Dachshunds have the same number of vertebrae as other dogs, so the answer is nein, I mean no. The number of vertebrae is 30 not nine and not counting the tail. 7 cervical or neck, 13 thoracic or chest, 7 lumbar or lower back, 3 sacrum or pelvic, there are up to 26 caudal or tail bones. The main reason a dachshund looks like a sausage is its short legs combined with a relatively thin tubular body. Its more that he is half a dog high than it is that he is a dog and a half long. The vertebrae are, however, relatively longer individually than in other breeds. The legs are short due to what otherwise would be considered a malformation due to a genetic defect. The leg bones mature and stop growing in length before the rest of the dog, which makes them short, crooked, thick, and strong. The strength of the bones and crookedness, along with a deep barrel chest makes for advantageous attachment for powerful muscles and the front legs are very strong and the hunds are great diggers. While he may look like a wiener he is no weenie. Dachshund Literally means "badger dog," earlier names "Tachs Kriecher" or "Tachs Krieger" mean "badger catcher." The short strong legs and thin body were bred so the dog could dig and work his way into badger tunnels. The badger is a fearsome and fearless opponent, even Ol' Ephram (the Grizzly Bear for you city folks) has been known to go out of his way to avoid a confrontation with a badger. But the little weenie is a feisty devil and even though the badger and the dog weigh about the same (25 pounds, 12 kg) the dog will not surrender until his handler pulls him off and the badger is dispatched or the badger dispatches the dog. As the popularity or necessity of badger hunting declined (or the population of badgers declined) the Badger Catcher became a pet or even a curiosity. Breeders began to concentrate on that weeniedog shape more than the strength, breeding for even shorter, less muscular legs, hence less visible (especially the rear ones), a deeper and shorter chest, and a thinner longer body and hence longer vertebrae. Today, instead of hunting badgers, the Dachshund are playful loyal dogs who vent their "killer instinct" by chasing small animals and birds. They are often seen being walked by pretentious owners who give them names like Frtitz or Otto and dress them in silly jackets with longitudinal stripes to emphasis their "quaintness," and who apparently forgetting about the shortness of the legs, and the need to take a break ever so often, walk at a pace requiring the dog to move his legs at 60 miles an hour so his body will move at a human pace. Unfortunately, the modern shorter legs, combined with the long vertebrae, the power and support up front contrasted to a weaker back end, and contribute to all kinds of back problems for the dog, ranging from ruptured spinal discs, arthritis, other joint problems, pinched spinal nerves, to separated spinal columns and even paralysis especially of the back legs. Better names than those cutsie German names are Nathan, Oscar, Mayer, Frank, Link, Coney, or even Hot Diggity or Chili Dog, better than Hans. Definatly better than Hebrew National. I would even consider Hormel, Eckridge, or even Little Sizzler.