DachshundHound Group

Built for Dachshund breeders

Six Varieties, Small Litters, a Waitlist That Plans Ahead

Dachshund families are not looking for a puppy. They are looking for a miniature longhaired cream female, and they will wait a year for her. Small litters, a coat and color chart most vets cannot recite, and buyers who want IVDD talked about honestly make this a program that lives or dies on organization. Whelpify gives yours a real website, one waitlist, and deposits through your own Stripe account, with no marketplace cut.

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Typical litter4to 6 pupsSmall litters, so every puppy on the page matters

AKC popularityTop 10Among the most registered breeds year after year

Varieties6Smooth, longhaired, wirehaired, each in standard and miniature

Life expectancy12to 16 yearsA long life on a long back, if the back is looked after

About the breed

A Badger Hound in a Very Small Package, With a Very Specific Fan Base

The Dachshund was developed in Germany to trail badgers and go to ground after them; the name means badger dog. Centuries later that same nerve shows up in a twelve-pound companion who will still dig to the far side of the yard, bark at the door like a hound, and pick one person in the house to adore.

The breed comes in three coats, smooth, longhaired, and wirehaired, and two sizes, standard and miniature, which makes six varieties before you get to color. Red, black and tan, chocolate and tan, cream, blue and tan, wheaten, and wild boar, plus the dapple, brindle, piebald, and sable patterns, mean families arrive with a precise picture and a willingness to wait for it.

Well-bred Dachshunds live into their mid-teens, but the breed carries real concerns: intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) in a long-backed, short-legged dog, progressive retinal atrophy, patellar luxation, and Lafora disease in miniature wirehaired lines. Responsible programs screen what can be screened, say plainly what cannot, and send every puppy home with back-care guidance.

Breeding Dachshunds today

What the Market Looks Like Right Now

Honest context for planning a litter. These are the ranges we see on public listings and in parent club guidance; your region, your lines, and your reputation move them.

Typical pet price$1,200 to $3,500Miniatures, longhaired and wirehaired coats, and less common colors sit toward the top. Limited registration is the norm for pet homes.

Litter size4 to 6Miniatures often have three to five. Singletons and pairs happen, so a per-puppy deposit model fits better than a litter-wide one.

Gestation63 daysFrom ovulation. Progesterone timing is common, and many miniature breeders keep a close eye on whelping because small litters can mean large puppies.

Deposit norms$300 to $500Usually non-refundable, applied to the balance, and commonly taken once coat and color are known rather than at birth.

Waitlist length6 to 12 monthsOften longer for a specific coat, color, and size combination. Families waiting for a cream longhaired miniature are used to waiting.

What buyers ask firstCoat, color, sizeIn that order, then sex. IVDD and back care is the question the best buyers ask next, and the one your site should answer before they do.

Whelping and Raising Notes for Dachshunds

Do not breed dapple to dapple. Double dapple puppies carry a high risk of deafness, blindness, and eye defects, and the pattern is easily confused with piebald on a listing. Know the genotype of both parents, and explain the difference on your site so buyers understand why you say no.
Back care starts at home. Ramps instead of stairs, lean body weight, a harness rather than a collar, and no jumping off the couch. Put your back-care guidance in the go-home folder and on the website, because IVDD is the first thing an educated buyer will bring up.
Coats need explaining. Wirehaired puppies can look smooth until their furnishings come in, longhaired coats take a year or more to mature, and wires need hand-stripping or clipping. Tell families what the adult coat will ask of them before they fall for a photo.
Size words get misused. Miniature means 11 pounds and under at twelve months, not "teacup." Families sometimes want a promise you cannot make, so state adult size estimates as estimates on the puppy page.

Why Dachshund breeders pick Whelpify

Run a Dachshund Program Like the Matching Business It Is

Three things Dachshund breeders spend the most time on, and how Whelpify handles each one out of the box.

01 / Varieties

Coat, Size, Color, Sex, Captured on the Application

Your application asks the questions a Dachshund buyer expects: which coat, which size, which colors or patterns, which sex, and how flexible they are on each. Those answers sit on every waitlist card. When a puppy goes available, families whose color and sex preferences match are notified, and you decide who gets the call.

Coat

SmoothLonghairedWirehaired

Size

StandardMiniature

Color and pattern

RedBlack and tanChocolate and tanCreamDapplePiebaldBrindle

02 / Deposits

Four Deposits, Priced for a Small Litter

With four to six puppies, every reservation matters. Offer a puppy to a family with a response window, take the deposit through your own Stripe account or mark a Zelle payment paid, and let the balance request go out on the date you choose. If a family steps back, the next match on the list hears about the puppy.

AFAlvarez family$500 paid · Oct 12

RSR. Sato$500 paid · Oct 14

PThe Pruitts$500 paid · Oct 15

DVD. Vancebalance $2,400 · Dec 2

03 / Health

Eyes, PRA, Lafora, on Every Puppy Page

Attach the eye exam, patella and cardiac results, and the DNA panel to the sire and dam once. Every litter and puppy page shows the parents' screening beside their photos and pedigree, and your back-care guidance can sit right beside it, so the buyer who asks about IVDD sees that you already thought about it.

Eyes (annual)Normal

PRA cord1Clear

LaforaClear

PatellasNormal

CardiacNormal

IVDDBack-care plan

Health testing

What Can Be Tested, and What Has to Be Talked About

The Dachshund Club of America recommends an eye exam, a patellar evaluation, and a cardiac evaluation for breeding dogs, with DNA testing for the inherited conditions that run in specific coats and sizes. IVDD, the concern every buyer knows by name, has no single clearance, which is why how you talk about it matters as much as what you test.

CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) issues a number when a Dachshund has the breed's required results on file with OFA. Variety-specific DNA tests such as PRA cord1 and Lafora are listed alongside. A CHIC number on a parent's page is the shortest way to say "we did the work."

Each dog record has a health section for results, registry numbers, and uploaded certificates. The public parent page shows what you choose to publish, and every puppy from that pairing links back to it.

Eyes

Annual exam by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, recorded through the OFA eye registry, watching for PRA, cataracts, and the eye defects associated with double dapple.

PRA Cord1

DNA test for cone-rod dystrophy, the progressive retinal atrophy most associated with miniature longhaired and wirehaired lines. Carriers can be bred responsibly to clear partners.

Patellas

Patellar luxation evaluation by a veterinarian, registered with OFA, at 12 months or older.

Cardiac

Examination by a veterinarian or veterinary cardiologist, registered with OFA, screening for congenital heart disease.

Lafora

DNA test for Lafora disease, a late-onset inherited epilepsy found mainly in miniature wirehaired lines. Two carriers should not be paired.

IVDD Awareness

No DNA test predicts disc disease in a Dachshund, though some breeders use spinal X-ray screening for calcifications in breeding dogs. Lean weight, ramps, a harness, and written back-care guidance for every family are the standard of care.

Everything under the hood

Set Up the Way a Dachshund Program Runs

The full platform is included on every plan. Here is how the pieces map to a Dachshund breeder's week.

Six Varieties, One Tidy Site

Each dog, litter, and puppy carries its coat, size, and color in your own words, and every change in the dashboard updates the public page. Families see exactly what is available and what is coming.

Applications That Ask the Dachshund Questions

Coat, size, colors they will consider, sex, stairs in the home, other pets, experience with a hound that barks. Build it once, add follow-up questions that appear only when relevant, and every family answers the same thing.

Offers With a Deadline, Reminders Included

Offer a specific puppy to a specific family, set a response window that enforces itself, and let reminders go out before it expires. If they pass, the next family hears about the puppy and the list keeps moving.

Your Own Stripe, Not a Marketplace Cut

Deposits and balances go straight to your account. Prefer Zelle, Venmo, or a check for some families? Send a branded invoice and mark it paid in one click. Whelpify takes no cut of your sales.

Facebook and Instagram, Without Re-Uploading

Mark a puppy available or publish a litter announcement and it posts to your Page and Instagram with the photo and link, where most Dachshund families are already scrolling.

Contracts Families Sign From Their Phone

Your purchase agreement, health guarantee, back-care expectations, and spay/neuter terms become a signable form attached to each family's file, with a typed legal-name signature and date.

How a Dachshund program actually runs

Small Litters, Long Lists, and Very Particular Families

The rhythm of a Dachshund program is particular. These are the numbers the workflow is shaped around.

Typical litter

4to 6 pups

Every puppy gets its own page, variety, status, and deposit record from birth.

Waitlist span

2litters or more

Families routinely wait through a litter for the right coat and color. Statuses and notes keep the list honest.

Buyer specificity

coat· size · color · sex

Four axes, captured on the application and visible on every waitlist card.

Health focus

eyes· PRA · Lafora · back

Results attach to parents and appear on every puppy page; back-care guidance sits beside them.

Update cadence

weekly

Weigh-ins, photos, and litter page updates are what keep a year-long waitlist calm.

Deposit strategy

per-pup· $300 to $500

Offers with a response window, automatic balance requests, and receipts for every payment.

Dachshund FAQ

Questions We Get From Dachshund Breeders

Can families tell me they want a miniature longhaired cream female before a litter exists?

Yes. Your application can ask for coat, size, color, and sex, and those answers sit on the family's waitlist card. Color and sex preferences are used to notify matching families when a puppy becomes available. Final matching is always your call.

How do I show eye exams, PRA, and Lafora results for each parent on my Dachshund website?

Each dog record has a health section where you enter results and registry numbers and upload certificates. What you publish appears on that dog's public page and on every litter and puppy page that descends from it, so the buyer asking about health finds it before emailing.

My litters are small. Does per-puppy deposit tracking work, or is it built for big litters?

Per puppy is the default. You offer a specific puppy to a specific family with a response window, the deposit is requested the moment they accept, and the balance is requested before go-home. Each payment stays tied to its puppy and family, and a live paid-versus-remaining bar shows where each sale stands.

Can I explain my IVDD and back-care expectations in the contract?

Yes. Your contract becomes a signable online form with your terms shown word for word in statement blocks, so back-care expectations, spay/neuter timing, and your return clause are read and signed with a typed legal name and date. Both sides keep the signed copy.

Do I have to use Stripe for deposits?

No. Stripe is built in if you want card payments straight to your own account, and you can also send invoices for Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or check and mark them paid yourself. Whelpify takes no cut of your sales either way; Stripe charges its standard processing fee.

I only have one or two litters a year. Is Whelpify too much for a small program?

No. The full platform is included on every plan, and a two-litter-a-year program uses the same website, waitlist, and payment tools as a larger one. Plans start at $29 a month after a 30-day free trial, and you can use your own domain.

30-day free trial

Set Up Your Dachshund Program the Way You Actually Run It

Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial and includes the full platform. Most breeders have a site up in an afternoon.

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