Quote Originally Posted by wolfsoul
I'm confused -- piebalds are a recognisable colour that even reputable breeders tote as being very safe -- they don't have the type of pigment lacking that white boxers and white dobermans have -- I've never heard of nor seen a blind or deaf piebald.
Double dapples and piebalds have a high tendency of being born blind, or with no eyes at all. Keep in mind that those breeders breed responsibly. In every litter Frankie's mother has had every piebald has had issues. I really need to post the photos of the puppies. Yogie is completely blind! Not only blind but his eyes are not even formed correctly. Instead of being a circle they are square shaped and with barely any color...the color he does have is blue. Frankie has one blue eye, but it's not effected. Halfy has only one eye that is affected, and she also has sporatic bouts of seizures that started when she was about 12 weeks old. Piebalds have been around forever, I know this, since the 1900's I believe. A lot of piebalds are double dapples, which is where the problem comes from. However, the dapple which was NOT piebald in Frankles litter had no eyes at all. They were just sockets. If you want I would be more than happy to fax over the health records to you if you want to take a look. It's pretty interesting. But as you know, Frankie was also born deformed.

Typed here from permission of the author...as I've used this many times before when explaining what happened with Frankie and his brothers and sisters. Found here: http://www.starlightkennel.com/Dapple.html Notice how it says all double dapples will have white markings, which is how you get a lot of piebalds. Though, I believe technically, piebalds are different than double dapples and excepted for show.

Double Dapple - Double Dapple is the color of a dog that is a result of breeding two dapple dachshunds (sometimes referred to as (single dapple in discussions such as this) or two double dapple dachshunds or a single dapple and a double dapple breeding. When you breed two single dapple dachshunds, the color possibilities are solid, single dapple, and double dapple. When you breed two double dapples, you can only produce double dapples. When you breed a single dapple to a double dapple, you can produce single dapples and double dapples. The reason for these possibilities is that the single dapple is a heterozygous dapple and the double dapple is a homozygous dapple. The heterozygous dapple can pass a solid gene or a dapple gene for any given puppy. The homozygous dapple can only pass a dapple gene. Double dapple puppies will always have white markings, many in the same pattern that you would associate with a collie type dog (band around the neck, white on paws, noise, and tail tip.) The white may be more or less extensive. The double dapple dachshund usually has blue eyes but may have one or both dark eyes. Both parents must be dapple to get double dapples.

"WARNING Double Dapple Defects - There are lethal genes commonly associated with double dapple. Not all double dapples have these problems and it is believed by some to be more of a problem in some lines than in others. The problems associated with lethal genes in double dapples there are varying degrees of vision and hearing loss, including reduced or absent eyes. So if you decide that you want a double dapple puppy, be prepared for possible problems that may not be diagnosed at a young age, and if you want to breed a double dapple interestingly if a blind or deaf double dapple is bred to a normal dog, the lethal traits are not passed on to the offspring, however most of the puppies of the double dapple will be dapple. Remember that single dapple dachshunds do not have lethal problems and if a single dapple is bred to a solid (any non-dapple) there are no problems associated with single dapple dachshunds."

Links:
scroll down to Breeding
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/199...eds/dachshunds

Story of a blind doxie
http://www.la-spca.org/dedication/talk/tt_dachshund.htm

Here's a rescue doxie that needs a home. Look at the eyes. This is how Yogies eyes are.
http://www.drna.org/description.asp?DogID=1558

And another. This one looks so much like Halfy. Her name is Halfy because her face is split down the middle like this guy.
http://www.drna.org/description.asp?DogID=1202


Here is some information on the eye disease I found online. Apparently a lot of breeds are affected including dobermans.