Type or Dachshund Style ?
Download this page in PDF formatWhen a Dachshund Breeder determines what we like in our Standard, they look and see how it defines the Type we have to keep in mind and adhere to. Most of us, after a long career in breeding many litters and watching the Dachshunds that are successful in the Show Ring, determine the Dachshund style that satisfies us and, also, what we want to have representing us in the Ring as part of the bloodline that we personally breed for. That AKC Standard defines the Dachshund characteristics that define Type and Stytle, but when we breed, we often see things that need improvement and so we try to fix those aspects in our next litter of Dachshunds and most of us call that becoming more typy. When we change what we really need to get a better Dachshund, we did not change the style of dog that we are breeding, but are trying to get it closer to what excellent, knowledgeable Judges and breeders liked as well. As those aspects of a Dachshund change and you keep what you already have that is in the Standard, you have made a better Dachshund and, as every Livestock breeder calls it, it has become more stylish to you. We all should have some things that you have to have in a Dachshund, Miniature or Standard, and you do not show the ones who are lacking in the departments you are trying to change. As we go along, we all find things that some great Judges like and, after looking at what they do put up in the Show Ring, you personally decide if you want to add those aspects to your bloodline. Many times, you try to add them, but don’t quite accomplish it immediately, but you keep trying, if that change makes sense to you, and that Dachshund Type, which you want to present to other Judges and exhibitors, does become what you gradually show as part of your bloodline.
I normally tried to please myself when I started showing and breeding and I was pretty successful at this and often had DCA winners and winners at many of the biggest Specialty and All Breed Shows who won at the larger shows, but there were two Judges, John Cook and Ann Gordon, that I was not successful with when showing to them with my Longhairs. By then, I was winning at the National level with my Smooths and was in contention with the Smooths all over the USA, but my Longhair Standards were not winning, paricularly when Breeder-Judge Ann Gordon whose opinion really mattered to me, was pointing out the best in the Show Ring. I started watching her and noticed that she liked a certain look, stance and a certain coat style that I didn’t have (and, saying this now, she was right). I then started changing the way I bred and added CH Gerolf das Zwerglein L ROMO to my line and crossed a daughter of his with CH Han-Jo’s ‘Xtra Copy L ROMO (who was basically all Hannelore and Bayard greats) and came up with CH Boondox Panama Jack ROMO who Ann Gordon loved from the moment she saw him. She loved him and loved what he produced and always put that style up when it was shown to her. Adding that style made my dogs still within the AKC Dachshund Standard, as well as being, in my mind, even more Typy and I was always about breeding the typiest Dachshund I could, because when you have the Type, as the AKC Standard calls for, you have a Dachshund which I always tried to make as stylish as possible. The way I look at it is that we want them to be your style and, by being that style, you are getting them typier to you and to other Dachshund exhibitors and Judges as well. You always have to please yourself first and stay within the Standard, but, as you keep adding things to make the Dachshund better, you are getting them to be much typier and a lot more stylish.
If you notice, when John Cook and Ann Gordon did not put me up with my Longhairs, I did not go out of my way to get mad at them and make them enemies, but, instead, I watched them judge and really discovered what they liked in Dachshunds and then saw where I was headed myself and, if I liked it better, too, I would start taking my dogs down whichever path I preferred and really use what long time breeders and Judges admire, because they MIGHT just know some things that you, yourself, may not have in that book of tricks about Dachshund breeding. Remember, we are always breeding for the next generation and, instead of making respected Judges your enemies, watch them judge and see what they are rewarding and, if you do like it, you can add it to your line then. Again, watching long-time successful Dachshund breeders is always the way to make that line of yours typier and more popular and not at all just the means to tear down older Judges and breeders who might just possibly be willing to share with you what they are looking for by pointing to it in the Show Ring. Taking notice of these things just makes our Dachshunds even typier and more stylish when we do make that happen.
