Colors/Patterns/Coats

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Coat Types

There are three types of AKC-accepted coat types (Long, Smooth, and Wire) and one fairly new addition (Silky/Soft Wire) which is not always considered politically correct.

Long	Smooth	Wire	Soft/Silky Wire

The AKC list of colors for dachshunds is rather vague and only lists the most “predominant” ones. This does not mean that other colors and patterns are not allowed, there’s just no room to describe all of them and there is no disqualification for color, however, there are limits on colors allowed at AKC shows. You can find a more complete list of color and pattern options at the bottom of this page.

Basic Colors

Base Color	Long Hair	Smooth	Wire	Soft Wire/Silky	Changes	Base color	Modifiers
Clear Red					Born Red no black hairs on ears or body	Red Ay/At	N/A
Shaded Red	Pups are also shaded reds				Born dark, shading often lessens with age	Red Ay/At	The gene that causes shading is not yet identified
Black/Tan					No change	Black At/At	N/A
ee Red					Born gold or buff begins to darken and becomes more visible around a week old but may also stay the same	Black/Tan At/At	e/e
Blue/Tan					Black is lightened to grayish-blue hue	Black At/At	Dilute d/d
Chocolate/Tan					Black is lightened to chocolate	Black At/At	Chocolate b/b
Isabella (fawn)/Tan					Black is lightened to light brown or fawn	Black At/At	b/b + d/d
Chocolate based red					Red + chocolate gene. Chocolate only dilutes black so nose and eye rims	Red Ay/AT	Chocolate b/b
Blue Based Red					Red + blue gene. Blue only dilutes black so nose and eye rims	Red Ay/AT	Dilute d/d
Wild Boar	N/A	N/A			Each hair follicle tipped in black	aw	Believed to be a pattern. Responsible gene(s) still being decided
Sable			Wild Boar	Wild Boar	Each hair follicle tipped in black	aw	Believed to be a pattern. Responsible gene(s) still being decided
Wheaten	N/A	N/A			Born buff or gold stays same	Red Ay/AT	Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
ee Cream			Typically registered as Wheaten	Typically registered as Wheaten	Born white, buff or gold stays same	Red Ay/AT or Black At/At	ee + Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Shaded/Cream					Born very dark lightens	Red Ay/AT	Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Black/Cream					Lighter creamy points than black/tan	Black At/At	Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Chocolate/Cream					Lighter creamy points than Chocolate/tan	Black At/At	bb + Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Blue/Cream					Lighter creamy points than Blue/tan	Black At/At	dd+ Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Chocolate based Cream					Red body is modified to cream with chocolate nose, and paw pads	Red Ay/AT	bb + Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Blue based Cream					Red body is modified to cream with blue nose, and paw pads	Red Ay/AT	dd + Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream
Isabella (fawn) based cream					Red body is modified to cream with fawn nose, and paw pads	Red Ay/AT	bb + dd + Intensity MFSD12= cream/cream

Brindle

The Kbr allele is a separate mutation that allows the A locus to be expressed. However, the expression causes a brindling of the agouti patterns. Brindle is Dominant so one parent must be Brindle for the offspring to inherit it. Brindle can not be carried.
The inheritance ratio varies. However, there can be homozygous brindles. Spottadachs has owned several over the years. Unlike Double dapples, double brindles do NOT have health issues.
Brindle affects red (or shaded cream) not black coloring so on blk/tan it shows up in the tan markings only, on chocolate-based reds the stripes are chocolate-colored. ee can hide brindle as it lightens all black markings until they are not visible.

BRINDLES	Long	Smooth	Wire	Silky/Soft Wire
Shaded Red
Black/Tan
Chocolate Based Red
Shaded Cream

Dapple

Dapple as it is called in Dachshunds AKA: M-Locus Merle is sometimes confused with heavy ticking. One parent must be Dapple for the offspring to inherit it. Dapple can not be carried. The inheritance ratio varies.
Dapple tends to be difficult to see on a red dog except when very young. Cryptic or Phantom merle can also cause a dog to look like they are not merle. Testing is always advisable if there is any question.

