ACCORDING TO THE DCI & ACR BREED STANDARD

I want everyone to keep in mind here while going through this material that the information contained is what I have perceived as correct through the many years of my research, breeding, training, showing, judging and knowledge of the Dachshund breed. It is important that everyone also be aware that I am using the ACR Breed Standard as the basis of my information since they have established a breed standard based on genetics of the breed and not what the most flavorful group of the moment can get approved.

DACHSHUND, pronounced DAHKShund, is a long bodied, short legged, flopped eared dog of German descent. The breed originated in Germany where it was used to hunt badgers below ground. The word dachshund is German for badger hound. The Dachshund is often called Teckel, Doxie and Weiner or Hot Dog.

COAT TYPES

Dachshunds come in three breed standard coat types:

	SMOOTH COAT - Should be short, sleek and shiny. Smooth is dominant to the Long-hair variety.
	LONG HAIR - Should be long and silky giving the dog a look of dignity. The Long-hair variety has been said to of been created by breeding the small Spaniels into the dachshund breed but there is no known documentation to prove the theory. Longhair is recessive and both parents must be longhair or carry for longhair to produce longhair puppies. However 2 longhair bred together can produce only longhaired offspring.
	WIRE-HAIR - Wiry, coarse, brittle coat with pronounced whiskers called beard. The Wire-hair variety has been said to of been created by breeding the small Terriers and Pinschers into the breed but there again there is no known documentation to prove the theory. Many doubt this theory since the Wire hair seem to process the shortest of legs of the 3 varieties which doesn't seem possible if they were bred to the leggy Terrier or Pinscher. Wirehair is dominant to the Smooth and Long-hair Varieties but is not carried recessively. A wire hair can however possess what is being called a "Soft Wire" which is the genetic combination of Long and Wire hair varieties. It is of my opinion that the wire should never be crossed with anything but another wire in order to maintain the integrity of the wire coat.
WORTHY OF NOTING	HOWEVER: ACR - American Canine Registry is in the process of correcting at least the Coat Variety injustice by starting a verifying program by which once your dog has been verified as to coat type it can only then be bred to a dog of the same coat type. While the process may be a little late in coming it's at least a start to putting the Dachshund back on the right path of being what they should be. All other countries recognize 6 distinct breeds of Dachshunds. Breeders are also noticing reduced hair coats in the longhaired variety, as they are continually bred to a different coat class. We strongly recommend that you do not cross the hair coat varieties in order to preserve the breeds coat appearance as it should be. Breeding wire to longhaired has also shown to produce poor quality wirehaired pups. Breeding Smooth to Longhair has shown to produce poor quality, thin haired longhaired puppies.

COAT DESCRIPTIONS

Smooth Coat	Longhaired	Wire Hair

SMOOTH is same length (smooth) on all parts of body.
LONG HAIR coat is silky, ears, body and tail are covered with long hair.
WIRE HAIR has wiry hair on body, ears and tail. Has pronounced whiskers on muzzle area.

WHAT COLOR IS MY DACHSHUND?

Don't feel bad if your not sure because there are many mislabeled registered dachshunds out there. The main problem being that even the registries have been known to steer breeders wrong as to what color to label their little darlings. I admit that the Dachshund breed has to be one of the more confusing breeds to understand with it's vast variety of colors and patterns but with a little research and enthusiasm on your part and a lot of common sense thrown in for good measure even the most challenged can learn what is what.

There are more colors and patterns in the Dachshund breed than most any other breed of canine. This alone makes it very difficult for a novice with little or no experience of the breed to label the colors/patterns correctly which leads to a large number of puppies/dogs being incorrectly labeled.
The incorrect labeling also makes it extremely difficult for future breeders to accurately diagram the genetics in their dogs to produce the colors that they hope to produce.

To further add to the problem if you were to contact AKC for help on identifying your puppy: you would think they were be giving accurate information but unfortunately this has proven over and over not to be the case.

AKC has repeatedly told people to mark puppies PIEBALD that were in actuality DOUBLE DAPPLES. This is a very grave mistake for the future offspring of these incorrectly marked dogs.

PLEASE … PLEASE …. Research the colors, patterns and genetics of the Dachshund breed BEFORE you select a color & pattern for your puppies.

To label a Dachshund correctly you MUST know something about genetics behind them and how they work.

Lesson 101 - Colors:

There are 7 (seven) basic breed standard recognized colors associated with the dachshund breed.
It is important to note here that any color can be produced without tan/creme markings: however in most other registries other than ACR they must be registered with tan/creme in the description.
*Red, *Black, *Chocolate, *Blue, *Fawn (Isabella), *Creme and *Wildboar. 4 of the colors, *Black, *Chocolate, *Blue and *Fawn may or may not have tan or Creme markings on legs, chest, eyebrows and under the base of the tail. Red will NEVER have tan or Creme markings.

