A SMALL, compact hound with short legs and long body, long head (wedge shaped) with large, floppy ears, the dachshund was bred to hunt badgers (bad-tempered animals that live in burrows). Dachshunds are sometimes still used for hunting small animals. Their sense of smell is keen and they move fast when one considers their short legs. The dachshund is the only breed recognised by the American Kennel Club that is capable of hunting both above and below the ground.
The dachshund is bred in miniature and standard sizes. The miniature is 11 pounds or less when over a year old. The standard is between 16 and 32 pounds.
Coat types
There are three coat types; smooth coat, long coat (like an Irish setter), and wire-haired (like a terrier). The relationships of dachshunds with children will depend on the behaviour of the children, the temperament of the dog, the dog's training and the kids' training.
A dachshund with a sound temperament, properly raised and socialised with children who understand how to treat a dog kindly should do fine with all children. But remember that small children should never be left unsupervised with any dog. A dachshund was bred as a working dog and has a very strong, wilful personality. It needs an owner with an equally determined character. They are not mean, aggressive or unpredictable - just strong willed and stubborn.
Owners of dachshunds must let their dog/s know who is leader of the pack. Once this is established the dachshund is not very difficult to train - they learn quite easily.
Character
Dachshunds are very sociable animals and if properly socialised will get along nicely with other dogs and animals. But do remember that they are hunters and if you have other pets such as rabbits, rats, even cats, you need to ensure that the dog is trained from an early age to get along with these types of pets, otherwise your pet rabbit may be seen through your dog's eyes as fair game. He sees hunting game as his job and will do his best to kill the prey and thereby please his owner!
Colour
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| This handsome dachshund is sure to leave a lasting impression. |
The self colours in dachshunds are red, cream, black and tan, black and cream, chocolate and tan, blue and tan, and fawn and tan. All dachshunds have one, and only one, self colour. The patterns found in dachshunds are dapple, double
dapple, brindle, sable, and piebald. Any pattern can be superimposed over any self colour; for instance, black and tan dapple, red brindle, chocolate and tan piebald. The colour is named first, followed by the pattern.
Dapple
In dapple dachshunds, patches of lighter color are intermingled with patches of the self colour, sometimes with a patch of white hair on the chests. For instance, black and tan dapples, often incorrectly called silver dapples, have patches of silvery colored hair mixed in with areas of black hair, giving the dog an overall mottled appearance. If the dapple pattern should occur across the face, one or both eyes may have blue speckles or may be entirely blue. In chocolate and tan dapples, areas of yellowish hair occur along with patches of chocolate hair. Red dapples are very often hard to distinguish, because the pattern of lighter red patches is often not very distinct.
One parent must have the dapple pattern in order to produce a dapple puppy. Two solid, self-colored dogs cannot produce a dapple. A dachshund is considered to be a dapple if it has even one tiny dappled patch on it. Sometimes this dappled patch is only noticeable when it is a puppy, usually on the ears or belly, and often fades away with age. This dog should still be registered as a dapple, because it will produce some dapple puppies when bred to a dog with no pattern present.
When two dapples are bred together, they may produce a double dapple puppy. Double dapples usually have large areas of white on their bodies in addition to the self colored, and dappled patches. A blue and tan double dapple will have patches of steel blue and silver on a white background. Double dapples' eyes may be completely blue, and they may have white blazes on their heads, white tail tips, and extensive white on their feet, bellies, and sides.
Double dapple warning: Only experienced breeders who have the time to study the genetics of these lines should attempt double dapple breeding, as deaf and partially deaf puppies may result from this breeding, along with reduced eye size or missing eyes. To breed lines with these genetic diseases attached is counter-productive to the breed.
Brindle
In brindle dachshunds, dark stripes, like a zebra, are superimposed over the dog's self color. A red brindle will have blackish stripes all over its body, while a black and tan brindle may only show the brindle pattern in its tan
markings, because the dark stripes would not be visible against the dog's black coat. One parent must be a brindle in order to produce a brindle puppy.
Sable
Sable is perhaps the most difficult pattern to describe. Many people mistakenly call a red dog with a heavy black overlay a sable. This is incorrect; the dog should be registered as red with no pattern. A true red sable is so dark it almost looks like a black and tan from a distance. All body hairs, except on the face and feet, are banded with two colours, the self colour occurs closest to the dog's body while the darker colour occurs near the hair tip. The face and feet are usually just the dog's self colour. Therefore, a red sable will have body hairs that are red near the base and black near the tips, and a red face and red feet. One parent must be a sable to produce a sable pup.
Piebald
Piebald is simply a white-spotting pattern superimposed over any self colour; there is no variation in the color of the solid spots or patches as there is in dapple dachshunds. True piebalds never have blue eyes and always have white tail tips. The amount of white on a piebald is variable, ranging from a full or partial white collar, white chest, belly, and feet, and a white tail tip (Irish spotted), to an almost pure white dog with a patch of color on the head and base of the tail.
For instance, black and tan piebalds have solid black body patches on a white background, but they may have tan markings, or spots, where tan markings would normally occur on a self-colored dog, such as the face, feet, and under the tail. It is incorrect to refer to black and tan piebalds as tricolors. Red piebalds have solid red spots, sometimes with intermingled black hairs, on a white background. When ticking is present, tiny dots of color appear on the white areas, varying in amounts from a few single dots to an abundance of dots that run together to form a roaning effect. Both parents must be piebald, or carry the piebald gene, to produce a piebald pup.
Adaptable
The dachshund is remarkably versatile, being adaptable as a house pet; his smooth, close coat is impervious to rain and mud. His temperament and acute intelligence make him the ideal companion for town or country. In the field of sport he is unequalled, combining the scenting powers of a foxhound with unflinching courage, and will go to ground to fox, otter or badger.
General appearance
Long and low, but with compact and well-muscled body, not clumsy but with bold defiant carriage of head and intelligent expression.
Dachsund eyes are medium in size, oval and set obliquely. Dark in colour, except chocolates, in which they may be lighter; in dapples one or both wall eyes are permissible. Broad ears of moderate length, and well rounded (not narrow, pointed or folded), relatively well back, high and well set on, lying close to the cheek and very mobile as in all intelligent dogs.
Teeth must be strongly developed with a scissors bite, any deviation being a fault. Forelegs are very short and in proportion to size, strong in bone. Upper arm of equal length with, and at right angles to the shoulder blade; elbows lying close to ribs, but moving freely up to shoulder blades. Lower arm short as compared with other animals, slightly inclined inwards (crook), seen in profile moderately straight; not bending forward or knuckling over (which indicates unsoundness).
Long and muscular body, the line of back slightly depressed at shoulders and slightly arched over the loin, which should be short and strong; outline of belly moderately tucked up. What is required is a general levelness of the back, the hindquarters (the rump) not being higher than the shoulders.
Rump is round, full, broad; muscles hard and plastic; hip bone or pelvic bone not too short, broad and strongly developed, set moderately sloping, thigh bones strong, of good length and joined to pelvis at right-angles; lower thighs short in comparison with other animals; hocks well-developed and seen from behind, the legs should be straight (not cow-hocked). The dog should not appear higher at the quarters than at shoulders.
The front feet should be full, broad and close-knit, and straight or very slightly turned outwards, the hind feet smaller and narrower. The toes must be close together with a decided arch to each toe, with strong regularly placed nails and firm pads. The dog must stand equally on all parts of the foot.
Tail set on fairly high, strong and tapering, but not too long and not too curved or carried too high.
Faults
In general appearance weak or deformed, too high or too low to the ground, ears set on too high or too low, eyes too prominent; muzzle too short or pinched, either undershot or overshot; forelegs too crooked; hare or terrier feet, or flat spread toes (flat-footed); out at elbows, body too much dip behind the shoulders; loins weak or too arched; chest too flat or too short; hindquarters weak or cow-hocked, quarters higher than the shoulders.
The dachshund awaits its turn in the showring quietly and with purpose.
The preceeding information is not to be taken as the breed standard of any particular kennel club. It is a guide only to non-showing breeders as to the standard they should strive to produce. For those who want to know the complete show standard of any country's kennel club, these can usually be found on the kennel clubs' websites or you can obtain a copy from most clubs by writing to them.