You can read more about this fascinating gene

DAPPLES	Long	Smooth	Wire	Soft Wire/Silky
ee Red	Spots	do not show	but blue eyes	still may
Shaded Red
Black/Tan	This pup has very minimal tan points
Chocolate/Tan
Blue/Tan
Shaded Cream
Black/Cream
Chocolate/Cream

Harlequinn (Mh)Dapple

A length of Dapple (Merle) base pairs longer than M, which can cause areas to delete to white. While Piebald generally has even edges, Harlequinn often causes a more torn irregular look. Some of the pictured pups are also piebalds.

7 alleles on the M Locus “Merle phenotypes in dogs – SILV SINE insertions from Mc to Mh” [i]

• m Non-Merle – Wild Type
• Mc Cryptic Merle 200 – 230 bp
• Mc+ Cryptic Merle + 231 – 246 bp
• Ma Atypical Merle 247 – 254 bp
• Ma+ Atypical Merle + 255 – 264 bp
• M Merle 265 – 268 bp
• Mh Harlequin Merle 269 – 280 bp (HARVEY and PICASSO pictured above tested at 279 thru UC Davis)

[i] “Langevin et at” – Langevin M, Synkova H, Jancuskova T, Pekova S (2018) Merle phenotypes in dogs – SILV SINE insertions from Mc to Mh. PLoS ONE 13(9): e0198536. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198536

Double Dapple

Double Dapple occurs only when two dapples are bred together and the offspring inherits one dapple gene from each parent. Not all offspring from a dapple to dapple breeding will be double dapple however the health implications are so bad for those who are unlucky enough to turn out double dapple it is not worth the risk.
Double dapples can be afflicted by any combination of the following: Blindness, deafness, extreme food sensitivity, intestinal deformities, reproductive system malformations, and higher rate of cancer, just to name a few of the possible health issues. Buyer beware: Not all are visible or apparent as pups.
Offspring of a double dapple (bred to a non-dapple mate) will be 100% single dapples and do not inherit the illnesses caused by the double dose of dapple/merle factor.

Piebald

There are two types of white body markings in Dachshunds. The first is the actual (S Locus) Piebald which can vary in how expressive it is from covering only a small area on the body to covering almost the entire body. The old rule for piebalds was they must have four white feet and a white tip on the tail however with modern genetic testing we are learning there is so much more to it than that.

PIEBALD	Long	Smooth	Wire	Soft Wire/Silky
ee Red
Shaded Red
Black/Tan
Chocolate/Tan
Blue/Tan
Shaded Cream

Ticking Spots

Ticking ONLY shows on the white caused by Piebald. Ticking can vary from heavy to light distribution. Ticking does not show up until around a week and a half and may continue to come in until adulthood. It is the same gene that causes the spotting in Dalmations, heelers, and setters to name a few.

Ticking	Red Base	Black/Tan Base	Chocolate/Tan
Light
Medium
Heavy

Multiple Pattern Combinations

Brindle Piebald	Dapple Piebald	Brindle/Dapple/Piebald

AKC Accepted Pattern Codes

Brindle 051

Dapple 020

Sable 026

Brindle Piebald 127

Double Dapple 050

Piebald 025

Unfortunately, there is not a code for Dapple/Piebald yet so it is wisest to mark your dog as dapple where it can cause health concerns.

Most breeders have an unspoken code that is used to represent colors and coat type by putting letters at the end of the dog’s name.

These initials usually run body size, coat type, then pattern(s).

M- miniature

S- smooth coat

L- long hair

W- wire coat

B- brindle

P- piebald

D- dapple

For example “Spotta Pockets Full Of Cash MLDP” is our miniature, long hair, dapple, piebald, male. In this manner we are able to note in a manner other breeders can understand when looking at his pedigree that he is a dapple and piebald.