Wildboar appears to have Tan or Creme markings but is in reality a matter of the hairs not being banded in those areas.
Now keep in mind that while there are only 8 recognized breed standard colors that there are many shades of these colors that are simply registered as the basic color. Red being the number one color that throws many breeders due to it's wide variety of coat shades and nose pad colors. HOPEFULLY THE FOLLOW INFORMATION CAN CLEAR UP SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

Dachshund Colors:
There are many colors & patterns of Dachshunds but most registries with the exception of ACR accept only a few of the patterns for Registration or Show.
The first thing that needs to be kept in mind at all times is that different breeders label dogs differently and different registries accept different colors as acceptable. While all breeders should have a set way to do things many simply do not understand genetics and it's role in identifying colors and patterns. There are also different breed clubs that have their own definition of what is breed standard.
The information below is what I have conceived as correct through the years. These are the DCI's Breed Standard as set forth for ACR - American Canine Registry.

One Colored Dachshunds	Two Colored Dachshunds
Red
Black	Black/Tan ... Black/Cream
Cream
Chocolate	Chocolate/Tan ... Chocolate/Cream
Blue	Blue/Tan ... Blue/Cream (Grey)
Fawn (Isabella)	Fawn/Tan ... Fawn/Cream (Isabella)
Wildboar
One color Doxies have NO Tan/Creme Markings	2 color Doxies MUST have Tan/Cream Markings

When we refer to two colored dachshunds it means they are the base color (black, chocolate, blue, Isabella) with tan/Cream markings around their eyes, feet, muzzle and base of tail.

The proper way to address and label these puppies are as Black/Tan, Black/Creme, Chocolate/Tan, Chocolate/Cream Blue/Tan, Blue/Cream, Isabella/Tan and Isabella/Cream.

The sole exception here is the Wildboar, which is listed strictly as Wildboar. Wildboar is both a color and pattern and is used in Wirehair and Smooth coated Dachshunds. It should never be used in reference to the Longhaired variety.

The proper way to label a Gray Dachshund with markings is with the Blue/Tan or Blue/Cream distinction.

The proper way to label a Fawn Dachshund with markings is as an Isabella/Tan or Isabella/Cream distinction.

IDENTIFYING COLORS BY NOSE PADS AND NAIL COLOR

BODY COLOR:	Points/Markings	NOSE COLOR:	NAIL COLOR:	Registered as:

Red	NONE	Black	Black	RED
Clear Red	NONE	Black	Black	RED
Dilute Red / Liver Nose Red	NONE	Liver	Liver	RED
Black / Tan	Tan	Black	Black	Black/Tan
Black / Cream	Cream	Black	Black	Black/Cream
Black	No	Black	Black	Black
Chocolate / Tan	Tan	Liver	Liver	Chocolate/Tan
Chocolate / Cream	Cream	Liver	Liver	Chocolate/Cream
Chocolate	No	Liver	Liver	Chocolate
Blue / Tan	Tan	Grey	Grey	Blue/Tan
Blue / Cream	Cream	Grey	Grey	Blue/Cream
Blue	No	Grey	Grey	Blue
Fawn/Tan	Tan	Liver	Liver	Fawn/Tan
Fawn / Cream	Cream	Liver	Liver	Fawn/Cream
Fawn	No	Liver	Liver	Fawn
Cream/ Blond	No	Black	Black	Cream
Black / Cream	Cream	Black	Black	Black/Cream
Black overlay Smooth & Wire only	None	Black	Black	Wildboar

COLOR DESCRIPTIONS

RED:(dominant) is the basic red, brown to a mahogany red to a light yellow in color. Reds DO NOT have any tan markings. A small amount of white on the chest is acceptable but not desired. Nose and nails must be black. (Exception would be the wheaten & liver nose red better known as the dilute red). Any pattern is acceptable.

Clear Red: is a light red (often confused with Crème). Clear Reds DO NOT have any tan markings or a single black hair in their coat.. Nose & Nails are black in color. Any white markings are undesirable. Any pattern is possible. A clear red is extremely difficult to distinguish from Cream. An accurate pedigree with knowledge in genetics is helpful. Clear Red is not a recognized color but used by breeders to better clarify what they have. Clear Reds are genetically black dogs that have two e-recessive alleles.

Liver Nose Red: Dilute Red is not a recognized color but used by breeders to better clarify what they have. Liver-nosed Reds" have liver-colored noses. Liver-nosed reds are reds that carry only chocolate (bb) and NO black (B). These should be registered as "red" not "chocolate/tan." These dachshunds can produce chocolate pups and chocolate/tan puppies if they also carry the tan point gene. Dilute Red : come from reds showing the recessive blue-dilution having "dd" gene. Blue-dilution will dilute all dark pigments (which turns black into steel blue. Nose, nails, and eye rims will appear blue/slate/grey. Its red coat will appear a red-yellow and "washed out." This is the same dilution found in Blue and Fawn.
**NOTE: Red dachshunds that carry for tan points (ayat) might appear to have tan points as a puppy but these tan points will disappear with age. They are NOT "chocolate/tan."

Creme: is a yellow-off-white (blond) color. Creams DO NOT have any tan makings. A Cream has NO red tint. Nose and Nails MUST be BLACK. True creams are genetically red dachshunds but they carry the double recessive chinchilla (cchcch) alleles that dilute their red coat into that cream color. All TRUE Creams are born with grayish/brown hair (often described as mouse color) that gets lighter as the puppy gets older and turns into the cream color. Shaded Cream can have black hairs interspersed in their coat. Unlike the d-allele of blues, the chinchilla dilution allele does NOT affect dark pigment therefore creams can have black nose, nails, eyes, and even black hair in their coat. Black: is a black coat with no markings. The coat is a glossy black (B). It has black nose, nails, eye rims and dark brown eyes. Black is recessive to red, most of the time black/tans bred to black/tans will produce only black/tan pups but sometimes a red puppy can occur. Black is dominant to all other colors except red and Wildboar.

Black/Tan: is a glossy black (B) with tan markings or points over the eyes, under the tail, on the feet and around the muzzle. Nose, nails and eye rims are black. Black is dominant to all other colors except red and Wildboar.

Black/Cream,;: is where the body itself is black but the markings are a light blond almost appearing white. Nose, nails and eye rims MUST be black. "Black/cream" dachshunds can produce cream pups just like creams. The cream points are gained from inheriting the double recessive cch-alleles/cream points instead of tan.

Chocolate: is any color from milk chocolate to a dark chocolate like a Hershey bar. Chocolates MUST have liver/chocolate nose, nails and eye rims with hazel/green eyes. Chocolate (bb) cannot make black pigment since they lack the B allele so they do not have any black on their body anywhere. Chocolate is recessive to most all other colors. In order to produce chocolate pups, both parents have to be either chocolate or be carriers of chocolate.

Chocolate/Tan: is any color from milk chocolate to a dark chocolate like a Hershey bar. Nose, nails and eye rims must be chocolate or liver with hazel/green eyes.. Chocolate (bb) cannot make black pigment since it is lacking the B allele so they do not have any black on their body anywhere. Chocolate is recessive to most all other colors. In order to produce chocolate/tan pups, both parents have to be either chocolate/tan or be carriers of chocolate/tan.

Chocolate/Cream: is where the body itself is black but the markings are a light blond almost appearing white. Nose, nails and eye rims MUST be liver/red with hazel/green eyes. Chocolate (bb) cannot make black pigment since it is lacking the B allele so they do not have any black on their body anywhere. Chocolate is recessive to most all other colors. In order to produce chocolate/cream pups, both parents have to be either chocolate/cream or be carriers of chocolate/cream. The cream points are gained from inheriting the double recessive cch-alleles/cream points instead of tan.

BLUE: is any color from a light gray to a dark blue sometimes described as gunmetal color. Blue MUST have gray/blue/slate noses, nails and eye rims. The dilute form of the black ... It is genetically a black who inherits the double recessive d-alleles known as "blue-dilution" that dilutes all dark colors on the entire body. A dachshund with even one D-allele (dominant) will have full pigmentation.
ABSOLUTELY NO BLACK IS ALLOWED ON A BLUE DOG.

Blue/Tan: is any color from a light gray to a dark blue sometimes described as gunmetal color with tan markings. Blues MUST have gray/blue noses, nails and eye rims. The dilute form of the black/tan ... It is genetically a black/tan who inherits the double recessive d-alleles known as "blue-dilution" that dilutes all dark colors on the entire body. A dachshund with even one D-allele (dominant) will have full pigmentation. The tan points are only slightly affected by this dilution gene and may appear washed-out. BLUES HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO BLACK ON THEM.

Blue/Cream: is any color from a light gray to a dark blue sometimes described as gunmetal color with cream markings. Blues MUST have gray/blue noses, nails and eye rims. The dilute form of the black/cream ... It is genetically a black who inherits the double recessive d-alleles known as "blue-dilution" that dilutes all dark colors on the entire body. A dachshund with even one D-allele (dominant) will have full pigmentation. The cream points are gained from inheriting the double recessive cch-alleles/cream points instead of tan. BLUES HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO BLACK ON THEM. Fawn (Isabella): is a blue/fawn color. Noses, nails and eye rims MUST be liver. The dilute form of the Chocolate... genetically a chocolate having the "dd" dilution. Appears fawn like a washed out chocolate. It is the same color found in the Weimeraner. These dogs carry the same recessive dilution alleles as the blue/tans.

Fawn/Tan: is a blue/fawn color with tan markings. Nose, nails and eye rims MUST be liver. The dilute form of Chocolate/tan. It is genetically a chocolate/tan having the "dd" dilution. Will appear fawn like a washed out chocolate. It is the same color found in the Weimeraner. These dogs carry the same recessive dilution alleles as the blue/tans. Tan markings are slightly affected and may appear washed-out.

Fawn/Cream: The dilute form of the Chocolate. It is genetically a chocolate having the "dd" dilution. Appears fawn like a washed out chocolate. It is the same color found in the Weimeraner. These dogs carry the same recessive dilution alleles as the blues. The cream points are gained from inheriting the double recessive cch-alleles/cream points instead of tan.