Many people object to this and say Dachshund style covers everything, but typiness is something that all Horse breeders , cattle ranchers, sheep people and chicken folk use this “typier” phrase all of the time to differentiate between the typiest to the least typy of a group of animals. Everyone has a Standard, but, as you go along, you keep adding aspects and getting your dog better and you always think your dog is becoming typier. Everyone thinks that all Dachshunds are the same because you can recognize them as a (somewhat) Dachshund, but I am one who recognizes Breed Type and, by almost finishing 300 AKC Champions, I can also recognize that my breeding has made my Boondox bloodline typier and more stylish (to me) than most others. Remember, all Dachshunds being bred have what their breeders consider Dachshund type, but, for those of who have been breeding longer and have been successful, we should hopefully have been making changes in our Dachshund conformation and movement which would mean they are better than most of them and the Dachshund style they have makes them typier than most breeders have who are just starting out. All of our Dachshunds should have Dachshund type, but, if successful, we refine what we want our Dachshunds to look like and move like and, to me, anyway, that makes them a lot typier than someone has just getting started in the Breed. I know I keep repeating many of the same stories a lot, but these stories have points that I hope all will gather from. I repeat them often so you see how my mind works, so that breeders, exhibitors and judges can understand WHY I am telling these stories yet again. It is not because I am forgetful (even though I probably am, a little), but, because as more true information is passed down, perhaps many more breeders will understand what I am trying to purvey here. Again, I never argue about the dogs I raised no matter how wrong the breeders are who are critiquing my Dachshunds, becauset I am just showing how I have accomplished all these things and I, personally, would love to see the Breed get back on track and really bring the Dachshund Breed to the top again. When I am pointing out how I did it, IU am not trying to be the Boss or your Master, but REALLY trying to show you the type and style that I ahev brought to the Breed.
I also have not answered this question about using Dachshund Type or the AKC Dachshund Standard to pick out the best of what to use in judging or choosing what I own and this question is something that is vitally important to me. When I do judge the Dachshunds, the Standard is something we should always keep in mind as that is something that Breeders and Exhibitors have decided to use in picking out the best in the Show Rings in the USA and what the Standard calls for should always be in your mind to lead the way.
However, when you have been breeding and picking out Top Quality Dachshunds for awhile and, with some success, you soon study the Standard and see where you are in its areas of the Dachshund body and, also, you have to keep in mind how easy it is to fix certain things and get them back to what you know is correct and accepted by breeders who realize what you are doing is working within the Standard and keeping the Dachshund correct along with having great temperament and movement. Anyone showing HAS their own sense of style and I hope that is used to find the best to own and win with as long as it is in accordance with, in my case, the AKC Standard.
These first paragraphs show Dachshund type and how successful breeders want to keep getting better and better and making their Dachshunds typier and more stylish. After breeding and picking out what they consider the best Dachshunds, they soon see what HAS to get better and also how some things are easily changed and other aspects are VERY difficult to get back to correct if we stray from them. I will start explaining what I want to see when I go over Dachshunds and where I look and what I have found to be the easiest to change back to what you want YOUR Dachshund to look like.
As I have said repeatedly, all Dachshunds should have Dachshund type, but, when you improve what you are producing to show, you do have a typier dog and isn’t that what we all should be trying to do? I know there are certain things I talk about that drive other exhibitors crazy and first and foremost is my total emphasis on the Dachshund front, because the Dachshund IS, in my mind, a front Breed and, when I started breeding, I wanted good fronts on everything I showed and that is what I wanted all my Dachshunds to have and was the first thing that I tried to get and maintain in breeding typier Dachshunds. To get that front, one has to start with a great neckset a little further back on the body of a Dachshund and it should rest directly above the front legs with the neckset being the point on the withers where the shoulder angulation ends, where the neck joins the neckset to give that long arched neck into that hopefully gorgeous head and also where the topline joins at the same neckset and make it the balancing point of the dog. Remember, my first step in getting a more stylish Dachshund is a great, well-placed neckset which pulls so much of the front together and makes the body move like a well-oiled machine at a fast pace around the Show Ring. That well-placed neckset shows the neck flowing into it with a lot of arch to that neck. The neckset shows well placed shoulders on a dog whose shoulders start at the neckset and end exactly at the same place right under that beautiful neck set where the front legs come out of the body. The neckset shows the angulation and the forechest sticking out in front that laidback angulation and the more angled shoulders give a great place for those shoulders to fit also makes for more reach and drive. Once you have that well-angled front and great laidback shoulders, you have to keep that always. Again, that is something that I, personally, never argue about as that is what I got immediately and, once I got it, I ALWAYS kept it as it is VERY easy to lose and when it is gone, you really have to start from scratch to get it back. When I am judging, I am always looking at really two things in a Dachshund- a perfect front and a great temperament because you, as a breeder, can NEVER lose either one.
