One-coloured
Base colour
Red
- Permissible: Interspersed black hairs
- Preferred: A clean dark colour
- Permissible: A small white spot (up to 3 cm diameter) on the chest
- Undesirable: Reddish-brown
Nose · nails · pads
Black
About the Dachshund
Origin: Germany
- Typical life span
- 12-16 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 7-14.5 kg
- Height
- 20-23 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI groupFCI divides this breed into varieties, and our sources don’t record which one a breeder works. Ask them which variety their line is.
- Dachshunds
- Origin
- Germany
- Also called
- Teckel
- Known hereditary risks
- 4 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Dachshund?
Long-bodied, short-legged hound with distinctive elongated build, available in three coat types (smooth, wirehaired, and longhaired). Originally bred for hunting badgers in burrows, this bold and lively scent hound is known for its courageous, intelligent, and playful personality.
Dachshund history and origins
Developed in Germany over 300 years ago (records date to 15th century) specifically for hunting badgers in their burrows. The name 'Dachshund' translates to 'badger dog' in German. Wirehaired varieties were developed by crossing with terriers for work in thorny terrain, while longhaired varieties were created using spaniels for colder climates.
Dachshund appearance and size
Typically 7-14.5 kg and 20-23 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Hunting dog, above and below ground
- Behaviour and temperament
“Friendly by nature, neither fearful nor aggressive, with even temperament. Passionate, persistent and fast hunting dog with an excellent nose”
Quoted from FCI standard n°148. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Hunting dog, above and below ground” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 4 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 3 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 3 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 4 conditions documented
Smooth-haired3 of 5
Wire-haired3 of 5
Long-haired4 of 5
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Dachshund
What you get with the Dachshund
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Hunting dog, above and below ground”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Friendly by nature, neither fearful nor aggressive, with even temperament”
What you are taking on
- 3 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints and brain & nerves. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; UFAW / Dachshund: Intervertebral Disc Disease. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Dachshund
Coat and colour
FCI publishes 3 coat varieties for the Dachshund, each admitting 4 colour patterns. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying.
Coat
Not showing any bald patches anywhere.
- Short
- Dense
- Shiny
- Smooth fitting
- Tight and harsh
Notes
- Tail: fine, fully but not too profusely coated.
- Somewhat longer guard hair on underside is not a fault
Colour patterns
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Two-coloured
- Preferred: Deep black or brown, each with tan markings (the darker, the better and as clean as possible)
- Over eyes
- On sides of muzzle and of the lower lip
- On inner edge of ears
- On forechest
- On inside and rear side of legs
- On the feet
- Around the anus and from there reaching to about one third or one half of the underside of the tail
- Permissible: A small white spot (up to 3 cm diameter) on the chest
- Undesirable: Too wide spread, as well as insufficient tan markings
Nose · nails · pads
Black in dogs with black base colour, brown, in dogs with brown base colour
Colour pattern Dapple (Merle)
- The base colour is always the dark colour (black or brown).
- Exception: red dapples (red with dark spots).
- Irregular grey but also beige spots (large patches not desired)
- Neither the dark nor the light colour is predominant.
- For nose, nails and pads see under a) and b).
Colour pattern Brindle
- The colour of a brindle Dachshund is red with dark brindle.
- Disqualifying: All previously not mentioned colours and colour patterns
- Undesirable: Lack of pigmentation
Nose · nails · pads
Black
Colour availability by variety
All 4 patterns are accepted across all 3 varieties.
| Colour pattern | Smooth-haired | Wire-haired | Long-haired |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-coloured | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Two-coloured / Multi-coloured | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Colour pattern Dapple (Merle) | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Colour pattern Brindle | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
FCI letters this pattern b) in every variety but names it Two-coloured and Multi-coloured.
FCI varieties
FCI lists 3 varieties of Dachshund — Standard, Miniature, Rabbit Dachshund — and recognises every one of them in all 3 coats: Long-haired, Smooth-haired, Wire-haired.
Measured at 15+ months · Chest circumference (cm)
Size classification
Chest circumference measured when at least 15 months old, from highest point of the withers to the lowest point of the chest (with little tense tape measure).