Wildboar: is a double banded dachshund with a lighter brown/red base coat and a black tipped overlay. (Same appearance as Red sable in the long-hair variety.) It is distinguishable by its lighter base coat showing through on muzzle, around eyes and under side of body. Unlike the Sable it is only of one color (brown/red) base coat. The Wildboar color is used in Smooth coat and wires only. Nose, nails and eye rims are black or liver/red if dilution is involved. The "aw" allele distributes the red and dark pigmentation of each strand of hair in a extraordinary manner. The base of the hair shaft is a lighter color and the upper part of the hair shaft is dark usually black. The intensity of the red pigmentation and width of the light or dark areas may differ so that the Wildboar may look like a black/tan or be very light with some dark hair. Another effect of the aw-allele is the appearance of apparent ”tan-markings.” Genetically these tan marks are not the same tan-points that come from the at-allele ("true" tan-point gene). Most people believe that Wildboar and sable are the same "color/pattern" except that Wildboar is expressed on the wired-hair dachshund and the sable is expressed on the long-haired. The Wildboar pattern is common in wire-haired dachshunds with each hair being banded with 2 or more colors resulting almost in a "salt and pepper" appearance.

Wheaten: is the light brown/blond color of straw found in WIRE-hair only and resembles the creme in long and smooth coat. Wheaten is used for WIRE HAIRED only. Wheaten have black noses, nails and eye rims. Thought to be a possible red with chinchilla dilution.

Lesson 102 - Patterns:

Patterns: There are 11 Patterns associated with the Dachshund breed but several are never actually used but just acknowledged as being there. *Solid, *Bi, *Tri, *Tuxedo, *Piebald, *Dapple, *Double Dapple, *Brindle, *Dapple/Piebald, *Brindle/Piebald and *Sable.
Solids are simply registered as: *Red, *Black, *Chocolate, *Blue or *Fawn (Isabella). They no markings or secondary color of any kind.

Bi is a dog with a solid colored body with tan points on Muzzle, legs, eyebrows, chest and under base of tail with no other color anywhere on the dog. They may also be a solid colored dog with minimal white markings on chest, feet, tail or stomach. Bi's are registered by using the name of the 2 (TWO) colors that are on the dog. *Red/White, *Black/White, *Black/Tan, *Black/Cream, *Chocolate/White, *Chocolate/Tan, *Chocolate/Cream, *Cream/White, *Blue/White, *Blue/Tan, *Blue/Cream, *Fawn/White or *Fawn/Tan or *Fawn/Cream. The BI description itself is dropped in lieu of using the two colors involved.

Tri is a dog with a solid colored body with tan/cream points on Muzzle, legs, eyebrows, chest and under base of tail with minimal white being somewhere on the chest, stomach, feet and/or tip of tail. While the Tri pattern distinction has been overlooked in past years it is one that is being used more with the amount of white areas that are now being bred into the solid colored dachshund. Red and Cream are the only exception for which a tri can not be used in the description. *Black/Tan Tri, *Black/Cream Tri *Chocolate/Tan Tri, Chocolate/Cream Tri, *Blue/Tan Tri, *Blue/Cream, Tri, *Fawn/Tan Tri or Fawn/Cream Tri.

Tuxedo is a dog with a solid colored body, 4 white feet, white chest and a partial to whole collar. This pattern is a genetic development of the piebald gene but is just short of spotting and does not breed as a true Piebald. One parent however MUST be a Tuxedo to produce Tuxedo offspring. The effect of the Tuxedo pattern would be if you were to stand the dog up on it's hind feet and it would look to be sporting a Tuxedo coat. Tuxedo patterned dogs may or may not have tan/cream markings on the Muzzle, legs, eyebrows, chest and under base of tail. *Red Tuxedo, *Black Tuxedo, *Black/Tan Tuxedo, *Black/Cream Tuxedo, *Chocolate Tuxedo, *Chocolate/Cream Tuxedo, *Chocolate/Tan Tuxedo, *Chocolate/Cream Tuxedo, *Blue Tuxedo, *Blue/Tan Tuxedo, *Blue/Cream Tuxedo, *Cream Tuxedo, *Fawn (Isabella) Tuxedo, *Fawn/Tan Tuxedo or *Fawn/Cream Tuxedo.

Piebald is a dog with a base coat of white with single colored spots of Red, Black, Chocolate, Cream, Blue or Fawn. The white color is dropped in lieu of using the description of Piebald which means "White". *Red Piebald, *Black Piebald, *Black/Tan Piebald, *Black/Cream Piebald *Chocolate Piebald, *Chocolate/Tan Piebald, *Chocolate/Cream Piebald, *Cream Piebald, *Blue Piebald, *Blue/Tan Piebald, *Blue/Cream Piebald, *Fawn Piebald, *Fawn/Tan Piebald or *Fawn/Cream Piebald.

