Reinhard Dachlauer spent his school years and youth in Hofheim am Taunus. He became acquainted with the sculptors Fried Heuler (1889-1959) and Julius Bausenwein (1913-1962), who were his teachers as a professional sculptor.

His works, predominantly animal sculptures cast in bronze, found particular recognition through purchases by public institutions, such as a large gorilla and a group of vulture guinea fowl in the Berlin Zoological Garden or a group of secretaries in Münster Zoo. But he can also be found at the Würzburg State Garden Show. In 1991, the Sparkasse in Würzburg donated the sculptures Salamanca Bull, Shoebills and Pelicans.

Annual solo exhibitions have been organised since 1963. From 1975, he participated several times in the large art exhibition at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. In 1985, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange commissioned two bronze sculptures from Dachlauer to celebrate its 400th anniversary. The sculptures, Bull & Bear, are located on the stock exchange square in Frankfurt am Main and are a frequently shown motif on German television.

In 1996, his widow Else Dachlauer donated eight of his sculptures to the Hofheim City Museum as a legacy from the artist. Further works have been in the Würzburg Municipal Museum since 1998. Else Dachlauer died in 2012.