Dana & Denise Gehring are the breeders behind Grand River Dachshunds, located in South Dakota (& sometimes California). The goal we set, and which I believe is still the most important, is to produce healthy puppies that make a well-rounded character in an adult dog. Sometimes, the most ordinary things can be made extraordinary simply by doing them with a Dachshund.

• Explain a little bit more about yourself.
  • We love this breed. We feel so lucky to be able to better the breed and provide wirehair and smooth Dachshunds to others.
• How did you get into breeding?
  • Dana owned dachshunds first; she purchased her first show dog in 2008. Bentley moved to California in 2012 to live with Denise to take part in the fun performance events not available in South Dakota, like field trials, earthdog, coursing, barn hunt, and hunting performance tests.
• What makes your breeding program special?
  • We focus on breeding structurally sound dogs that excel in the show ring and in any hunting situation. We only breed a litter once every 1-4 years.
• What health testing do you do on your dogs?
  • For dogs we plan to breed, we do OFA testing for eyes, hearts, and patellas. We have also had all our dogs' DNA tested through Embark. We test our breeding stock to identify the traits they carry, so we can pair them with dogs that may not carry the same undesirable trait. We also perform Lafora testing with Orivet or Genomia for dogs with UK pedigrees. We will also recommend that some puppies placed in pet homes undergo periodic OFA eye testing based on DNA test results. 

Club Memberships:

• Rapid City Kennel Club
• Sierra Dachshund Breeders Club
• Dachshund Club of Santa Ana Valley
• Dachshund Club of America

Denise was a board member/officer for about 5 years with the Dachshund Club of Santa Ana Valley & was an officer for 7 years with the Sierra Dachshund Breeders Club. She was heavily involved in all events that both clubs put on year-round, including conformation, field trials, earthdog, rally, & obedience when she lived locally. She is an experienced dachshund & basset hound field trial & hunting performance test judge as well as a Farm Dog Certified judge. She has judged conformation matches & specialty sweepstakes.

Dana is a previous board member/officer of the Rapid City Kennel Club. She has also judged conformation matches & puppy groups at all-breed shows.

In our daily jobs, we are both university/college faculty. Dana is an environmental science professor at a college in South Dakota. Denise is a librarian at a university in California.