Want to know more ABOUT
AASHUDNA DACHSHUNDS?
Miniature Dachshunds, registered breeder with Dogs NSW
AASHUDNA Preservation Breeder of
Miniature Smooth & Miniature Longhair Dachshunds
Located Upper Hunter Valley of Scone, NSW Australia.
Aashudna Miniature Dachshunds is a small ANKC kennel that is passionate about breeding high-quality, superb temperaments, and preserving the overall health of our puppies. We work in conjunction with other registered kennels in Australia to ensure that we uphold our standards and maintain the quality of our dachshunds. When you purchase from us, you're getting quality.
Finding a good breeder who is passionate about breeding high-quality dogs can be a very difficult task. It is often hard to know if you are getting a dachshund from a reputable and passionate breeder who is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of their bloodlines.
By understanding a breeder's ethics and business practices, you'll have a better chance at finding ethical breeders and avoiding scams.
Welcome To Aashudna Online
Registered Miniature Dachshund Breeder, Heather Coles
You are visiting the dedicated website to my Aashudna Miniature Dachshunds. We are a small Dogs Australia (ANKC) kennel registered with our state body Dogs NSW. At Aashudna we’re striving for excellence in quality, type, and temperament. We have deep affiliations with other Dogs Australia (ANKC) registered kennel’s within Australia. Together with the key objective to preserve the best bloodlines & temperaments while also focusing our efforts on ‘colour’ being the Chocolate and Tan Miniature Dachshund. Furthermore, my Husband Mark and I are standing committee members of the Dachshund Club of NSW Inc and very much involved within the breed.
Since the very beginning, our love for the Dachshund was strong, with their unmistakable beauty and fierce love for life. Our dogs bring much joy and enrichment to both my and my husband’s lives – which is what first prompted me into becoming a registered breeder with Dogs NSW in 2011. Becoming a breeder was not something that I took light-hearted after acquiring our chocolate and tan male miniature dachshund BenG from Acovagem, a rural NSW breeder in Grenfell.
Avoiding The Exagerated
The long and short of it.
As a breeder who wishes to deem themselves as ethical. When breeding and selecting specimens for this process, I am very conscious of breeding dachshunds with exaggerated appearances.
For decades, dachshunds have been described as “long and low”, but now some are too low and lack correct movement.
Dachshunds breeders have been warned “not too long or too short” and that suitable leg clearance of 25% of the overall height at the shoulder should be maintained. This has come from Dachshund Breed Council (UK) which Australia follows. The Breed Standard clearly states: “Moderately long and low with no exaggeration, compact, well muscled body, with enough ground clearance to allow free movement. Height at the withers should be half the length of the body, measured from breastbone to the rear of thigh.” and “Body sufficiently clear of ground to allow free movement.“
This leg clearance differs from the American & European dachshunds, whose breed standard calls for 33% leg clearance of the overall height at the shoulder or wither.
Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of the breed. If a feature or quality is desirable, it should only be present in the right measure.
Health Tests
Testing for a stronger breed
Health issues in miniature dachshunds are of top priority and importance within our kennel.
All our Aashudna miniature dachshund parents owned by us are health tested by our local Veterinarian prior to them being used in our breeding program or OFFERED for stud.
This includes DNA testing for:
- PRA Cord 1
- Sarcoglycan Deficient Muscular Dystrophy (SDMD)
- Degenerative Mylopathy
- Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL)
- Sanfilippo Syndrome Type A
All our Dachshunds are annual clinically vet checked every 12 to 18 months. This includes an updated CC, C3 or C5 booster depending on the individual dachshunds requirements. Knees are checked for luxating patellas, clinical cardiac and eye exam and for any abnormalities we are referred on to a specialist for future investigation. Just recently, I have started to document this process.
Prior to breeding, screen our Dachshunds for Thyroid function test. This helps rule out any breeding problems in the future. We also back X-Ray our Dachshunds, refer to heading IVDD Back Disease.
Housing & Enrichment
Our set-up and routines
All our dachshunds sleep inside our home at night with a separate doggy door access to a private yard, in addition to this we have altered an area of our home to help cater to their needs which include air conditioning for those hot summer days and underfloor heating for those chilly winter days.
