Breed Standard for the Miniature Long Haired Dachshund

In an effort to simplify things this ONLY covers the Miniature Long Haired Dachshund points and is very much a quick reference guide ONLY. As such it is intended to get you on the right road with enough basics to have a good idea of what makes a good Dachshund. The information below is my own simplified down version so you MUST always check with the Dachshund Breed Council and Kennel Club as they have the definitive FULL version before making any decisions based on any of the information shown here. It has been checked by highly reputable people within the Dachshund world and signed off to be correct as of 10-9-09. Please note while I've orientated this for miniature long haired dachshunds given that's what this site is about, less for detail regarding coat/hair it is also correct for all Dachshunds in the UK as of 2009. For a full break down and comparison of all standards, UK, USA and EUROPE (FCI) please go here

Click here to watch a video of the Dachshund Breed Standard 2009 - Presentation

General

Moderately long and low with no exaggeration, compact, well muscled body, with enough ground clearance to allow free movement. Height at the withers should be half the length of the body, measured from breastbone to the rear of thigh. Bold, defiant carriage of head and intelligent expression. Movement should be free and flowing. Stride should be long with the drive coming from the hindquarters when viewed from the side. Viewed from in front or behind, the legs and feet should move parallel to each other with the distance apart being the width of the shoulder and hip joints respectively.

Correct Body size ratio:

Click on picture for Sayers 3 to 1 version another way to calculate correct body size ratio

Please NOTE: Blue dotted line on diagram below indicates actual line of body/rear thigh under long hair. European standard is 66% against 33% only the UK is 75% against 25%.

Appearance

Eyes

Should be dark medium size, almond shaped, set obliquely. Except in Chocolates where they can be much lighter hazel shades. In Dapples, one of both wall/blue eyes and or part eye are permissible. NOTE: In order to see the true colour when using an LCD screen you must look square on at eye level. If you do not the colour may appear lighter than it really is. The chart below is an attempt at showing the likely ranges of eye colour anything very different from these is likey to be incorrect,

Approximate colour range	From	To
All colours less Chocolate
Chocolates ONLY are allowed the lighter colour,
	Wall eye full	Wall eye part
Dapples ONLY are allowed the Wall eye/blue/white. Both full and partial are allowed. Can be one or both eyes.

Quick Reference Guide for fault/not allowed issues:

Quick Ref for	Fault/Not allowed	Notes
Ground Clearance:	Less than 25% Clearance Is Insufficient ground clearance to allow free movement.	Insufficient ground clearance to allow free movement. Sayer graphics confirm the 75:25 ratio for ground clearance. See Correct Body size ratio picture above
Body:	Too long	The diagrams in Sayer have always been 2:1 length : height. So all should have that length to height. (NOTE: Body length measured from breast bone to rear edge of rear thigh! - height withers to ground) See Correct Body size ratio picture above
Colour:	White	All colours permitted but no white permissible, save for a small patch on chest which is permitted but not desirable. The dapple pattern is expressed as lighter coloured areas contrasting with the darker base. Neither the light nor the dark colour should predominate. Double dapple (where varying amounts of white occurs all over the body in addition to the dapple pattern) is unacceptable. Nose and nails black in all colours except chocolate/tan and chocolate/dapple where they are brown.
Eyes:	Round eyes	Dark Medium size, almond shaped, set obliquely. Except in Chocolates, where they can be lighter. In Dapples, one or both wall/blue eyes and or part eye are permissible. See eye colour chart Round eyes are NOT permissible. See appearance picture above
Ears:	Long ears	Daglish states "when pulled to the front, the leather should NOT extend to the tip of the muzzle". Raine's "All about the Dachshund" (1972) says "the length is such that when the ears are pulled forwards they reach a point approximately half way between the eyes and the tip of the nose".” See Correct Body size ratio picture above
Coat - Long-haired:	Big fluffy coat	Body outline should be clearly visible and not obscured by a big fluffy coat. See appearance picture above
Nose:	Pink	BLACK on all colours except for Chocolate and Chocolate Dapple where BROWN is allowed. PINK is not allowed/fault See appearance picture above
Weight:	Over 11lbs	Ideal weight 4.5 kg (10 lbs) Desired maximum weight 5 kg (11 lbs) Excessively over-weight, or thin and under-nourished
Testicles:	1 or no testicles	Dogs (Male) should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Many Thanks to Ian Seath www.sunsong.co.uk for help with understanding the revisions made to the 2009 Breed Standard along with the correct factual references to and also to contributors from www.dachshundforum.co.uk for their constructive criticism of my various early trial size/ration illustrations of the Breed Standard.

Breed Standard for the Miniature Long Haired Dachshund

General

Eyes:

Ears: