THE DANGERS OF DOUBLE DAPPLES (And why we never breed for them) What is a Double Dapple? Double dapple is a coat pattern rather than a color in its own right, and in order to fully understand what a double dapple is, first of all it important to understand what a simple or single dapple is! Dappling is a type of coat pattern, which is also sometimes referred to as Merle, and causes the coat’s pattern to be multi-colored and patched or spotty in terms of the color distribution. Genetics account for the dappling pattern on the dog, but results can vary quite widely, even within pups of the same litter, and regardless of the coat patterning of the two parent dogs. If one parent dog is dappled in pattern, the puppies are also likely to present with a dappled pattern, and when just one parent passes on the dappled color, this is not considered to pose a problem. However, if both of the parent dogs are dappled, they will both pass on the dapple gene, and the puppies will receive two copies of it; this is what produces puppies with the double dapple, and where the two dapples overlap on the coat, this produces a double dapple pattern. The double dapple pattern is generally considered to look attractive and be desirable in and of itself, which leads many Dachshund breeders to attempt to achieve this look within their own litters. However, the two copies of the dapple gene pass on more than just the double dapple color; they also pass on a range of hereditary health problems to the subsequent puppies too. Most common are: Blindness Deafness Partial blindness or partial deafness, Abnormally small eyes, Malformed eyes Malformed ears, Missing eyes, Missing ears, Congenital eye defects For reasons unknown, the combination of two dapple genes hitting the same area of the dog can be lethal. I have seen double dapple puppies born with no eyes, and/or no ears. Blindness and/or deafness is also caused by the double dapple gene. On the other hand, a double dapple can be born with no deformities at all. I, for one, feel that even one dog like this is not worth the risk of a million healthy dogs. For every deformed double dapple, there is a different excuse. Here are a few of those 'excuses' and a few solutions. So why do people breed them? Simple ignorance: Genetics are a complicated matter and many breeders won't even take the time to try to learn. Solution: TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN! Mistaking double dapples for piebalds: This is the most aggravating of all the mistakes made. Without getting into the genetics behind a piebald, I will tell you that a piebald is a normal color Dachshund with varying amounts of white. A piebald does not have dapple. A piebald does not have blue eyes, or partial blue eyes. A Piebald is normally marked symmetrically...meaning that if one ear is black, the other ear is black. If one paw is white, the other paw is white. If one side of the face is white, the other side is equally white. A double dapple is not symmetrical. You will often see one leg normal colored and the other leg totally white. One side of the face can be white and the other side dappled. These are the easiest way to tell if a dog is double dappled or piebald. Solution: If you aren't sure if your dog is double dapple or piebald, look at the pedigree! A double dapple will always have a dappled dam and a dappled sire. A piebald can come from any color, but you will normally see piebald in the background. Since piebald is recessive, it is possible to have two plain black & tans produce a piebald. However ONLY TWO DAPPLES can produce a double dapple. Greed: If we go back to the genetics behind a double dapple, you will remember that a double dapple results when two dapples both contribute their dapple gene to one puppy. That puppy, if he goes on to breed, will have two dapple genes that will be shuffled and eventually dealt out into the gene pool. Since the dapple gene is dominant, and the only thing that puppy has is a dapple gene, there is a 100% chance that every, single puppy that dog produces will be a dapple. In other words, a double dapple will ALWAYS produce dapple puppies, even when bred to a normal color dog (black & tan, chocolate & tan, etc.). Since dapple puppies normally command a higher price, there are breeders who purposely breed dapple to dapple, in hopes of getting a double dapple. That double dapple can then be used to produce all dapple puppies...all of his life. It is interesting to note, that even a dog, which is totally blind and deaf, will NEVER produce a deaf or blind puppy (providing that he isn't bred to another dapple or carrying some other genetic defect that causes deafness/blindness). The deafness/blindness seen in double dapples is only a result of the two dapple genes. Solution: There is no solution for this sort of breeder! PLEASE BE AWARE