Origin and Purpose

Early in the seventeenth century the name Dachshund became the designation of a breed type with smooth and long-haired varieties, and since 1890, wire-hairs have been registered as the third variety. 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 especial 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 - over 11 lb. (4.989 kg).
Miniature Dachshund - ideal weight 10 lb. (4.5 kg).
 
It is of the utmost importance that Judges should not award championship points to Miniature Dachshunds 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.

Coat and Colour

Three coat types: Smooth or Short-Haired. Short, dense, shining, glossy. Wire-Haired - like German Spiky-Haired Pointer, hard with good undercoat. Long-Haired - like Irish Setter. See later paragraphs in this standard regarding the Special Characteristics. Colour - Solid red (tan) of various shades, and black with tan points, should have black noses and nails, and narrow black line edging lips and eyelids; chocolate with tan points permits brown nose. Eyes of all, lustrous, the darker the better.

Special Characteristics of the Three Coat Varieties of Dachshunds

The Dachshund is bred with three varieties of coat:

            (1)        Short-Haired (or Smooth);

            (2)        Wire-Haired;

            (3)        Long-Haired.

 All three varieties should conform to the characteristics already specified. The long-haired and short-haired are old, well-fixed varieties, but into the Wire-Haired Dachshund the blood of the other breeds has been purposely introduced. Nevertheless, in breeding him, the greatest stress must be placed upon conformity to the general Dachshund type.

The following specifications are applicable separately to the three coat varieties, respectively.

Short-Haired (or Smooth) Dachshund

Hair
Short, thick, smooth and shining; no bald patches. Special faults are: 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.

Colour of Hair, Nose and Nails
(a)        One-Coloured Dachshund

This group includes red (often called tan), red-yellow, and yellow, with or without a shading of interspersed black hairs. Nevertheless a clean colour is preferable, and red is to be considered more desirable than red-yellow or yellow. Dogs strongly shaded with interspersed black hairs belong to this class, and not to the other colour groups. No white is desirable, but a solitary small spot is not exactly disqualifying. Nose and nails - black, although red is admissible, but not desirable.

(b) Two-Coloured Dachshund

These comprise deep black, chocolate, grey, and white; each with rust-brown or yellow marks over the eyes, on the sides of the jaw and underlip, 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.) Except on white dogs, no white is desirable, but a solitary small spot is not exactly disqualifying. Absence, or undue prominence of tan markings, is undesirable. Nose and nails - In the case of black dogs, black; for chocolate, brown or black; for grey, grey or even flesh colour, but the last named colour is not desirable. In the case of white dogs, black nose and nails are to be preferred.

(c)        Dappled and Striped Dachshund

The colour of the dappled (or tiger) Dachshund is a clear brownish or greyish colour, or even a white ground, with dark irregular patches or dark-grey, brown, red-yellow or black (large areas of one colour not desirable). It is desirable that neither the light nor the dark colour should predominate. The colour of the striped (brindle) Dachshund is red or yellow with a darker streaking. Nose and nails - as for One and Two-Coloured Dachshunds.

 Wire-Haired Dachshund

General Appearance
The general appearance is the same as that of the Short-Haired, but without being long in the legs, it is permissible for the body to be somewhat higher off the ground.

Hair
With the exception of the jaw, eyebrows, and ears, the whole body is covered with a perfectly uniform tight, short, thick, rough, hard coat, but with finer, shorter hairs (undercoat) everywhere distributed between the coarser hairs, resembling the coat of the German Spiky-Haired Pointer. There should be a beard on the chin. The eyebrows are bushy. On the ears the hair is shorter than on the body, almost smooth; but in any case conforming to the rest of the coat. The general arrangement of the hair should be such that the Wire-Haired Dachshund, when seen from a distance, should resemble a Smooth-Haired. Any sort of soft hair in the coat is faulty, whether short or long, or wherever found on the body. The same is true of long, curly, or wavy hair, or hair that sticks out irregularly in all directions. A flag tail is also objectionable.

 Tail
Robust, as thickly haired as possible, gradually coming to a point and without a tuft.

 Colour of hair, Nose and Nails

All colours are admissible. White patches on the chest, though allowable, are not desirable.

Long-Haired Dachshund

The distinctive characteristic differentiating this coat from the Short-Haired, or Smooth-Haired, is alone the rather long silky hair.

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 remind one of the Irish Setter, and should give the dog an elegant appearance. Too thick hair on the paws, so-called ?mops?, is inelegant and renders the animal unfit for use. It is faulty for the dog to have equally long hair over all the body, if the coat is too curly, or too scrubby, or if a flag tail or overhanging hair on the ears are lacking; or 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 of Hair, Nose and Nails
Exactly as for the Smooth-Haired Dachshund.

Note
Inasmuch as the Dachshund is a hunting dog, scars from honourable wounds shall not be considered a fault.

