There are several websites with questionable info out there about English cream dachshunds, and there are general misconceptions about dachshunds we hear occasionally that we are taking time to address here. Our views are our own and are based on knowledge gained over 12 years of experience dealing almost exclusively with English creams.
Some of the info out there on the internet about creams is just flat out wrong so hopefully this will be helpful if you're just starting your search for information on English cream dachshunds.
American cream vs English cream
There is no such thing as an American cream vs an English cream. I know a couple websites out there claim to warn you to make sure you are getting a true English cream, because American creams are out there and they look cream but turn red as they get older. The fact is, blonde/cream dachshunds came only from England, and all creams can trace their lineage to a select few kennels if you go far back enough in their ancestry. In our case, most of our puppies are now 3rd/4th/5th generation Crown puppies so the English ancestry is way back there and will not show on an AKC pedigree. All creams came from England if you go far back enough. Having said that, you don't know if the breeder has the experience and knowledge about their lines to know if the puppy is an English cream or an ee red. If they have red and cream in their lines, ee reds can crop up too. It takes knowledge and experience to avoid misidentifying the colors, and unfortunately a lot people have been taken with an ee red being passed off as an English cream. At that point the puppy could be called an ‘American cream' when in reality there is no such thing, all creams are English or they shouldn't be called a cream.
Do creams have more back problems than traditional dachshunds? There is simply no data to support this, and if there is we are willing to take a look (so please pass it along!). We have found the opposite to be true, we believe due to the Spaniel genetics that are part of the English cream ancestry. Yes that's right! They have Spaniel in them 🙂 Creams got their longhair, more mellow personality and improved back genetics (as well as slightly larger size) thanks to their Spaniel ancestors. The usual dachshund statistic you'll hear is that 1 in 4 dachshunds will have a back problem at least once in their life. We have not found this to be remotely close to accurate when it comes to creams.
Are cream dachshunds part Golden Retriever? Ah, the age old misconception. People will stop us on the street and ask “is he a mini golden retriever?!” because yes they really do look alike and share some similar temperament/personality traits. The correct answer is NO though, not at all 🙂 They DO have Spaniel genetics though, as we mentioned above that is part of the early heritage that brought us such a beautiful dachshund but there is no such thing as a mixed golden/dachshund.
Creams only come in long hair. This is not a true statement anymore. Although the original creams in England started out with long hair, once the ee cream gene was isolated one can breed a longhaired ee cream to a shorthaired dachshund, who will then carry ee and can then produce a shorthaired ee cream when paired with another ee cream dachshund. The short haired creams may have fewer English cream ancestors, meaning they may only have generations of creams one one side of their family tree, but an ee cream shorthaired is definitely possible and still in every sense of the word be an English cream.
What is an English cream? English cream dachshund is an umbrella term covering ALL creams. Black and creams, cream brindles, shaded creams, pale/ee creams, chocolate and cream, cream dapples, cream piebalds…they are all English creams! If you're looking for an English cream you could be referring to any of those combinations so you want to be specific if you are particular on coloring. Shaded cream and pale cream/ee cream is normally what we focus on but breeding just for color is NOT what we do. We will have other types of cream in our genetics, because our three priorities in breeding are health, temperament and conformation. Color isn't in our top 3 priorities, which will lead us to produce the occasional black and cream, piebald, dapple, etc and that's ok! They are all still genetically cream that are presenting in other patterns/colors. These other colors/patterns are not something that a puppy will change into, we know at birth or shortly after if a puppy is a cream piebald, a shaded cream, a pale cream etc. They don't suddenly develop black and cream if they are born pale cream, no matter what color their parents are. But make no mistake, black and cream dachshunds are true English creams. Some of the most beautiful original creams from the kennels in England that developed creams were black and cream. Keep in mind, we have families that request only a specific type of dachshund, so if you, like us have fallen particularly in love with the shaded and pale creams you're in good company!
Have a specific question? Please check out our FAQs page for more info or feel free to contact us here!