The tan/cream part of the description is used only if the dog has the tan markings around the muzzle, over the eyes, on the legs and under the base of the tail. A piebald patterned dachshund always has a white tipped tail. Piebald is a recessive gene so therefore both parents must be piebald or carry for piebald in order to produce piebald offspring. 2 piebalds bred together can produce ONLY piebald offspring

Merle (Dapple) i s a solid body dog with or without tan/cream markings with irregular diluted patches of color intermingled in the coat. The gene involved is actually the merle gene which haphazardly bleaches colors of the coat and often dilutes the eyes themselves to blue. A dachshund with blue eyes is ALWAYS a merle (dapple). *Red Merle, *Black Merle, *Black/Tan Merle, *Black/Cream Merle, *Chocolate Merle, *Chocolate/Tan Merle, *Chocolate/Cream Merle, *Blue Merle, *Blue/Tan Merle, *Blue/Cream Merle, *Cream Merle, *Fawn Merle, *Fawn/Tan Merle and *Fawn/Cream Merle. It is very important to acknowledge that a Red or CreamMerle is more time than not only visibly identifiable as a merle during it's early days of life. A dachshund with even with small dapple is a dapple and will produce dapple offspring. Merle is dominant and can not be carried in the gene pool. One parent must be merle/dapple to produce merle/dapple offspring.

Double Merle (Double Dapple) is a solid body dog with or without tan/cream markings with diluted patches of color intermingled in the coat along with patches of white. The double merle refers to the double diluted white patches in the coat. *Red Double Merle, *Black Double Merle, *Black/Tan Double Merle, *Black/Cream Double Merle, *Chocolate Double Merle, *Chocolate/Tan Double Merle, *Chocolate/Cream Double Merle, *Blue Double Merle, *Blue/Tan Double Merle, *Blue/Cream Double Merle, *Cream Double Merle, *Fawn Double Merle, *Fawn/Tan Double Merle and *Fawn/Cream Double Merle. Double dapple is the result of a dachshund inheriting two dominant M alleles (i.e. from mating two single dapples together). Double dapples are prone to deafness, blindness, deformities and pre-birth deaths. I've heard it said that due to the double merle semi-lethal ability that it should be left to the experts. My question is ... "How do the experts keep the double merle combination from producing, deaf, blind, deformed puppies or puppies that die enuterus?" ... THE ANSWER IS THEY CAN'T! Brindle has the appearance of black tiger stripes on a dachshund's body or markings. Black/tan brindles will only have visible stripes on their tan points. The brindle pattern is dominant and one parent MUST be brindle to produce brindle offspring.

Merle/Piebald (Dapple/Piebald)

Brindle/Piebald

Sable: The sable pattern is the most misidentified pattern of all dachshund patterns and is seen ONLY in long-haired REDS. All hairs on a red sable except the face and feet are banded with two colors. The hair band closest to the body is red and the tip is black. True red sables will look like a black/tan from a distance due to the black hair tips yet red face and feet. Sable is dominant to ALL colors except dominant red. One parent MUST be a sable to produce sable offspring.

IDENTIFYING PATTERNS

Pattern:	Tan Markings Allowed:	Hair Coat:	Proper Color Description
Self/Solid	No	Any	Red, Black, Chocolate, Blue, Isabella or Creme
Dapple	Yes	Any	Red Dapple, Black Dapple, Chocolate Dapple, Blue Dapple, Isabella Dapple or Crème Dapple, Black/tan Dapple, Chocolate/Tan Dapple, Blue/Tan Dapple, Isabella/Tan Dapple
Double Dapple	Yes	Any	Red Double Dapple, Black Double Dapple, Chocolate Double Dapple, Blue Double Dapple, Isabella Double Dapple, Crème Double Dapple, Black/Tan Double Dapple, Chocolate/Tan Double Dapple, Blue/Tan Double Dapple, Isabella/Tan Double Dapple
Piebald:	Yes	Any	Red Piebald, Cream Piebald, Black Piebald, Black/Tan Piebald, Black/Cream Piebald, Chocolate Piebald, Chocolate/Tan Piebald, Chocolate/Cream Piebald, Blue Piebald, Blue/Tan Piebald, Blue Piebald, Blue/Cream Piebald, Isabella Piebald, Isabella/Tan Piebald, Isabella/Cream Piebald
Wildboar	No	Smooth & Wire Only	Wildboar
Sable	No	Longhaired ONLY	Red Sable Sable can be produced with any of the other patterns except Wildboar. Should this occur then the Sable classification is dropped in favor of dapple, double dapple and piebald patterns.
Brindle	Yes	Any	Red Brindle, Black Brindle, Blue Brindle, Chocolate Brindle, Isabella Brindle, Crème Brindle, Chocolate/Tan Brindle, Chocolate/Creme Brindle, Blue/Tan Brindle, Blue/Creme Brindle, Isabella/Tan Brindle, Isabella/Creme Brindle Black/Tan Brindle NOTE Brindle will show only on Tan points of Blk/Tans Brindle can be produced with any of the other patterns except Wildboar. Should this occur then the brindle classification is always placed last behind dapple, double dapple and piebald patterns. Example: Dapple-Brindle, Piebald-Brindle, Double Dapple-Brindle
Dapple Piebald	Yes	Any	Same as DAPPLE or DOUBLE DAPPLE These should ALWAYS be labeled as DAPPLE-PIEBALDS since dappling carries the semi-lethal gene and dappling is not always obvious as adults.

If you have a double pattern of dapple/piebald then DAPPLE-PIEBALD should ALWAYS be used as its pattern classification.
If you have a double pattern of double dapple/piebald then DOUBLE DAPPLE should ALWAYS be used as its pattern classification.