Head

Viewed from above or from the side, it should taper uniformly to the tip of the nose, and should be clean-cut. The skull is only slightly arched, and should slope gradually without stop (the less stop, the more typical) into the finely-formed slightly-arched muzzle (ram?s nose). The bridge bones over the eyes should be strongly prominent. The nasal cartilage and tip of the nose are long and narrow; lips tightly stretched, well covering the lower jaw, but neither deep nor pointed; corner of the mouth not very marked. Nostrils well open. Jaws opening wide and hinged well back of the eyes, with strongly developed bones and teeth. Teeth: Powerful canine teeth should fit closely together, and the outer side of the lower incisors should tightly touch the inner side of the upper. (Scissors bite.) Eyes: Medium size, oval, situated at the sides, with a clean, energetic, though pleasant expression; not piercing. Colour: lustrous dark reddish-brown to brownish-black for all coats and colours. Wall (fish or pearl) eyes in the case of grey or dappled-coloured dogs are not a very bad fault, but are also not desirable. Ears should be set near the top of the head, and not too far forward, long but not too long, beautifully rounded, not narrow, pointed, or folded. Their carriage should be animated, and the forward edge should just touch the cheek.

Neck

Fairly long, muscular, clean-cut, not showing any dewlap on the throat, slightly arched in the nape, extending in a graceful line into the shoulders, carried proudly but not stiffly.

Forequarters

To endure the arduous exertion underground, the front must be correspondingly muscular, compact, deep, long, and broad. Shoulder Blade long, broad, obliquely and firmly placed upon the fully developed thorax, furnished with hard and plastic muscle. Upper Arm of the same length as the shoulder blade, and at right angles to the latter, strong of bone and hard of muscle, lying close to the ribs, capable of free movement. Lower Arm: this is short in comparison to other breeds, slightly turned inwards; supplied with hard but plastic muscles on the front and outside, with tightly stretched tendons on the inside and at the back. Pasterns: joint between forearm and foot (wrists); these are closer together than the shoulder joints, so that the front leg does not appear absolutely straight. Feet full, broad in front, and a trifle inclined outwards; compact with well-arched toes and tough pads. Toes: There are five of these, though only four are in use. They should be close together, with a pronounced arch; provided on top with strong nails, and underneath with tough toe-pads.

 Body

The whole trunk should, in general, be long and fully-muscled. The back, with sloping shoulders, and short, rigid pelvis, should lie in the straightest possible line between the withers and the very slightly arched loins, these latter being short, rigid, and broad. Topline: The straightest possible line between withers and loins. Chest: The breastbone should be strong, and so prominent in front that on either side a depression (dimple) appears. When viewed from the front, the thorax should appear oval, and should extend downward to the midpoint of the forearm. The enclosing structure of ribs should appear full and oval, and when viewed from above or from the side, full volumed, so as to allow by its ample capacity, complete development of heart and lungs. Well ribbed up, and gradually merging into the line of the abdomen. If the length is correct, and also the anatomy of the shoulder and upper arm, the front leg when viewed in profile should cover the lowest point of the breast line. Loin slightly arched, being short, rigid and broad. Croup long, round, full, robustly muscled, but plastic, only slightly sinking toward the tail. Abdomen slightly drawn up.

 Hindquarters

The hindquarters viewed from behind should be of completely equal width. Pelvic bones not too short, rather strongly developed, and moderately sloping. Thigh robust and of good length, set at right angle to the pelvic bones. Hind legs robust and well-muscled, with well-rounded buttocks. Knee joint broad and strong. Calf bone, in comparison with other breeds, short; it should be perpendicular to the thigh bone, and firmly muscled. The bones at the base of the foot (tarsus) should present a flat appearance, with a strongly prominent hock and a broad tendon of Achilles. The central foot bones (metatarsus) should be long, movable towards the calf bone, slightly bent toward the front, but perpendicular (as viewed from behind). Hind Feet: Four compactly-closed and beautifully arched toes, as in the case of the front paws. The whole foot should be posed equally on the ball and not merely on the toes. Nails short.

Tail

Set in continuation of the spine, extending without very pronounced curvature, and should not be carried too gaily.

Faults

Serious Faults (which may prevent a dog from receiving any show rating): overshot or undershot jaws, knuckling over, very loose shoulders.
        

Secondary Faults (which may prevent a dog from receiving a high show rating): a weak, long-legged, or dragging figure; body hanging between the shoulders; sluggish, clumsy, or waddling gait; toes turned inwards or too obliquely outwards; splayed paws; sunken back, roach (or carp) back; croup higher than withers; short-ribbed or too weak chest; excessively drawn up flanks like those of a Greyhound; narrow, poorly muscled hindquarters; weak loins; bad angulation in front or hindquarters; cow-hocks, bowed legs; ?glass? eyes, except for grey or dappled dogs; a bad coat.

Minor Faults (which may prevent a dog from receiving the highest rating in championship competition): ears wrongly set, sticking out, narrow or folded; too marked a stop, too pointed or weak jaw; pincer teeth, distemper teeth; too wide or short a head; goggle eyes, ?glass? eyes in the case of greys and dappled dogs, insufficiently dark eyes in the case of all the other coat-colours; dewlaps; short neck; swan neck; too fine or too thin hair.