COLOURS & GENETICS

Colour, Pattern & Responsible Breeding

Understanding coat colour — and the science behind breeding for it safely.

Coat Colours

The Lemar colour range

A guide to the colours you may see across our litters.

Red Solid warm copper

Black & Tan Classic two-tone

Chocolate & Tan Warm brown base

Dapple Marbled, merle pattern

Cream Soft pale gold

Piebald Large white areas

Brindle Tiger-stripe overlay

Solid Black Deep, glossy coat

Know Your Dachshunds coat types and colours

Coat types and a visual guide to Dachshund colours and patterns.

Dachshund Sizes

Standard Smooth, Long-Haired & Miniature

The sizes and coat varieties represented by Lemar Canine Exports.

Dachshund sizes showing Standard, Miniature and Kaninchen

Dachshund size reference.

Standard Smooth

Standard-sized Dachshunds with a smooth, short coat and the classic long, low Dachshund shape.

Long-Haired

Dachshunds with a soft, flowing long coat that gives the breed an elegant appearance.

Miniature

The smaller Dachshund variety, available in the coat types represented across our breeding programme.

Genetics 101

Breeding for colour, responsibly

A visual guide to Dachshund coat genetics, patterns and responsible breeding.

The Merle (Dapple) Gene

A single copy of the merle gene (M/m) produces the marbled dapple pattern. Two copies (M/M) — a "double dapple" — carries a high risk of deafness, blindness and other serious health issues. It's why we never pair dapple to dapple.

M/M — High Risk

M/m — Safe

m/m — Non-dapple

Only one parent may ever carry the merle gene.

Piebald & Ticking

Piebald (large white patches) and ticking (small coloured flecks in white areas) are controlled by separate genes to merle, and do not increase the risk of double dapple.

Our Breeding Rules

Never dapple to dapple
Only one parent may carry the merle gene
DNA testing before every pairing
Hidden ("cryptic") merles are tested for, never guessed