Ha ha, great thread, welikes!!
our 2 cents... our red dachshund was not neurotic at all. very, very sweet like Worm. but on the other hand, he was huge for a dachshund. 24 lbs at one point, then we got him down to 22 lbs, where he was still a little overweight. tall w/longer legs than other dachshunds. so, he was overall pretty mellow for a wiener dog, but also perhaps 'cause he was larger.
Compared to Worm, the dachshund was much more eager to obey. Both are food driven, but dachshund was eager to please. Worm, ya gotta show him the $$ (food), before he'll do it! if he was a dwarf, the dachshund would definitely be "Happy," whereas that would be the last dwarf that Worm would be. Worm's definitely "Grumpy."
Worm is more mellow, stubborn, brooding, & disgruntled at times, than the dachshund ever was. Things we appreciate about Worm more than the doxy tho: no barking at people or other dogs, in fact, Worm doesn't even come to the front door to check out who's there. He waits for people to come to him. Worm is quieter overall, the doxy was much more a "barker." Also, the doxy woke up at sunrise, 5:30 or 6:00 a.m., whereas Worm lets us sleep in a little more, waking up at 8:30 or so. we like that
Worm-- i can completely trust around other dogs, small kids, toddlers, babies (we have lots of those in our complex here), & elderly people. The doxy, we could trust around other dogs & adults. But he would bark & become a bit aggressive w/toddlers, babies, & elderly people (esp ones who look frail). weird.
Worm & the doxy have much in common. Doxy uses his nose a lot too. We have to stop frequently on walks. He marked everywhere, including in the house. Both learned commands at a relatively quick pace, but i might say the doxy might be *a little* smarter than Worm so far. ('hey!!!') Doxy learned quickly how to get under blankets to get bones we hid under there. Worm still hasn't figured it out yet. instead, tries to 'dig thru' the blanket, instead of going under it. Doxy was more persistent & doesn't quit till he figures things out; Worm would give up pretty easily. Doxy was better at tug-o-war, strong jaw & strong grip. Worm-- well, we're working on that. the other puppies in playgroup always win with tug-o-war. Doxy-- very good at tracking games in the house. He had a very good nose. haven't tried w/Worm yet.
but otherwise, a lot of similar tendencies. curling up into balls, funny stretches, rolling on the back, rolling in poop, food-motivated, funny to watch!!
we crashed a beagles playgroup, that had 30 beagles at the dogpark + Worm. As a whole, the beagles were quite hyper, a few were aggressive w/each other-- lots of humping going on, and some brief fights/spats. Overall, it was not as enjoyable as when we accidentally crashed a Welsh corgi playgroup. (ie. went to the dogpark & all these corgis were there). They seemed to get along quite well w/Worm & each other. No humping, no aggression, no fights. Worm's temperament seems to fit better w/the corgis, and w/herding dogs in general, I've found (ie. collies & collie mixes too, & Australian shepherd mixes), better than w/beagles or with full bred retrievers. it's been interesting to observe, and we don't know why...!!