PATTERN CHART

PIEBALD means White spotting. Therefore the word white should not be used when labeling a dog as a piebald. BOTH parents MUST either show or carry the piebald gene for it to be produced.
All TWO colored Dachshunds must have tan markings to be breed standard correct.
All dappling is a lighter color than the base color. The base color is always the darkest regardless of amount actually showing. The darkest color is always the first color to be used in the color description.
A double dapple parent can ONLY throw/produce dappled puppies.
A dapple puppy CAN NOT be produced from 2 solid parents. One parent must show dappling to produce dappled offspring.
The dapple gene is not carried in the genetic generation bloodline or Family Tree genes. Once dappling is lost from any offspring that pup will only produce dapple offspring if bred to a dappled mate

Color/Pattern:	Base Color:	Dappling Color	White Color Mixed in:	One or both Parents must show or CARRY pattern
Red Dapple	Red	Lighter Red Spots	No	At least one parent must be dappled
Red Double Dapple	Red	Lighter Red Spots	Yes	Both parents must be dappled
Red Piebald	white	No	Yes	Both parents MUST show or carry for piebald
Red Dapple-Piebald	White w/red spots	lighter red spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Red Brindle	Red w/ black stripes	No	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce
Red Piebald-Brindle	White w/red spots and black stripes	No	Yes	Both parents must be or carry for piebald to produce. One parent must also be brindle.
Cream Dapple	Cream	Lighter Cream	No	At least one parent must be dappled
Cream Double Dapple	Cream	Lighter Cream	Yes	BOTH parents must be dappled
Cream Piebald	White w/ cream spots	None	Yes	BOTH parents must show or carry piebald.
Cream Dapple-Piebald	White w/cream spots	Lighter Cream inside base spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Cream Brindle	Cream w/black stripes	No	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce
Black	Black	No	No	One parent must have no markings to produce
Black/Tan	Black w/tan markings	No	No	Dominant over all other colors except Red.
Black/Tan Dapple	Black	Grey/silver	No	At least one parent must be dappled.
Black/Tan Double Dapple	Black	Grey/Silver	Yes	Both parents MUST be dappled
Black/Tan Piebald	White w/black spots	No	Yes	Both parents must show or Carry for piebald.
Black/Tan Dapple-Piebald	White w/black spots	Grey/silver spots inside base black spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Black/Tan Brindle	Black w/visible tan stripes inside markings	No	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce
Chocolate	Chocolate	No	No	Both parents must be or carry for chocolate to produce. One parent must have no markings to produce.
Chocolate/Tan	Chocolate/tan markings	No	No	Recessive black dilute and both parents must be or carry for Chocolate to produce.
Chocolate/Tan Dapple	Chocolate	Light Chocolate	No	At least one parent must be dappled.
Chocolate/Tan Double Dapple	Chocolate	Light Chocolate	Yes	Both parents MUST BE dappled.
Chocolate/Tan Piebald	White	No	Yes	BOTH parents must show or carry for Piebald
Chocolate/Tan Dapple-Piebald	White w/chocolate spots	Light Chocolate spots inside base chocolate spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Chocolate/Tan Brindle	Chocolate w/visible black stripes inside markings	No	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce
Blue	Blue	No	No	Recessive double dilute black. Both parents must be or carry for blue to produce. One parent must have no markings to produce.
Blue/Tan	Blue w/tan markings	No	No	Recessive double dilute black. Both parents must be or carry for blue to produce.
Blue/Tan Dapple	Blue	Light grey/blue	No	At least one parent must be dappled.
Blue/Tan Double Dapple	Blue	Light grey/blue	Yes	Both parents must be dappled
Blue/Tan Piebald	White	No	Yes	Both parents MUST Show or Carry for Piebald
Blue/Tan Dapple-Piebald	White w/Blue spots	light grey/blue inside base blue spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Blue/Tan Brindle	Blue w/visible black stripes in tan markings	No	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce
Isabella	Isabella	No	No	Recessive Dilute Chocolate. Both parents must be Isabella or carry for both chocolate and blue to produce. One parent must have no markings to produce.
Isabella/Tan	Isabella w/tan markings	No	No	Recessive Dilute Chocolate. Both parents must be Isabella or carry for chocolate and blue to produce.
Isabella/Tan Dapple	Fawn	Tan	No	At least one parent must be dappled.
Isabella/Tan Double Dapple	Fawn	Tan	Yes	Both parents MUST be dappled.
Isabella/Tan Piebald	White	No	Yes	BOTH parents must show or Carry for piebald
Isabella/Tan Dapple- Piebald	White w/ fawn spots	lighter tan spots inside base fawn spots	Yes	Both parents must show or carry for piebald to produce and one parent MUST be dapple or double dapple.
Isabella/Tan Brindle	Fawn w/visible black stripes in tan markings	Tan	No	1 parent must be brindle to produce

There can also be a Piebald-Brindle which would be a dog with a base coat of white with any color of acceptable spots with brindle showing on tan areas and/or colored spotted areas.

