A short reference for the dachshund-specific words and acronyms you'll
come across on our site: color and coat terms, the abbreviations from
the health-testing results, the breeding language in our
litter notes, and the title prefixes you sometimes see in front of a
registered name. Where a term has a longer treatment elsewhere on the
site, we link out to it. Heading anchors are generated automatically from
the heading text, so /breed/glossary#ivdd jumps to the IVDD entry,
/breed/glossary#dapple to Dapple, and so on.
Colors & coats
Dapple
The dachshund word for what most other breeds call merle. A single copy of the M allele produces light-and-dark mottled patches on an otherwise normal coat. Two copies (a double dapple, M/M) carry a high risk of deafness and ocular defects, so two dapples are never bred together. See also: Colors & genetics.
Double dapple
A dog with two copies of the M allele (M/M). At significant risk for deafness, blindness, and eye malformations. Responsible breeders test the M locus on every dog and pair dapples only with non-dapple partners.
Piebald
A separate white-spotting pattern controlled by the S locus, distinct from dapple. Produces clean white patches with sharp edges, typically on the chest, feet, and tail tip. Common in some lines, rare in others; not a health risk on its own.
Brindle
Vertical tiger-like striping on a red or fawn base. Controlled by the K locus. Less common in miniature dachshunds than in some other breeds.
Sable
The ay allele at the A locus, which produces a red base coat with individual hairs that darken toward the tip. The visual effect is what we call shading. See also: Colors & genetics.
Shaded red
A red dog showing sable shading: black-tipped hairs along the back, ears, and tail. The shading is set by ay at the A locus plus several unlinked modifier genes. See also: Colors & genetics.
Shaded cream
A cream dog that is not e/e: it keeps a working E allele and so can still make dark pigment, and reads cream through intensity dilution at the I locus instead. The result is a champagne base with smoke-colored ears and topcoat, usually born dark and lightening over several months. Breeders call the genotype "EE cream." Intensity is the working explanation rather than a settled one: it is polygenic, and the standard breeder panel does not resolve it finely enough to tell shaded red from shaded cream on genotype alone, so we read it against the parents' registered colors. See also: Colors & genetics.
Clear cream
A cream dog that is e/e at the E locus, so it cannot produce a dark hair anywhere. Uniformly pale from birth to adult, with no shading. Also called an ee cream or an American cream. See also: Colors & genetics.
Recessive ee genotype
Shorthand for the recessive E-locus genotype that blocks eumelanin in the coat (the nose, lips, and eye rims still darken normally) and produces a clear cream coat. A dog is e/e when both parents passed an e allele. Note that this is only one of the two routes to a cream dachshund; see shaded cream for the other.
English cream
Lineage and marketing name for the shaded ("EE") cream, whose ancestors trace to English and European lines. It is not an AKC color; registration paperwork says only cream. It is also not the same as cream in cocker spaniels, which is generally the ee recessive route.
Intensity locus
The I locus (MFSD12 and several partner genes), which dilutes red pigment toward cream without touching black or brown. The best-supported explanation for the shaded or "English" cream, though intensity is polygenic and current panels do not resolve it cleanly.
Isabella
The diluted version of chocolate: a soft lilac-tan coat with blue-grey points. Produced when a dog is both chocolate (b/b at the B locus) and dilute (d/d at the D locus). AKC registers it as Fawn (Isabella), which is the wording that shows up on paperwork. Rare and not bred for at Maplewood.
Tan points
The classic black-and-tan or chocolate-and-tan pattern: solid base coat with tan markings above the eyes, on the muzzle, chest, legs, and under the tail. Controlled by the A locus at allele.
Coat varieties
Miniature
Not a separate breed or variety: a class division within the single dachshund standard. A dachshund qualifies as a miniature at 11 pounds and under at 12 months of age or older. Every other part of the standard, structure, temperament, coat, and color, applies identically to miniatures and standards alike. See also: Breed standard.
Tweenie
Informal breeder shorthand for a dachshund that finishes between the miniature and standard divisions, roughly twelve to sixteen pounds. It is not a recognized size and appears nowhere in the standard. See also: Breed standard.
MLC
Miniature Long-Coat. Variety suffix that appears in some registered names. Indicates the dog is the long-haired variety in miniature size, the same as MLH. Either suffix can appear in AKC paperwork depending on the era and registry convention.
MLH
Miniature Long-Hair. The more common modern AKC suffix for the long-coated miniature variety. Most of our dogs are MLH.
MWC
Miniature Wirehair. The wire-coated miniature variety. We don't breed wires; the suffix is included here only because it appears in some pedigrees we reference.
Health & genetic testing
IVDD
Intervertebral Disc Disease. The long-back condition the breed is known for. Two FGF4 retrogene insertions get mentioned together and are easy to mix up: CDDY, the variant that drives premature disc degeneration, and CDPA, the variant that gives the breed its short legs. Only CDDY is tied to disc disease. Every dog in our program is tested for both as part of the Embark panel. See also: Health testing.
CDDY
Chondrodystrophy with disc disease. An FGF4 retrogene on chromosome 12 that causes discs to degenerate early. A single copy is enough to raise IVDD risk, and the variant is close to fixed in dachshunds: of the dachshunds Embark has tested, only about 5% come back clear. That is why IVDD risk in this breed is managed day to day, through weight, careful handling, and limiting jumping, rather than selected out of the line.
CDPA
Chondrodysplasia. The variant that produces the dachshund's short legs. It is not itself linked to disc disease. Almost universal in the breed; tested on every dog as part of the Embark panel, but not shown in our public results because the answer is the same for every dachshund.
