Black and brown are the two colours most people picture when they think of this breed, and they are also the two most misunderstood. "Black Dachshund" usually does not mean a solid black dog. "Brown Dachshund" is not a registry colour at all — it covers at least three genetically different dogs. This page sorts out what each term actually describes, what it means for the puppy’s health, and which black and brown puppies we have available now.
What a black Dachshund actually is
Almost every dog sold as a black Dachshund is a black and tan or a black and cream. The base coat is genuinely black, and the points — eyebrows, muzzle, chest, inside the legs, under the tail — are tan or cream. Those markings are part of the pattern, not a flaw in it, and they are what the breed standard asks for.
Black and tan is the classic look: glossy jet body, two tan dots above the eyes, tan boots. Black and cream is the same pattern with the points washed out to a pale silver-gold, and it reads as a darker, cooler dog overall. Both have a black nose, black nails and dark brown eyes. If you see a black dachshund dog with amber or hazel eyes and a brown nose, it is not black — it is a dark chocolate.
Is there a solid black Dachshund?
A self-coloured black — no tan or cream anywhere — does exist, but it is uncommon and it is not what the breed standard is looking for. Judges expect the points. A breeder advertising a rare solid black puppy at a premium is charging you for something the breed’s own standard treats as less desirable, which is worth knowing before you pay.
What is far more common is a puppy that looks solid black at six weeks and grows its points in by four months. Ask for a photo of the parents rather than judging the puppy’s final colour from a newborn picture.
What people mean by a brown Dachshund
There is no colour called brown in the breed registries, so a brown Dachshund is one of three dogs:
- Chocolate (also called liver) — a true brown base coat produced by a recessive gene that turns black pigment brown. Brown nose, brown nails, usually amber, hazel or light green eyes. Almost always paired with tan or cream points: chocolate and tan.
- Red — the single most common colour in the breed, running from light golden tan through to deep mahogany. A red with a black nose is a red, not a chocolate, no matter how brown the coat looks. Most dogs searched for as a light brown Dachshund are shaded reds.
- Wheaten — a pale, soft gold. Genuinely rare and seen mainly in wirehaired lines.
The nose is the tell. Brown nose means chocolate. Black nose means red or wheaten. It takes two seconds and it settles the question for good.
How to tell chocolate from red in a photo
Breeders and marketplaces mislabel these constantly, usually by accident. Look at three things in order: the nose leather, the nails, and the eye colour. A chocolate has brown on all three and lighter eyes. A red has black nose and nails and dark eyes even when the coat is a warm brown. Coat colour alone is the least reliable signal in the photo, because lighting changes it and a black-based dog can sun-bleach to a rusty brown by late summer.
Black and white Dachshunds: piebald or dapple?
A black and white Dachshund is one of two patterns, and the difference matters more than any other question on this page.
A black piebald has a white base with solid black patches, dark eyes and a black nose. Piebald is recessive — a puppy needs the gene from both parents to show it — and it carries no pattern-linked health risk. Breeding two piebalds together is safe.
A black dapple has grey and silver marbling broken across the black, often with one or two blue eyes. Dapple is the merle gene. Breeding two dapples together can produce a double dapple, which is associated with deafness, blindness and malformed eyes. That is why we publish both parents’ patterns for every litter and never pair two dapples.
So when you are looking at a black and white puppy, the question is not which looks better. It is: what pattern were both parents? A breeder who cannot answer that immediately is the answer.
Read the full dapple explainer, which covers how we test and pair for it.
Brown and white Dachshunds
Same two options with the chocolate base instead of black: a chocolate piebald (white with brown patches, safe to breed together) or a chocolate dapple (brown with pale marbling, often blue eyes, merle rules apply). Chocolate dapple is one of the prettier combinations in the breed and it is the pattern we currently have the most of.
Black and brown miniature Dachshunds
Colour and size are independent. A black miniature Dachshund is simply a black and tan bred down to the miniature weight class — 11 lb and under at 12 months, by AKC measure — and a brown miniature Dachshund is a chocolate in the same class. Nothing about either colour makes a dog smaller, and any listing that treats black or brown as a size category is guessing.
Our miniatures are listed separately on the miniature Dachshund puppies page, with the weight of both parents shown so you can judge the adult size yourself rather than trusting a label.
Why black and brown are the safest colours to buy
This is the part colour guides usually skip. Two of the fashionable colours in this breed carry a genuine cost:
- Blue and Isabella are dilutes. The dilution gene is linked to colour dilution alopecia — thinning, patchy coat and irritated skin, usually starting between six months and three years.
- Double dapple carries the deafness and eye-defect risk described above.
Black and chocolate are neither dilute nor merle. There is no coat-linked condition attached to either one. A black and tan or a chocolate and tan is, on colour grounds alone, the lowest-risk dog in the breed.
That does not make them risk-free dogs, and no honest breeder will tell you it does. Every Dachshund of every colour carries the same spinal risk — roughly one in four develop intervertebral disc disease at some point — because it comes from the body shape, not the coat. Colour is the one variable you can eliminate cheaply. The health page covers what actually matters, and the breeder questions list covers how to verify it.
Black and brown Dachshund puppies available now
Six of our ten current puppies are black or brown based. All are $1,000, all long-haired, all raised in the house.
| Name | Colour | Sex | Age | Eyes |
| Loi | Black & Tan | Female | 11 weeks | Brown |
| Kio | Black Piebald | Male | 11 weeks | Brown |
| Karl | Chocolate & Tan | Male | 10 weeks | Green |
| Forster | Chocolate Dapple | Female | 10 weeks | Blue |
| Lindy | Chocolate Dapple | Female | 10 weeks | Blue |
| Heist | Chocolate Dapple | Male | 11 weeks | Blue |
Loi is the textbook black and tan. Kio is a black piebald, not a dapple, which is why his eyes are dark — and it means he carries none of the merle risk. Karl is the only straight chocolate and tan in the group. Forster, Lindy and Heist are chocolate dapples; Heist’s mother is not a dapple, so he carries a single dapple gene rather than two.
See all ten puppies with photos and full details.
What a black or brown Dachshund puppy costs
Ours are $1,000 regardless of colour, and that is deliberate. Colour pricing is where this breed gets strange — the same litter advertised elsewhere can run $1,500 for the black and tan and $3,500 for the dapple out of the same two parents. The dapple did not cost more to raise. Health testing, vet work and socialisation cost the same per puppy whatever colour comes out, so that is what we charge on.
Every puppy leaves with age-appropriate vaccinations, deworming, a vet health check and a written record of both parents’ patterns. We do a live video call before any payment so you can see the puppy moving and ask whatever you want — including pointing a camera at the nose to settle the chocolate question yourself.
Black doxie, black weiner dog, black sausage dog — same breed
Doxie, weiner dog, wiener dog, weenie dog and sausage dog are all nicknames for the Dachshund. There is no difference in breed, size or temperament between a black weiner dog and a black Dachshund, and any seller who implies otherwise is selling you vocabulary. If you are searching for a black wiener dog puppy or a brown weenie dog, the listings above are what you are looking for.
For the full colour list including cream, blue, Isabella and wild boar, see the Dachshund colours guide. For coat and size, see types of Dachshunds. For the genuinely uncommon colours and what to watch for in them, see rare colour Dachshund puppies.