OMG ... WHERE DID THAT LOOK COME FROM?

Your dog has long, skinny legs with fly away folded ears you say ... Well there is only one person at fault and that is the BREEDER who bred your puppy. ALL of those traits are DOMINANT and would of been apparent in the parents of your puppy if the breeder of your puppy had of cared to notice. A knowledge, ethical, caring breeder would never breed a dog with those traits and continue to reproduce those traits.

WHAT WILL MY PUPPIES LOOK LIKE?

It is important to know which traits are easily reproduced and which traits take a little more time, effort and knowledge on your part to reproduce. Dominant traits require only 1 parent to give the gene to the offspring to reproduce. Recessive traits require 1 gene from EACH parent to reproduce. Dominant genes are worn on the outside like a coat of armor and are easily seen and recognized. Recessive genes are hidden traits that require either knowledge of the bloodline as to what is there or by breeding and seeing what is produced. Breeding a poor quality Multiple Dominant Trait Dachshund is unforgivable since you KNOW you will be reproducing those traits. Recessive traits can remain hidden for generations and only surface when you mate the animal with a LIKE-GENE animal and the offspring gets one of those LIKE-Genes from EACH parent. Recessive traits are much harder to work with and identify but once identified should be bred with the proper animals in the future to discourage any undesirable trait offspring or removed from your breeding program.
Trait:	Dominant:	Recessive:	Breed Standard:
	Requires only 1 Gene	Requires 2 genes to occur
Long Head	*		*******
Short Head		*
Narrow Muzzle	*
Wide Muzzle		*	*******
Long Ears	*		*********
Short Ears		*
Low-set Ears	*		******
High-set Ears		*
Wide Ears	*		*******
Narrow Ears		*
Erect Ears	*
Flop, button or Tipped Ears		*	*******
Dark Eyes	*		*******
Light Eyes (Wall-eyed)		*
Normal Eyes	*		*****
Bulging Eyes		*
Proper Mouth Set	*		*****
Undershot/Overshot Mouth		*
Normal Hearing	*		******
Partial to Full Deafness		*
Poor Shoulder Conformation	*
Proper Shoulder Conformation		*	*******
Poor Angulated Stifle	*
Proper Angulated Stifle		*	*******
High Tail Set	*
Low Tail Set		*
Deep Chest	*		*******
Shallow Chest		*
Straight Topline	*		*****
Curved or Sway Back		*
Short Stifle	*		***********
Long Stifle		*
Straight Tail	*		*******
Kink or crooked Tail		*
Proper Rib Cage Structure	*		*******
Poor Rib Cage Structure		*

HOW DO I GET THE COAT, COLORS AND PATTERNS THAT I WANT?

Every dog has two alleles from each gene series, they inherit one from their sire and one from their dam.

Alleles		Description
Coat Type x-gene series	x^w	Wired-hair, dominant to all coat types, is not carried recessively
	x^s	Smooth-hair, recessive to wire-hair, dominant to long-hair
	x^L	Long-haired, recessive to all coat types
Agouti, "A"-gene series	ay	Red, dominant to ALL colors, pups with even one "ay" gene will be red.
	at	Tan-point gene, codes for the tan points you see in black/tans, allows dachshunds to produce tan pointed puppies. Reds that don't carry an "at" ("true" reds) can only produce red pups no matter what mate you chose. A tan pointed dachshund will always have two "at" genes.
	aw	Wildboar, hair shafts are usually banded with two or more colors, seen in smooth and wire-hairs, dominant to all colors except "ay" dominant red.
Black B-gene series	B	Black, dominant to all other colors except Red and Wildboar.
Black B-gene series	b	Chocolate, recessive to black and red, "bb" dilution makes it impossible produce any black pigment therefore there is never and black pigment (hair) on chocolates, they also MUST have liver-colored noses, nails and eye rims. To produce chocolate pups, both parents have to be chocolate and/or carry chocolate. 2 Chocolates can only produce Chocolate pups unless they both carry for blue in which case they can also produce Fawn offspring.
Blue Dilution D-gene series	D	intense pigmentation, dominant, dogs with even one "D" will have full pigmentation
Blue Dilution D-gene series	d	dilution of dark pigments responsible for blue, fawn (Isabella), and dilute reds; recessive, Pup must inherit "dd" to show dilution. 2 Blues bred together can only produce Blue offspring unless they both also carry for chocolate in which case they can also produce Fawn offspring.
Extension E-gene series	E	solid coat color, Dominant, normal coloration
	e	Recessive - restricts dark pigmentation - Recessive red (E-Red), when doubly present (ee) will prevent any dark pigment on the coat, will turn black/tans into clears reds (E-red) ... Recessive
	ebr	Dominant ... Brindle pattern, appearance of black stripes on body or tan markings. Requires only one gene for reproduction but one parent must be brindle to produce Brindle offspring..
C-gene series	C	full pigmentation, incompletely dominant
C-gene series	cch	reduced pigmentation, dilution of light pigments, does not affect dark pigments. Appearance of dilution depends on how many cch-alleles are present. "ayayCcch" or "ayatCcch" are LIGHT REDS. "ayaycchcch" or "ayatcchcch" are TRUE CREMES..
Merle M-gene series	M	Merle (dapple) pattern, single Merles are "Mm", double Merles are "MM", Dominant ... One parent must be Merle to produce Merle offspring. A double merle "MM" can only produce dapple offspring. Semi-Lethal
Merle M-gene series	m	normal coat color, Recessive
Piebald S-gene series	S	"self", Normal coat, no white or very little white in coat, Dominant
	si	Recessive ... Better known as "Irish white spotting" ... responsible for the small solitary white patches mostly found on the chest and toes.
	sp	Recessive ... Piebald pattern; white base coat with patches of color. Most seen form in the Dachshund.
	sw	Recessive ... extreme piebald, White with no or a small patch of color. Seems to be semi-lethal in Dachshunds.