PRA
Progressive retinal atrophy. A group of inherited eye conditions that cause gradual blindness. The variant relevant to dachshunds is cord1 (RPGRIP1). Every dog in our program is tested for cord1 well before any breeding decision is made.
cord1
The variant of PRA most relevant to miniature dachshunds, located on the RPGRIP1 gene. Tested on every Embark Breeder panel.
NCL
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. A fatal neurodegenerative storage disease. Rare in dachshunds but devastating when two carriers are paired. NCL1 and NCL2 are separate variants with separate tests; we run both on every breeding dog.
DM
Degenerative myelopathy. A late-onset spinal cord disease similar in expression to ALS in humans. It is recessive and not fully penetrant, so a carrier bred to a clear dog produces no at-risk puppies. We don't pair two carriers.
OFA
Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. The U.S. registry where eye, patella, cardiac, and other structural evaluations are filed. Each filing gets a public OFA number that anyone can look up at ofa.org. See also: Health testing.
CHIC
Canine Health Information Center. A designation given to dogs whose OFA filings cover every test the breed requires. For dachshunds that is an ACVO eye exam, current within two years of breeding, and a patellar luxation evaluation; a cardiac exam is listed as optional. The dog also has to be permanently identified by microchip or tattoo. A CHIC number is shorthand for "this dog completed the required health panel and the results are public," and that last part is a hard rule: every result has to be released publicly, normal or not. A CHIC number cannot sit on top of a withheld bad result. See also: OFA's Dachshund breed page.
ACVO
American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists. The credential held by the specialist who performs the OFA eye exam. ACVO ophthalmologists are the only veterinarians OFA accepts for eye certifications.
Patellar luxation
A condition where the kneecap slips out of its groove. Tested by OFA as part of the breed's CHIC requirements.
Embark
The genetic testing service we use for every dog in our program. The Breeder panel covers 250+ markers, including all breed-relevant disease risks alongside the color and coat loci.
COI
Coefficient of inbreeding. A measure of how genetically similar a dog's parents are, written either as a fraction from 0 to 1 or as that same number in percent. It can be calculated from a pedigree (we walk four generations by default) or from genomic data, which is what Embark reports. The two are not interchangeable: pedigree COI in miniature dachshunds typically runs from the low single digits into the low teens, while genomic COI reads considerably higher because it also counts shared ancestry older than any pedigree on file. Lower is generally healthier, but compare like with like.
Genotype vs phenotype
Genotype is the dog's underlying genetic makeup; phenotype is what the dog looks like or how the condition presents. A dog can be a carrier for a recessive disease (genotype) and entirely healthy (phenotype); the distinction is why we genetic-test rather than selecting by appearance alone.
Carrier vs affected
A carrier has one copy of a recessive disease allele and is healthy. An affected dog has two copies and shows the disease. As a rule, we don't breed two carriers of the same condition.
Breeding & whelping
AI
Artificial insemination. Used when timing or distance makes natural breeding impractical. We use fresh AI most commonly; chilled and frozen semen are also options for imported sires.
TCI
Transcervical insemination. A more advanced AI technique where the semen is deposited directly into the uterus through a guided endoscope. Higher conception rates than vaginal AI for older bitches or low-volume semen samples.
Progesterone test
A blood test used to time breeding to ovulation. Progesterone rises predictably as a bitch approaches ovulation; the result tells us how many days out we are from peak fertility.
LH surge
The luteinizing hormone surge that triggers ovulation, roughly 48 hours before the eggs are released. Used as the reference point for breeding timing.
Ovulation timing
Working out when the eggs will actually be fertilizable, and breeding to match. Ovulation happens about two days after the LH surge, but dogs release immature eggs that need another two to three days to ripen, so the fertile window usually falls four to six days after the surge. Done by combining progesterone tests with vaginal cytology.
Whelp
The act of giving birth to a litter, or one of the puppies in a litter. "Whelping date" is when the puppies are born.
Dam
The mother of a litter.
Sire
The father of a litter.
Stud fee
The fee paid to use a sire for a breeding. It varies with the sire's titles, health testing, and demand; some breeders accept a puppy from the litter ("puppy back") instead of cash.
Guardian home
A family that takes one of our young dogs into their home as a pet under an agreement that the dog returns to us for breeding and goes back permanently after retirement. A way to give breeding dogs full- time family life without overcrowding our home.
Registries & titles
AKC
American Kennel Club. The primary U.S. dog registry. All Maplewood dogs are AKC-registered.
KUSA
Kennel Union of Southern Africa. The South African registry under which our South African imports were originally registered before transfer to AKC.
FCI
Fédération Cynologique Internationale. The international umbrella organization for national dog registries in most of the world outside the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Our Lithuanian and Ukrainian imports come with FCI-member-club pedigrees.
CKC
Two unrelated registries share this acronym: the Canadian Kennel Club (legitimate) and the Continental Kennel Club (a U.S. alternate registry not recognized by AKC). Context determines which is meant.
CH
Champion. The AKC conformation title earned by accumulating 15 points (including two majors) from accredited judges in the breed ring.
GCH
Grand Champion. The next level above CH, earned by accumulating additional points after finishing the CH title against other champions.
Litter registration
The AKC filing made by the breeder shortly after a litter is whelped, listing the dam, sire, and number of puppies. Required before any individual puppy can be AKC-registered.
Individual registration
The AKC paperwork the new owner submits to register a specific puppy under its registered name. Each litter registration generates one individual registration application per pup.
If a term you're looking for isn't here, or a definition could be clearer, please let us know. This is a living reference and we add to it as questions come up.