During the day, the Dachshunds spend time in their very spacious day runs. Which is one-third paved and two-thirds of synthetic turf. It is very easy to maintain, sanitise and keep clean.
We provide our Dachshunds with spacious exercise yards with a small, shallow wade pool for those warm summer days and a digging sandpit for finding buried treats placed in their daily. We are also in the process of creating a small agility, course to help build confidence and provide additional stimulation and training. All of our dachshunds take turns to run, play and hunt in our larger exercise yard and are rotated in small compatible groups. The exercise yard is approximately 1 acre of planted gardens and large shady gumtrees and other natives.
During work hours, we bring our dachshunds inside to freely roam the house while we work from home daily. They have been well-trained to NOT enter off-limit areas, they really enjoy our special one-on-one with them in a comfortable setting. They are also excellent feet warmers as they very rearly leave from under my desk, unless to check out what cooking in the kitchen.
We also practice show training and attended shows with our dachshund show team. We attended local park meet ups and bring along 2 or 3 dachshunds to mingle and play with other dogs and dachshunds. We also bring our dachshunds to “meet the breed” days which is by Dogs in the Park, for people who are interested in the breed to hold, cuddle and get to understand the quirks of the breed.
IVDD Back Disease
Reducing the risk of IVDD
In 2019, we started back X-raying our breeding-age dachshunds between the ages of 24 and 27 months of age. It is a costly process, and we are one of the few breeders of Miniature Smooths or Miniature Longhairs in Australia and Internationally who incorporate this testing into their breeding program.
Dachshunds are graded 0 to 3, 0 being perfect.
In our breeding program, I choose to focus on minimising high-risk locations (like the centre of the spine) and not focus on grades alone. The results from back-scoring your dachshund is not an IVDD diagnosis. Back-score results are a tool to provide the breeder with an analysis of calculated risk along with the pedigree history is taken into account. This is why some grade 3 dachshunds will remain in our program and other grade 1 or grade 2 dachshunds are removed from our program.
Research in this area is always evolving, and new information on how to identify possible at-risk dachshunds is something we follow carefully.
When quality matters
Becoming a top quality dachshund breeder doesn’t happen overnight. Nor, does it mean you have an interest in breeding your dachshund ‘just for fun’. A successful breeder is one who knows the virtues and faults of all the dogs in a pedigree for 3 generations. The breeder must have the judgment to pick the best puppies and the willingness to eliminate the breeding stock of all defective or substandard specimens.
DOGS AUSTRALIA
What is it, and why should I care?
Dogs Australia is the largest and oldest breeding organisation for responsible, professional purebred dog breeders. It was formed in 1949 and has been at the forefront of protecting and promoting the interests of its members and the welfare of all dogs ever since.
Dogs Australia has a state-based representative body in each Australian state, for example, Dogs NSW, Dogs QLD, and Dogs Victoria. Breeders can register with their state body as members and undergo their registered breeder program, which gives breeders a Prefix. Dogs Australia is connected with similar sister associations around the world, including the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Kennel Club in the United Kingdom (UK). Dogs Australia is also a member of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI).
State laws require all breeders to follow a Code of Practice. Breeders registered with Dogs Australia have to follow an even more thorough Code of Practice & Code of Ethics. If they break the code, an investigation happens. Severe breaches are reported to the authorities, which could result in the breeder’s prefix being taken away along with their membership.
Dogs Australia pedigree papers represent more than just the dog’s ancestry. They also represent ethical breeding practices, such as not breeding dogs too young and too frequently. They also represent careful planning to produce predictable traits and characteristics, such as coat and temperament. This makes it more likely you’ll get a puppy that’s a good fit for your lifestyle.
Back X-Raying Dachshunds
What do backscores REALLY mean?
It is our mission to provide healthy, quality Dachshunds in Australia. We place a strong focus on the prevention of IVDD. We back-score our breeding stock at the age of 2 years old and this has been very successful in helping us keep IVDD at bay.
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