Right now, many people are using the term ‘ewe neck’ (which is a sheep term) and means that the neck is set too low and comes in below the set of shoulders and where there is a dip between the low-set shoulders and the neck. With this ewe neck the front of the neck carries that neck to the front of the sheep. That is one thing we should all learn about these terms that come from one species to another and we should always use them as the original sheep breeders did. Many ‘experts’ are saying that this ewe neck means they are carrying the neck too far back on the body (which is really incorrect) as that heavier front of neck pulls the neck down and forward and leaves a very low set neck at the front of the body with the neck coming out below the neckset and making the neckset awkward and not true moving at all. Think about describing the neckset and then seeing that heavier fronted neck pulling the neck FORWARD and NEVER back at all. Again, look at dog’s pictured and see that most have a well arched neck and never a curve going backwards on the body. Imagine what that neck feels like carrying it along each day. The goal here is always to eliminate that wrong neckset and never show it. We want to to always show the best we have and that ewe neck is never seen on any Dachshund that I ever showed. Truly, having a great well-placed neckset always makes you have a more typy look and that Dachshund stlyle never gets old in the Show Ring.
When I look at the front (and indeed that is where most of my attention lies), I look at the forechest which I want a lot of in any Dachshund that I start showing and I want a beautifully set on shoulder and upper arm which ends at the neckset and where the front legs are placed towards that neckset with the shoulders ending there and the upper arm directly under that well-placed neckset. That conformation gives you more angulation set further back on your body and with that angulation, the forechest is ahead of where the shoulders are and, again with the angulation, the shoulders take wider steps and really cover ground more easily and smoothly and, hopefully, much quicker. That is my goal as I want an oval shaped front with lots of forechest and a tightly set-on shoulders, well angulated, which make the Dachshund a little moving machine that covers ground like no other.
Also, remember that the shoulder ends below at the front legs which should ALWAYS be right under that neckset at the deepest part of the ribbing and that ribbing should always go well past the legs, giving the Dachshund the long ribbed body that we want to see in our typiest Dachshunds. All of these things go with each other and, when you start losing conformation that you always had, you are losing part of what makes it a Dachshund. Always keep what you had as that is part of breeding the typiest dachshund that you can.
Next, look at the topline and see if it is as straight as possible going from the neckset to the tailset. We want that to be part of the whole, but. knowing it is easier to fix than many things are in a Dachshund, we do have to keep that in mind. Many breeders want a dead level topline, and that is something we all should strive for, but that dead-level topline is something that many of the greats had and that many of them went down with it as well. I like the level (and I hope you notice that I did not say dead-level) topline, but that problem can be fixed in one breeding easily and, like most Dachshund breeders, we are usually a little forgiving on that as we have all seen the dead-level toplines go down and so I, for one, try to work with a level topline, but with a great front and beautiful rear using the whole body as a means for that. I understand that many new breeders are crazy about square rears and dead-level toplines, but sometimes you have to take the dog as a whole and make the best of what you have on each end. I realize that the square rear and dead-level topline breeders are gonna kill us, but, when I am breeding, what I produce is what I show and, as I said, the topline problem is easily fixed while a front or rear poblem takes years to get back to the quality that you have to have. I am in no way saying forgive the topline problem, but please keep in mind that we are trying to breed a long dog without back problema and also one with great locomotion so someties other things are thought about sometimes.
