QuestionQUESTION: Hello. We just adopted an 8 mo. old female Dachshund and we have noticed that her eyes are not oval shaped but are round. Also her hair is more of an orange than a red and her nose is more a light brown, almost pink. We were told she was the runt and that she weighs about 5 lbs. We don't have papers, so we don't know if she is full bred or not. Do you know if she is a certain type of dachshund? We have only had her for 24 hours and we love her so much. Any response is appreciated. Cindy (also!)
ANSWER: Her body shape should tell you more if she is a purebred, but if you love her - that is all that matters. There are dilute reds that have brown toe nails and noses rather than black. The shape of her eyes does not always mean anything because there are a lot of "backyard" type breeders and many dachshunds are bred that are not true to the breed standards. At 8 months she should be almost full grown and a 5 lb doxie is not typical. I would have to see a picture to give youmore of an opinion. Give her lots of love. There is no certain type of dachshund - just color and sizes.
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QUESTION: I just did a little more searching online and found that she might be a chocolate based red. They can have "liver" colored noses and nails, which she does, as opposed to black.
AnswerThis means she is a dilute red. Some say there really is no chocolate based red. It is a matter of genes. Some will say that this is an undesirable color because it weakens the gene pool of the breed, but others like the color. It depends on the source. The AKC states that dark brown is acceptable for chocolates and reds but self-coat color is the most desirable or black. I bet yours is cute!
