Double Dapples: What Are They? Can You Breed Them?

If you have ever googled dapple dachshunds, then you likely have heard of double dapples. There is a lot of genetic education required to fully understand them, but if you’re interested, I’ve compiled this information together for you to understand easily. 

To begin with, a dapple dachshund’s beautiful pattern is caused by the Merle gene. In other breeds, it is often known as Blue Merle, or sometimes just called Merle, but in dachshunds, it is called dapple. The correct term whenever it comes to genetics is Merle. Merle is a dominant gene, meaning it cannot be carried. A dachshund can only be merle or not be merle, and cannot carry for it. 

A dog can have 1 or 2 copies of the Merle gene. Each of these is called an allele. Most dapple dachshunds you see will have 1 copy of the merle gene, which would appear on a genetic test as M/m, with the capital M being the Merle allele that they have, and the lowercase m showing a merle allele that they do NOT have. 

The merle gene affects the coat by diluting areas of pigment or colour. Basically, the gene “splashes” across the coat, and the areas it touches / affects will be lightened. This is why a Black and Tan dapple (sometimes called silver dapple) will have black areas (since they are Black and Tan), and will also have light areas of silver (this is where the merle gene affects the coat). It is beautiful on its own, but whenever a dachshund has TWO merle alleles, they both splash across the coat at the same time. If the  alleles overlap (for example, the lightened areas of the coat cross over each other from the separate genes), then the coat becomes white in these areas. If this occurs over the eyes, ears, or full leg, then the dog can even be born without their eyes, blind, deaf, or missing legs. Sometimes, they have skin issues as well. 

Double dapple dachshunds are the product of a dapple to dapple (or merle to merle) breeding. As their name suggests, a double dapple dachshund has TWO copies of the Merle gene, showing on a genetic test as M/M. Double dapples, also called double merles, are therefore at risk for being born without eyes, blind, deaf, or with skin problems.

When it comes to breeding, a dachshund puppy will take 1 allele from mom and 1 allele from dad for every gene. So if we bred a typical dapple dachshund to a dachshund that is not dapple, the puppies would be able to take 1 out of 2 non-merle alleles from one parent, and may take either 1 non-merle allele or 1 merle allele from the other parent. This gives all puppies a 50% chance to inherit 1 merle allele from one parent, and thus a 50% chance to be dapple. 

However, in a merle-to-merle breeding, the puppies will have a 75% chance of being dapple, a 25% chance of not being dapple at all, and a 25% of being double dapple. Sometimes, unethical breeders will purposefully do such a pairing to get more dapple puppies. 

However, even more sought after by unethical breeders are double dapple dachshunds themselves. Because a double dapple has TWO merle alleles, no matter what kind or colour of dog they are bred to, every single puppy will inherit at least one merle allele from the double dapple parent, making every single puppy a dapple. 

Given this information, many believe that breeding any dapple dachshund to another dapple dachshund will result in deformed puppies, but this is not always the case. In fact, it is possible to breed dapple to dapple with zero risk of complications to the puppies— but it requires a lot of knowledge from the breeder and genetic testing on both parents. 

The amount of dappling on a dachshund is determined by something called the sine insertion, a part of the merle gene. The length of this sine insertion will determine the pattern of a dapple dachshund, or how many splotches of colour it has on it. Dachshunds that are not dapple will not have a sine insertion. The sine insertion length is measured on a bp scale from 200-280, with 200 being the least severe. Genetic tests, such as the ones offered by UC Davis, can determine the sine length of your dapple dachshund. 

The shorter the sine insertion length, then typically, the less dappling we will see on the coat of the dog. There are different categories that different lengths can be put in, with the longest length being harlequin (expressed only in Great Danes) and the shortest length being cryptic. 

Cryptic merle has a sine length so short, in fact, that it will not be expressed or shown on the coat at all. Dogs that are cryptic merle can be bred to other merles safely. It is often said that they look and breed just like dogs that are not merle at all, and unless genetically tested, many people who own one are not aware of their dog being merle! 

Depending on your dog’s sine length, they may express no merle, or a small amount of merle, or a lot of merle! Atypical merles will have a sine length longer than cryptic merles, but shorter than your typical merle. Atypical merles, depending on their exact sine length, may also be bred to other atypical merles safely, successfully producing a double merle dachshund with no health issues. However, a double merle dachshund without any health issues is not considered a “double dapple”, and instead is usually called a homozygous merle, which is the genetic term for stating that the dog has two merle alleles. 

The chart to the right will determine which types of merle alleles are safe to breed together. Typically, the less severe the dappling, then the safer to breed together.

It is also possible for a dapple dachshund that is not cryptic Merle to not have any dappling on the body at all. ee dachshunds, for example, typically cannot show any amount of dapple. This is because the ee gene removes all black pigment from the body, causing the dachshund's coat to be paler, and the dappling effect only occurs because the merle gene dilutes black or darker pigment on the body. Without any black pigment to dilute, the classic dapple pattern becomes invisible. These dapples are called hidden dapples. A cryptic merle would not be considered a hidden dapple. 

Because there can be dapple dachshunds with no physical indicators that they are dapple, it is important to always genetically test your dachshunds before breeding them to ensure that you do not accidentally produce a double dapple. Although, cryptic dapples are considered safe to breed with most other dapples. I always recommend testing with Embark and UC Davis. Embark will determine the alleles of your dachshund and provide other forms of health testing. UC Davis can determine the sine length of a dapple dachshund. A good thing to remember is that if a dachshund has any amount of blue in its eyes, then it has to be a dapple. However, not all dapples will have blue eyes.

Merle is a dominant gene, meaning that it cannot be carried. One or both parents must be a dapple in order for a dapple to be produced. Dapple should also not be confused with ticking. A dachshund with ticking will have small spots of colour on it. Ticking is not related to dapple. 

Below you will find examples of different types of dapple or non-dapple dachshunds.