253035404550
- Standard37–47 Male, over 37 cm – up to 47 cm35–45 Female, over 35 cm – up to 45 cm
- Miniature32–37 Male, over 32 cm – up to 37 cm30–35 Female, over 30 up – to 35 cm
- Rabbit27–32 Male, 27 cm – up to 32 cm25–30 Female, 25 cm – up to 30 cm
- Male
- Female
Chest circumference in cm. Transcribed from FCI standard n°148, read 2026-08-31.
Shortened from FCI standard n°148 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Dachshund down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- Weak, long-legged or body trailing on ground.
- Other tooth faults than those described among «faults» or «disqualifying faults».
- Wall eye in any colour other than dapple.
- Pointed, very folded ears.
- Body sagging between shoulders.
- Hollow back, roach back.
- Weak loins.
- Markedly higher in the rear (croup higher than withers).
- Chest too weak.
- Flanks with lyre shape tuck up.
- Poorly angulated fore- and hindquarters.
- Narrow hindquarters with poor muscle tone.
- Cow hocks or bowlegs.
- Feet turning markedly inwards or outwards.
- Splayed toes.
- Heavy, clumsy, waddling movement
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Untypical specimen.
- Undershot or overshot mouth, wry mouth.
- Faulty positioning of the lower canines.
- Missing of one or more canines or one or more incisors.
- Missing of other premolars or molars. Exceptions: The two PM1 or one PM2 without consideration of the M3, as mentioned under “Faults”.
- Chest: sternum cut off.
- Any faults of the tail.
- Very loose shoulders.
- Knuckling over in the wrist.
- Black or brown colour without tan markings; white colour with or without tan markings.
- Colours and colour patterns other than those listed under “Colour and Colour Patterns”
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Dachshund in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Dachshund
Known hereditary risks for the Dachshund breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
4 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Bones & joints
Chondrodystrophy-linked intervertebral disc disease (IVDD)
SeriousInherent to the breed
Premature, early-onset degeneration and calcification of the intervertebral discs, which can herniate and cause severe pain, paralysis, or death; around one in four Dachshunds develops clinical signs in its lifetime. Present breed-wide (allele frequency around 92% in one large testing-lab sample) but clinical prevalence differs by variety: a 2016 owner survey found it highest in Standard Smooth-Haired dogs (24.4%) and lowest in Standard Wire-Haired dogs (7.1%).
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents, or a radiographic disc-calcification score taken between 2 and 4 years of age
4 sources
- UFAW / Dachshund: Intervertebral Disc Disease
- UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory / Chondrodystrophy (CDDY and IVDD) and Chondrodysplasia (CDPA)
- PNAS / FGF4 retrogene on CFA12 is responsible for chondrodystrophy and intervertebral disc disease in dogs
- PMC / DachsLife 2015: lifestyle associations with the risk of IVDD in Dachshunds
Brain & nerves
Lafora disease
Serious
A late-onset, severe form of epilepsy causing myoclonic jerking and seizures from around age five, progressing to neurodegeneration; affected dogs are frequently euthanised within a few years of diagnosis. Specific to the MINIATURE WIRE-HAIRED variety.
What to ask for
A DNA test for the NHLRC1 repeat-expansion mutation on both parents
Eyes
Progressive retinal atrophy, cone-rod dystrophy (cord1/CRD4)
Monitor
A degeneration of both rod and cone cells in the retina causing progressive vision loss, usually apparent by around three years of age; penetrance is incomplete, so not every dog carrying two copies goes blind. OFA states this variant causes a real risk of clinical disease specifically in the MINIATURE LONG-HAIRED Dachshund (and in English Springer Spaniels); in other Dachshund varieties the risk of clinical disease from the same variant is described as low.
What to ask for
A PRA-CRD4/CORD1 (RPGRIP1) DNA test on both parents
Kidneys & urinary
Cystinuria
Serious
A defect in kidney amino-acid transport that lets cystine crystallise in urine, forming bladder or urethral stones that can cause a life-threatening obstruction, especially in males. Best documented in Miniature Smooth-haired lines, and reported breed-wide.
What to ask for
A cystinuria (SLC3A1) DNA test on both parents
How long the Dachshund lives, in the records
Dachshund
Median survival 13,2 years
95% confidence interval 13,0–13,5 years, from 926 recorded deaths among 2325 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.77 (0.72, 0.83) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Miniature Dachshund
Median survival 14,0 years
95% confidence interval 13,7–14,2 years, from 1655 recorded deaths among 7271 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.65 (0.62, 0.69) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
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Puppies
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