A dachshund is a small dog with very short legs and a long, low body — the shape people joke about by calling it a 'sausage dog' or 'hot dog dog'. That silly shape has a serious reason: the dog was bred in Germany to go down holes in the ground and pull badgers and rabbits out, so it needed to be long and thin enough to fit in a tunnel, with short strong legs for digging. They come in different coats (short and smooth, long and silky, or rough and wiry) and in two sizes, standard and miniature. As a word, 'dachshund' is the normal, correct name you would use at a vet's office or in a book. In everyday talk, though, many English speakers say 'sausage dog' (more British) or 'wiener dog' / 'doxie' (more American) — friendly, slightly joking names for the same animal. Note that 'dachshund' does not name a personality, but people who own them will tell you these dogs are famously stubborn and famously loud for their size.