Dang Baker! Glad you got Nathan back.
They were bred originally to hunt badgers - large animals that will vigorously and bloodily defend themselves and their homes. They can be very sweet dogs, of course, but the minis, especially, often have owners to fall prey to the Cute Little Dog syndrome and don’t train them at all.
I’m glad you got your little guy back; I just wanted to applaud the awesomeness of naming a wiener dog Nathan.
Jenaroph, I wish I could claim credit for naming my dachshund Nathan, but it was missred who suggested it.
This is the thread in which I talked about adopting Nathan, and partway through has the name suggestions. Nathan is a sweet boy(NOT VICIOUS AT ALL) Nathan was a shelter dog.
I’m so glad you got your buddy back. When our boxer ran off a few summers ago, it was a nightmare for the few days he was gone. I spent every awake minute looking for him, putting up posters, accosting perfect strangers to ask if they’d seen him, and generally annoying the hell out of everyone I saw. I slept on the living room floor with the front door wide open, and left it wide open anytime I left the house, just in case.
It paid off when I tracked him down at the vet’s office…I went to give the staff a poster, and it turned out he was in the back room, getting checked for a microchip! 
I had to sit down on the floor because I was crying so hard.
Whew! Now I’m all emotional and I have to go pet HotRod again…
(And Nathan IS a good name! I want to name my next dog Tony.)
For those interested “dachs” means “badger.” Hence “dachshund” = “badger hound.”
Actually, “badger dog,” now that I think about it.
I just noticed I forgot to put the link to the thread in my post.
Oooh! I’m glad you got Nathan back! Give him belly rubs from me.
I didn’t tell you, but I now have a miniture dachshund in my life (he’s one of the Fella’s three critters). He’s an utter sweetie too! I shall give him a scritch under the chin on Nathan’s behalf tonight.
Nope, not a whoosh:
http://fortheloveofthedogblog.com/news-updates/the-most-aggressive-dog-breeds-dachshund-1
I’d definitely check the neighbourhood for freshly dug graves. 
So glad Nathan is back safe & sound.
The 19th-20th Century biologist J.B.S. Haldane (who noted that “God has an inordinate fondness for beetles”), in his essay, On Being The Right Size, notes:
You know what else bounces well? Kittens.
A few weeks ago, our kitten Helios went missing. We live in an apartment, so you have to go through two doors to get outside, but darn if that cat wasn’t gone! We looked everywhere, and no sign of him.
Eventually, we found him in the basement. In a latched closet. Turned out he’d discovered an old laundry chute in our bathroom! It was mostly drywalled over, but he’d found one panel that pivoted and fwooosh! Kitten down 2 1/2 flights of laundry chute and onto a pile of paint cans in what’s now the paint can closet.
I’ve never been so relieved to see the little furball. His sister was pretty glad we’d found him, too. Glad you found yours.
So glad you found Nathan! my first dog was a long-haired dachshund, because I was afraid of dogs and mostly afraid of them biting me in the face, so I got a short-legged dog! I loved my Duke with a white-hot love. He was aces, all the way.
I’m going to give my foster cat, Mr. Underfoot, extra skritches on Nathan’s behalf.
In addition to Nathan I also have two cats, Tobermory and Attila. I love them both, but Attila is not all that bright. He got lost one day outside when he sprang up into the window, against the screen, and it gave way, letting him fall from the second floor to the ground outside. Until I saw the loose screen I had not idea how he’d disappeared. I called for him but he was so freaked he wouldn’t come out. I finally found him, almost paralyzed with fear, under the back porch, and had to crawl under there to get him out.
Did I miss the pictures?
This thread put a worried lump in my throat on your behalf, Baker! I’m always sad when I see missing pet posters around town, because I can only imagine the heartache. My sister’s kitty, Pumpkin, disappeared nearly two years ago without a trace. 
Actually, Beetle scared us like that too once. She’s TERRIFIED of the outdoors, which means she has no compulsion to go out, but when she does get out, she suddenly gets the idea that everything around her is her mortal enemy. She got out one time and BOLTED into the wild, too scared, I guess, to realize that the front door and safety were right behind her. We’d see her stalking around in the yard, and would try to retrieve her, and she’d run away and hiss at us. Eventually we had to live-trap her to get her back. We thought that when we opened the trap in the house she’d scoot out and hide under my folks’ bed, but nope, she just sauntered out like it was no big deal, and went back to her lovable, cute self. It was as though she was telling us “I just had the most horrible nightmare where all these big scary things were chasing me! And YOU were there, and YOU were there…”
Idiot cat.
It never ends. I lost a cat in 1976, and I’m still broken up when I think of him running out and never coming back.
He’d be about 40 today, so one way or another he’d be long gone anyway.