Then comes the rapid tippy-tap of paws as dozens of dachshunds race across the floor, noses first, eager to sniff new arrivals and dole out sloppy kisses. Charlotte, Cherleen, Kingston, Khaleesi and the rest of the pack are the main attraction at Bornz Too, a cafe in a Bangkok suburb where customers pay 300 baht ($9) to spend an hour and a half with more than 30 sausage dogs. “Coffee is secondary here,” says owner Phatthira Koosrivong.
When Phatthira started importing dachshunds about five years ago, she sold 10 to 20 puppies a year. Today, she places close to 100. “We don’t have to do any hard selling,” she says.
Her booming business reflects a broader surge in the short-legged breed’s popularity. From Bangkok to London to New York, demand has climbed as social media and celebrity owners amplify the breed’s appeal, while changes in how people live, work and build families reshape what they want in a pet. In 2025 dachshunds overtook poodles to become the American Kennel Club’s fifth-most-popular breed, after a decade-long climb from 13th place. In the UK, they were the Royal Kennel Club’s third-most-registered breed last year when all sizes and coat variations are tallied, behind only Labrador retrievers and cocker spaniels, with registrations doubling from a decade earlier.
Few dogs are better suited to the moment. Dachshunds are compact enough for urban life, distinctive enough for Instagram or TikTok and packed with personality. The breed comes in standard, miniature and rabbit sizes and three coat types — smooth-, long- and wire-haired — as well as dozens of color and pattern combinations. [...]
As cities grow denser, apartments shrink and homeownership drifts further out of reach for many young adults, the dachshund is becoming an ideal pet — small, adaptable and perfectly suited to urban living. Kisnica sees the same pattern in Bangkok that she did in Spain. “It’s definitely the breed that’s become very, very popular, especially among millennials without children,” she says. “They’re easy to have in an apartment or in a city.”
During a recent trip to Italy, I found myself photographing dachshunds almost as often as the scenery. They padded down cobblestone streets and appeared everywhere, from adverts in shop windows to tote bags, including one that reimagined Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam with a dachshund in Adam’s place.
Dachshunds were first bred in Germany about 500 years ago to hunt badgers underground and flush out foxes and rabbits. Their elongated bodies slipped easily through tunnels, while their oversize paws were built for digging and their loud bark helped hunters locate them below ground. The stubborn streak that delights and frustrates modern owners reflects the independence and bravery they needed to confront fierce prey.
New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge regularly features his dachshunds, Gus and Penny, on social media. Formula One driver Charles Leclerc’s dachshund, Leo, appeared in his wedding photos, while tennis players Anna Kalinskaya and Alexander Zverev have brought their pooches to Roland Garros. Actor Luke Evans, who stars as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, nicknamed his dachshund Lala “Frank-N-Wiener.”
The celebrity connection long predates social media. David Hockney and Andy Warhol owned dachshunds, as did John Wayne and Elizabeth Taylor.
Image: Waltraud Grubitzsch/Getty Images; Andy and Archie; Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
[ed. I've grown up with dachshunds almost all my life and they're the best dogs, hands down. We have a Dachsund Festival in our town each year. Here are a few pics: Wiener-Palooza.]
[ed. I've grown up with dachshunds almost all my life and they're the best dogs, hands down. We have a Dachsund Festival in our town each year. Here are a few pics: Wiener-Palooza.]