Anyway I want that body to be free of lumps and bumps and to be smooth all the way to the rear and I always keep that in mind. I love that smooth feeling as I run my hands down a beautiful type one on the table. When I get to the rear, I always want a short hock and I want to see it as I come up to the dog on the table. Many people, for some reason, want the hocks to be at right angles to the ground when you look at them from the side and, to be honest, our standard does not call for that. It wants the right angle to be from where the rear comes out of the body and follows that to the floor which, in actuality, means that the right angle is from where the rear leg comes down and ends on the floor. It is a hard concept to grasp and most breeders do not read the Standard enough while they are breeding anyway, so I am usually forgiving when looking at the rear from the side, but I do note the ones who have them set up the right way to myself. When moving, I, too, like a square rear as well,but I always give them a few steps to get really going and then I can see hwere that square rear is actually doing anything or just being dragged around. I want to see that rear move itself when it is gaiting, not just be drug around after the front
In looking at the rear from behind, I do want that part to be a little wider coming down from the neckset and I want a nice tail, set low and smoothly finishing out that topline. Looking at that outline from the side should make you know how typy and stylish that Dachshund can be. Also, note the tail and, IMO, it should always be carried down and wagging. Some breeders like to show the LH’s tail to show off the feathering, but the Judge can usually see that when the dog is being gaited. To me, anyone of us breeders can make their own determination on how to present the tail. That tail should not be carried too gaily and be free from kinks and twists. I also have not mentioned feet and they are looked at when I go over the front and rear legs. We want four toes closely arched and the fifth front toe can be removed, but I never did that myself. Again, I have always bred to great feet and so always maintained them in my Boondox line.
Finally, I will bring up the Dachsund head and that has always been one thing that I like to see. When I go into the Kennel, I want to see that beautiful Dachshund head looking up at me. To have that sense of style and type almost demands it. Again, I was lucky in that my Dachshunds that I got fron Dee Hutchinson from Rose Farms HAD that so correct head and they were dominant in throwing it as well, so, personally, that was never a problem for me. I have had a few plainer heads that I produced that were NOT quite as nice, but I never chose heads as anything I made my decisions on. If I did get one a little off, with the background he had behind him, he STILL threw great heads. Trust me, I like to see those great heads and so always had them in anything I bred to. As you can see, there are so many things that you have to think about to always get that sense of type and stylishness into your dogs that you DO have to be thinking everywhere when you are planning a breeding. You have to realize that everything behind them will be coming forward. It is up to you to study the dog and his background to make sure he is not taking you backwards on the search to have the typiest and most stylish ones on the end of your lead and that does include that great Dachshund head.
Again, looking at the Dachshund, it should always be long and low and level and it should also be of the right style so that everything fits together and is balanced. Balance is so important for typy dogs to have and, when looking at them, I demand a certain proportion that means everything works together on this Dachshund and, when you move it around the ring, you can see how everything works and fits together and the dog SHOULD move like a dream. Moving that dog after you go over him should prove how functional and ground covering he is. Seeing the whole dog in balance should ALWAYS be what we want to see in appreciating the style and type that he has. Trust me, we always want the best in balance and movement along with that type and style we demand as they all do go together.
I certainly realize that in discovering the type and Dachshund style that you prefer, many parts of the dog come into play, but to be really succesful, you have to understand what you start out with and what you are planning to add along the way. I had a great start, I do admit, and got mt first great producing dogs through Dee Hutchinson of Rose Farms who really lead the way by sharing what she had in each Variety, my passion for Dachshunds would have been a much longer road for me. When you start and realize what you have to change, be honest and truthful to yourself. Your road to having the typiest Dachshunds with the great Dachshund style that we all want is a long way off, but going after that goal will always feel great to have accomplished and always remember what you have and what you must get. Accomplishing any of these thngs along the way is always going to be a value that you never forget about breeding the Dachshund that is stylish and so full of type. That is the reason we all do this over and over and always hope for exactly what we want in each Variety.
Written by Dan Harrison
May 20, 2024