About The Standard Dachshund
Origin and Purpose
Early in the seventeenth century the name Dachshund became the designation of a breed type with smooth and long-haired coats, and since 1890, wire-hairs have been registered as the third coat type. The name Dachshund (dachs, badgers; hund, dog) at once reveals and conceals the origin of the breed. In medieval European books on hunting dogs, similar only in possessing the tracking ability of hounds and the proportions and temperament of terriers, because they were used to track badgers were called badger-dogs, or dachshunds.
General Appearance
Low to ground, short-legged, long-bodied, but with compact figure and robust muscular development, with bold and confident carriage of head and intelligent facial expression; conformation preeminently fitted for following game into burrows. In spite of his shortness of leg, in comparison with his length of trunk, he should appear neither crippled, awkward, cramped in his capacity for movement, nor slim and weasel-like. Added to this, his hunting spirit, good nose, loud tongue, and small size render him especially suited for beating the bush. His figure and his fine nose give him an advantage over most other breeds of sporting dogs for trailing.
Temperament
He should be clever, lively and courageous to the point of rashness, persevering in his work both above and below ground; with all the senses being well developed.
Size
Standard Dachshund by 18 months of age - males should weigh between 20 and 32 lbs (9.0-14.5 kg.); bitches 16 to 28 lbs (7.25- 12.7 kg.). Animals over or under this range should be penalized accordingly. Miniature Dachshunds - by 12 months old - ideal weight 10 lb. (4.5 kg). Judges should not reward Miniature Dachshunds that appear to be over 11 lb. (4.989 kg). Within the limits imposed, symmetrical adherence to the general Dachshund conformation, combined with smallness and mental and physical vitality should be the outstanding characteristics of the Miniature Dachshund.
Special Characteristics of Dachshunds
Dachshunds in Canada are six separate breeds connected by structure and general appearance and distinguished by size (Standard or Miniature) and coat type (Smooth, Long-haired or Wire-Haired.).
Coat Types
Smooth (or Short-Haired) Dachshund
Hair
Short, thick, smooth and shining; no bald patches.
Coat faults: too fine or thin hair, leathery ears, bald patches, too coarse or too thick hair in general.
Tail
Gradually tapered to a point, well but not too richly haired; long sleek bristles on the underside are considered a patch of strong-growing hair, not a fault. A brush tail is a fault, as is also partly or wholly hairless tail.
Long-Haired Dachshund
Hair
The soft, sleek, glistening, often slightly wavy hair should be longer under the neck, on the underside of the body, and especially on the ears and behind the legs, becoming there a pronounced feather; the hair should attain its greatest length on the underside of the tail. The hair should fall beyond the lower edge of the ear. Short hair on the ear, so-called “leather” ears, is not desirable. Too luxurious a coat causes the Long-Haired Dachshund to seem coarse, and masks the type. The coat should give the dog an elegant appearance. Coat Faults
Equally long hair over all the body, if the coat is too curly, or too scrubby, if a flag tail or overhanging hair on the ears are lacking; if there is a very pronounced parting in the back, or a vigorous growth between the toes.
Tail
Carried gracefully in prolongation of the spine; the hair attains here its greatest length and forms a veritable flag.
Colour
(a) One-Coloured Dachshund
This group includes any shade of red or cream with or without a shading of interspersed black hairs. Nevertheless a clean colour is preferable. No white is desirable, but a solitary small spot is permitted. Nose and nails - black, brown is admissible, but not desirable.
(b) Two-Coloured Dachshund
These include black, chocolate, blue (grey), and Isabella; each with tan or cream marks over the eyes, on the sides of the jaw and under lip, on the inner edge of the ear, front, breast, inside and behind the front leg, on the paws and around the anus and from there to about one-third to one-half of the length of the tail on the underside. (The most common Two-Coloured Dachshund is usually called black and tan). No white is desirable, but a solitary small spot is permitted. Absence, or undue prominence of tan markings, is undesirable. Nose and nails - In the case of black and tan or black and cream dogs, , nose and nails should be black; for chocolate and tan or chocolate and cream, blue and tan or blue and cream, and Isabella and tan or Isabella and cream dogs, nose and nails should be self-coloured.
Dachshund Coat Patterns
Each of the following coat patterns may be seen in all acceptable Dachshund colours: Dapple, Brindle, Sable and Wild Boar are patterns allowed for Dachshunds.
Dapple (merle) pattern is any acceptable Dachshund colour, with darker or lighter irregular spots or patches (large areas of one colour not desirable). It is desirable that neither the light nor the dark colour should predominate.
Brindle is a pattern in which black or dark stripes occur over the entire body in one coloured dogs but may only be visible on the tan points on two-coloured dogs.
Sable pattern consists of a uniform dark overlay on red, cream or blue dogs.
Wild Boar pattern is a variety of reds, browns and blacks. The undercoat is usually a lighter colour (reddish), the guard hairs may be solid or individually striped. Wild boar may display the lighter points of the two coloured dachshunds.