Here’s one dachshund color that’s very difficult to find – what is the chocolate based cream dachshund and how to tell it apart from other Doxies? This can sound like a silly question as most of us have probably seen a chocolate based Doxie with a cream-like secondary color before. The issue, however, is that distinguishing a chocolate based cream dachshund from the much more common chocolate and tan dachshund can be pretty tricky. So, here’s what you might want to know about it.
What Is A Chocolate Based Cream Dachshund Exactly?
To fully unravel what makes chocolate/cream dachshunds special, let’s look at their two colors – chocolate and cream – separately.
What Gives A Dachshund Its Cream Color?
The cream color in dachshunds looks quite a bit like the common tan dachshund color but with a lighter and more creamy note to it. The difference between the two isn’t just a matter of tones but is deeply rooted in genetics.
Both tan and cream are variations of the red base color of dachshunds – one of the only two base colors dachshunds have together with black. However, cream is a further variation of tan as it also includes the presence of the so-called “Chinchilla gene” – an intensity color allele that’s recessive and quite rare.
The fact that this “cream gene” is recessive means a couple of things – 1) that dogs can carry it even if they don’t exhibit a cream color and 2) that both parents must have that gene for there to be even a small chance that some of their pups will have a cream color in their coats.
So, as you’d imagine, dachshunds with cream coats are much rarer than dachshunds with tan colors. What’s key, however, is that when the cream or tan colors are just parts of a bi-color coat with another base, distinguishing between tan and cream can be tricky.
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How About The Chocolate Part Of This Dachshund’s Coat?
Chocolate, in dachshunds, is essentially a diluted variation of the base black color – similar to how tan/cream are variations of red. So, a chocolate/cream Doxie is very similar visually and genetically to a black/tan dachshund, just lighter and much less common.
If you’re wondering about the exact genetic make-up of a chocolate based cream dachshund, compared to black and tan dachshunds, here’s a good breakdown.
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As genetic alleles or loci in dogs are signified by couples of capitalized and small letters, genetically a chocolate cream dachshund looks like this – “bb atat Ii DD EE mm kk”. If this looks weird, just remember that capitalized letters signify dominant genes and small letters mean recessive genes.
So, the “bb” means a chocolate base, the “atat” stands for tan markings, and the “li” is the intensity gene that turns tan into cream. The rest simply mean an absence of other coat patterns – “DD” means no dilution (so the dog is brown and not Isabella), “EE” means no recessive red, “mm” means no dapple, and “kk” means no brindle or black coloring.
How Can You Tell A Chocolate Based Cream Dachshund Apart From A Chocolate And Tan Dachshund?
If you try to compare a chocolate/tan dachshund with a chocolate/cream one you might be able to tell the tonal difference between the two. It is close, however, so, in most cases, you’d need a genetic test to be sure which is which.
How Expensive Is A Chocolate Based Cream Dachshund Puppy?
A chocolate/cream dachshund won’t be as expensive as a clean English Cream dachshund but it will still be north of $1,000 in most cases, often above $1,500 and $2,000 too. This can sound daunting at first but beware of overly affordable puppies as they may have been bred by puppy mills and with no regard for health, inbreeding, and hereditarily passed diseases.
Should You Get A Chocolate Based Cream Dachshund?
If you want, there’s no reason not to. When bred by reputable and responsible breeders, these dogs are as healthy as any other dachshund and just as much fun. The initial price can cause many people to pause but if you can afford it, a chocolate based cream dachshund can be as good of a pet as it’s gorgeous.
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