WHAT TRAVESTY HAS BEFALLEN THE DACHSHUND BREED

The popularity of the dachshund breed, the high demand for dachshund puppies and the irresponsibility of greedy, unethical breeders has led to a variety of NON BREED STANDARD sizes and coat types. The unethical breeders advertising so-called rare colors & patterns and in tea-cup sizes in soft wire coats has led us to the point that we are currently at in the Dachshund breed. IT'S A MESS FRANKLY SPEAKING! The almighty QUICK BUCK has blinded many to breeding irresponsibly and not in the best interest of the breed. What is a wonderful breed of dog with a vast array of Breed Standard and Acceptable Colors, Patterns, Sizes and Coat Types is being butchered by many uncaring, unethical and irresponsible breeders. These breeders have a total disregard for the dog's breed standard, it's supposed appearance, it's coat type, it's size and not to mention it's health. Many people have chosen to breed colors/patterns that are associated with semi-lethal genetic defects purely to cover a part of the market where ethical, caring breeders would never tread. Many dapples and double dapples bred today are prone to blindness and deafness. Certain Bloodlines of Blues and Isabella's are prone to skin problems and the loss of hair yet these bloodlines are continuing to be bred by irresponsible breeders just to gain the almighty dollar. I am seeing more and more advertisements for Tiny or Tea-Cup dachshunds. The dachshund comes in Miniature (8-13#) and Standard (14# and over) sizes. There are no Tiny or Tea-Cup categories. There is no way that a 4 pound full-grown dachshund can possess the structure and features of a well-bred dachshund bred by a responsible breeder. Smaller dachshunds are also known to be prone to heart, genetic and medical problems starting at an early age. What is being described as a soft wire is not considered to be breed standard and would never be produced

WEIGHT CLASSIFICATIONS:

***Determined at 1 year of age and up***

WEIGHT:	CLASSIFICATION:	Registered As:	SHOWN AS:

7 - 13 pounds (includes any in the 13 pound range)	MINIATURE	Dachshund	MINIATURE

14 pounds and over	STANDARD	Dachshund	STANDARD

MINIATURES are Dachshunds that weigh 7-13 pounds at 1 year of age or above.

STANDARD Dachshund is considered such if it is 14 pounds or over at one year of age or above.

TWEENIES are a classification that breeders have given to the doxies that are in-between breed standards by some registries such as AKC. These dogs in this weight category should be referred to as SMALL standards and not large miniatures. Tweenies are every bit the Doxie that any other weight of Dachshund but are not allowed in the show ring through THOSE REGISTRIES. They can still be good breed dogs and excellent pets.
It's anybody's guess as to why there was a 4 pound gap in classifications by these other registries but as it stands today the 11-15 pound Dachie does not fall into a show able category as recognized by some registries such as AKC. This in no way makes the Tweenies any less quality to be used as a family companion or producer of future pups.

If you are planning to show then you need to address the weight classification issue with the breeder.

A miniature purchased for show should be 12 weeks or older.
A Doxie puppies weight can be doubled at 12 weeks of age and 1 pound added to estimate it’s grown weight at 1 year of age.

I read somewhere not long ago that there were two type of ACCEPTABLE leg lengths of Dachshunds being bred based on their purpose in life. THIS IS NOT TRUE! There is ONLY one acceptable leg length and that is SHORT!

Dogs used for hunting rabbit are not bred with longer legs. Dachshunds are EARTH dogs which mean they burrow under ground to catch their prey. What is a dachshund supposed to do with those long legs while trying to go down a rabbit hole? The dachshund was purposely bred with SHORT legs so as to go down a rabbit hole with ease. Dachshunds are NOT sight hounds but use their nose to find their prey therefore they do not need long legs to jump over obstacles in the woods since they will maneuver AROUND them.

All I can say is: "If you have a Dachshund with long legs and it goes down a rabbit hole - I sure hope you brought a shovel - your gonna need it to dig out your dog."

IF YOU REMEMBER NOTHING ELSE ... REMEMBER THIS!

We can wrap the whole issue by remembering that a WELL-BRED Dachshund has SHORT Legs, wide-long ears held flat against the head, a straight tail, is no less than 7 pounds in size, comes from 2 healthy and genetically sound parents and has EYE APPEAL. Every dog deserves love but not every dog is worthy of being bred.