Dachshund Sires

A concern in some breeds of pedigree dogs is the so-called "Popular Sire" syndrome. This is where a small number of stud dogs are widely used and their impact on the genetic diversity of a breed can be very significant, for example in passing on harmful genetic mutations. The spreadsheet below shows a summary of the stud dogs used in each of the six Dachshund varieties and the number of litters they have each produced. These data are taken from the Kennel Club's Breed Records Supplement which is published quarterly. Also shown for many of the most used stud dogs is their Coefficient of Inbreeding (CoI) as reported by the Kennel Club's Mate Select service.

An inbreeding coefficient of 12.5% means that there is a 1 in 8 chance that a dog will inherit the same version of a gene from the same dog that appears in both the sire’s and dam’s pedigree. The puppies born to a mother/son, father/daughter or brother/sister mating (which the Kennel Club will no longer accept for registration), would be at least 25%. The inbreeding coefficient of puppies born from a grandfather/granddaughter mating would be at least 12.5%. The currently reported CoI for each of the six varieties of Dachshund is also shown on the spreadsheet. CoI values lower than the breed average are shown in green, those above the average are orange. The higher the CoI, the greater the probability (and risk) that two copies of a particular gene will be inherited from a common ancestor. The lower the CoI figure, the less inbred a dog is. This matters because there is well-documented evidence that as the amount of inbreeding increases, the risks of lower fertility, compromised immune systems and smaller litter sizes increases.

You can use Mate Select to calculate the CoI of any planned mating. Matings between a Sire and Dam that result in offspring whose CoI is lower than the breed average will help contribute to a reduction in the Breed's CoI and are therefore to be preferred over matings that produce offspring whose CoI exceeds the current breed average CoI.

The data we have gathered and published below shows, particularly in the Miniature varieties, that a wide range of stud dogs are being used.

Prof. Jerold Bell's article on Popular Sire Syndrome.

Genetics and Diversity