestle and play and wear themselves down! When it’s quiet time though, they are crated separately."
"After watching a couple of episodes of the Dog Whisperer, I did use one of the techniques, and found that Copper actually did respond well. Where Cesar often puts 2 fingers on the dogs neck to ‘snap its focus to you’, I have found Copper responds to this and I was able to train him to follow “finger snaps”. So he knows if we are in the office, finger snaps mean, lay on your pillow. And outside it means to go wait for me to finish taking the puppy potty. He’ll sit quietly while me and Samson wander about the yard. I was surprised in a way, but I think Copper understands now that I’m the boss, and he’s willing to be more compliant. I have to say, I would not have considered myself a dog person, but this Dorgi is a very good mix and I really think people will enjoy them!"
