On the 5th October 2025, we got to bring home the newest addition to our family — our little Winston.
Four weeks before that, when we first met him, he was tiny. Genuinely about the size of one of my hands. He was this sweet, innocent little boy, barely able to see properly yet, and it may sound cheesy, but it really was love at first sight.
We had wanted a dog for at least six years, and then one day I found Winston.
He was a tiny little boy whose sister had already been chosen, so we contacted the owner and asked if we could come and see him. Deep down, I think we both knew that if we were allowed to meet him, there was absolutely no way we were going to say no.
I’ve never really understood how you can go and choose one puppy out of a litter and not fall in love. In my mind, before we even met Winston, we already knew we were going to be his parents.
Four weeks later, the day finally came.
We thought we were prepared. We had everything ready for him — his own little crate area, food options, toys, puppy pads, and even a small area set up in the garden for him. But my goodness, nothing quite prepares you for how tiring those first few weeks are.
Now, this is coming from a couple who don’t have children, but honestly, we were exhausted.
We went to collect Winston with some help from a friend, and when we arrived, he was bouncing around the room full of life. His sister had already gone to her new home, and now it was Winston’s turn to come to his forever home.
There he was, this tiny little ball of fluff running around like a crazy thing, and all we could do was smile. He was just beautiful. Happy, tiny, fluffy, and completely perfect.
We had brought a very small dog collar with us, and even on the smallest setting, it was still too big for him. So, with his massive collar on, we attached the lead and took Winston out to the car.
We had also brought a pet carrier so we could keep him safe on the journey home. Some people prefer to have their puppy on their lap for that first journey, to help them feel safe, but we decided to pop Winston in his carrier and stay close to him in the car.
And we couldn’t believe it.
He fell fast asleep.
It was as if he already knew he was going somewhere he would be loved and cared for.
The night we brought Winston home was one of the stormiest, windiest, rainiest nights we had all year. Typical.
We had this lovely plan that, as soon as we got him home, we would take him straight outside and start toilet training right away.
That did not quite go to plan.
We did take him outside, but even we didn’t want to be out there, so we felt incredibly guilty putting this tiny little puppy outside in the wind and rain. We gave it about 20 minutes and then decided to introduce the puppy pads instead.
Once inside, Karl gave Winston a full tour of his new home. He showed him around and told him what was his. I’m not sure if most people do this, but we did — and honestly, it felt right.
After his little house tour, the next step was helping him get used to us. We knew we were strangers to him, and we wanted him to know he was safe, loved and never going to be abandoned. At the same time, we also wanted to start setting gentle boundaries and help him become independent too.
That first night, Karl took puppy duty.
He basically stayed downstairs with Winston. If Winston fell asleep on our laps, we would carefully pop him back into his crate, with the door left open. Even though Winston wasn’t making much noise, there was still a lot of waking up, checking on him and making sure he was okay.
I had booked a week of annual leave for when Winston first came home, and this is something we would definitely recommend if you can do it. Having that time together meant we could bond with him, learn more about him, and help him slowly learn about life with us too.
Winston wasn’t like every puppy you see online who seems to sleep all the time. He struggled to know when to stop. He would keep going and going until he was overtired, so we had to introduce proper nap times.
Forced naps became a huge part of our puppy routine.
We quickly realised that having a safe area for your puppy is one of the best things you can do. We did some crate training, but we also liked Winston having enough space to move around when we weren’t right next to him. So, we probably did things a little differently to some people, but it worked for us.
As long as your puppy feels safe, secure and settled in your home, you can build from there.
For the first few days, we slept downstairs with him. This meant we could take him out during the night and start getting used to his routine. We worked out he was usually only waking up to go to the toilet two or three times a night, so we started setting alarms and taking him out before he got too unsettled.
If we got the timing slightly wrong, that was okay. We still kept puppy pads in his pen as a backup and simply adjusted the timing again.
During the day, we had a rule for ourselves: if Winston had eaten or had a drink, we would take him outside about half an hour later. When he went to the toilet outside, we praised him and gave him a small low-fat puppy treat.
That was how we rewarded him for going outside.
As he got bigger, his bladder control improved, and we eventually reached the stage where he hadn’t had any accidents in the house since he was around four months old.
The biggest thing we learnt was that positive praise works really, really well with dachshunds.
Even for the smallest things.
If he sat quietly, we praised him.
If he settled himself, we praised him.
If he did anything we wanted to encourage, we praised him.
It sounds so basic, but at first we didn’t realise how powerful it was.
About a week in, we noticed something funny. Winston would only really make a noise if he had been to the toilet in his pen. In his own little way, he was basically saying, “Erm, excuse me, can someone clean this up for me?”
From that point, we started leaving him downstairs once he had fallen asleep.
We also got a puppy camera, and honestly, it has been one of the best things we bought. We still use it now when we’re at work and for training. It gave us peace of mind, especially during those early nights when every tiny noise made us wonder if he needed us.
We would sleep upstairs with the camera on, and if we heard a noise, we would check first.
This was an important part of the separation training for us. We didn’t rush straight down every single time. We would check the camera, wait a moment, and only go down calmly if he actually needed us.
Winston’s pen had everything he needed: a couple of toys, a soft bed, two cuddle toys with heartbeats and heat pads, a jumper that smelt of both of us, puppy pads, a water bowl, and a soft ramp so he could get in and out of his crate area safely.
We also kept track of his weight from early on. Dachshunds love their food, and weight can creep up so easily with them, so we wanted to make sure we were feeding him the right amount and keeping him healthy as he grew.
And then there were the phantom puppy noises.
If you know, you know.
Those little sounds you think you hear when they’re asleep. The sudden panic that they’re crying. The checking, rechecking, listening, wondering, worrying — only to realise they are completely fine and fast asleep.
They are definitely a thing.
Looking back now, those first few weeks were exhausting, emotional, funny, chaotic and completely full of love. We made mistakes, we learnt as we went, and we definitely Googled far too many things at 2am.
But bringing Winston home was the start of everything.
He changed our routine, our priorities, our home and, eventually, he became the reason behind Dax & Hound Co.
Because once you love a dachshund, you very quickly realise they are not just dogs.
They are tiny, long-bodied, stubborn, hilarious little family members who completely take over your heart.
And Winston took over ours from day one.
This is only the beginning of Winston’s story.
We’ll be sharing a follow-on blog soon about those first few weeks at home, what we learnt as new puppy parents, and the little routines that helped Winston settle into family life.
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