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Lisa Huft-Dupler has always had a knack for spotting dachshunds in the wild.
In fact, the 58-year-old Upper East Sider is so good at it that she created the Instagram account @DachshundsOfNYC a decade ago to document the doxies she'd run into throughout the city.
When the self-appointed "professional stalker of urban weens" first started posting, a dachshund sighting felt like a rarity. Today, though, that couldn't be further from the truth.
"You didn't see them like you do now," Huft-Dupler said. "I used to give [my daughters] $5 if they saw a dachshund before me. Now, I would probably run out of cash."
That's one hot dog
These days, weiner dogs, sausage dogs, or doxies, as they're colloquially referred to, seem to be just about everywhere, whether they're sitting on the laps of their Aperol Spritz-drinking owners at cafés, shuffling their little legs down sidewalks with their human in tow, or wagging their tails in the display window of a pet store.
Dachshunds have decidedly become the latest "It" breed, offering the perfect pure-bred solution for pet owners looking for the goldilocks of dogs — that is, one that is more petite than a golden retriever, less controversial than a French bulldog, and, for now at least, a bit less basic than a doodle.
"Now, it's kind of the weenies that are taking over," said 29-year-old Abby Baffoe, who brought home her miniature longhaired dachshund Lady to her Manhattan apartment a little less than six months ago.
In the time since, she's noticed an uptick in the number she sees daily. "I'm like, am I more focused on it because I have one, or are they just everywhere? No, they're literally just everywhere."
Lisa Huft-Dupler
Dachshund fever isn't just anecdotal or limited to NYC — today, the breed is at its peak popularity in over two decades, sitting at the No. 6 spot on the American Kennel Club's most popular breed list in both 2023 and 2024.
Before jumping to its highest spot yet, the breed spent the past decade slowly climbing from No. 13 (2015 to 2017) to No. 9 (2022).
Dachshund registrations have jumped by more than 120% since 2014, AKC vice president of communications and public relations, Brandi Hunter Munden, told Business Insider.
Though dachshunds of all types — including longhaired, wire-haired, and smooth — are on the rise, the UK Kennel Club's registration data cites miniature smooths taking the lead with an over 275% increase in registrations since 2015.
So how did doxies become the dog du jour?
It's a dachshund's world
Owners and enthusiasts have a few theories. Of course, there is the comical hot-dog physique that grants the dachshunds instant recognizability.
"Physically, they're so funny to watch because they have these long bodies, short legs, and big snouts," said Christina Kirman, a Los Angeles-based content creator and momager to the viral 5-and 1-year-old weiners Winston and Willa.
"I mean, they're the most iconic shape that you can buy," said Huft-Dupler. The AKC, too, calls the breed "an icon of purebred dogdom."
The dachshund's long, low-hanging body also makes it a convenient option for frequent travelers, city dwellers, and first-time dog owners. Standard-size dachshunds rarely exceed 32 pounds, and miniatures often weigh less than 11 pounds, making them small enough to fly — or do just about anything — with their human.
Hunter Munden told BI that though the majority of the AKC's top breed spots are held by larger dogs, more portable breeds like the dachshund have been making a comeback over the past decade.
For 31-year-old Serena Kerrigan, that was a key part of her decision to get Pancho, her 10-month-old, 9-pound miniature English cream puppy. Living in a Manhattan apartment, a dog that could do without a yard made the most sense for her.
Plus, being able to transport him easily was a pro.
"I travel a ton, and I wanted a dog I could bring everywhere," she said. Pancho has traveled to Italy, the South of France, and the Hamptons — all before turning one. "I'm so committed to giving him the best life."
Christina Kirkman
Huft-Dupler, who got her first daschund 25 years ago, points to the dog's size as the reason her family can have three in their apartment — Cookie and Allie are both 15, and Ruby, the baby, is 2.
Soheila Shokraei, 24, who is a dog mom to 3-year-old miniature dachshund siblings Mabel and Rudy, and also lives in an apartment, couldn't imagine having a big dog in New York City.
"They don't need that much," she said. "They're very low maintenance. You walk them for 10 minutes and they're tired because their legs are so small."
Compared to other top canines like golden retrievers or labrador retrievers, dachshunds tend to be feistier, noisier, and more stubborn — perhaps because they were originally bred to hunt badgers many centuries ago.
That hound temperament can make training a little trickier, but it's also the reason the breed has their famously spunky personalities.
"These little dogs are 12 pounds, but they're full of this little bit of attitude," said 29-year-old Andrea Philbin, who comes from a dachshund-loving lineage (her mother also grew up with the breed) and rescued her own, a red miniature smooth named Rudy, in 2020.
"There's something about a dachshund," said Huft-Dupler.
Meet the dach-fluencers
But perhaps the biggest reason this breed's adoptions have seen an uptick over the past years is thanks to their cult following online.
As 29-year-old Carly Rivlin, who got her 4-½-year-old weiner dog Winston from Craigslist in 2021, puts it, "Social media has done a really great job of highlighting the personality and the dynamicness of the breed."
Indeed, a number of doxies have reached star status across the internet. Brands like Kiehl's and Target have already partnered with Kerrigan's doxie Pancho, who has about 140,000 Instagram followers — a number she calls "pretty insane."
"He's had over 30 million impressions in the past month," Kerrigan added.
Kerrigan declined to say how much brands have paid for sponsored posts with Pancho, but she did reveal that it looks like he'll be getting anything he wants from Hermès one day.
Kirkman's weenies Winston and Willa have become certifiable dogfluencers, having amassed nearly 3 million adoring followers across their social media accounts.
Based on the "thousands" of messages she receives and many in-person reactions, Kirkman estimates her account has influenced a good number of her followers to get their own sausage dog.
Andrea Philbin
Still, Kirkman wants to educate owners — especially new ones inspired by her own pups — about how to properly care for them.
"If anybody comes up to me saying that they're getting a dachshund, or they have gotten a dachshund because of Winston or Willa, I will say, they are the best breed," said Kirkman. "[But] please, make sure you do your research about their backs and their spines. They're not a low-maintenance breed or meant for every household."
For example, this breed's elongated bodies and short legs put them at risk for developing mobility issues or experiencing slipped discs — this can be an even bigger concern in homes with a lot of stairs.
Still, no matter how spirited their personalities ("They can be little assholes sometimes," said Rivlin) or as prone to health issues they may be, dachshund owners remain loyal — really, they're the ones pushing the doxie agenda.
"Dachshund owners are obsessive and passionate," said Huft-Dupler.
And like many other dedicated dachshund parents, Huft-Dupler can't help herself from collecting weiner-dog paraphernalia, citing her family's Jonathan Adler dachshund menorah as one of her prized possessions.
"I'm still waiting for a house in the country where I can have a room and just make everything dachshund," she said.
