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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName Dunham Funds
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Sep. 14, 2012
Dunham Alternative Income Fund | Class A
 
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice 5.75%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of the of the original purchase price for purchases of $1 million or more) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice 1.00%
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption Fee rr_RedemptionFee none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.05% [1]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.43% [2]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2],[3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.74%
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 742
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 1,091
Dunham Alternative Income Fund | Class C
 
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of the of the original purchase price for purchases of $1 million or more) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption Fee rr_RedemptionFee none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.05% [1]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 1.00%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.43% [2]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2],[3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.49%
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 252
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 776
Dunham Alternative Income Fund | Class N
 
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a % of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a % of the of the original purchase price for purchases of $1 million or more) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends and other Distributions rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Redemption Fee rr_RedemptionFee none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.05% [1]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.43% [2]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.01% [2],[3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 1.49%
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 152
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 471
Dunham Alternative Income Fund
 
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock
The Fund primarily seeks to maximize income
Objective, Secondary [Text Block] rr_ObjectiveSecondaryTextBlock
with capital appreciation as a secondary goal.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock
Expense Breakpoint Discounts [Text] rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts You may qualify for sales charge discounts on purchases of Class A shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Fund.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required [Amount] rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount 50,000
Other Expenses, New Fund, Based on Estimates [Text] rr_OtherExpensesNewFundBasedOnEstimates Estimated for the Fund's first fiscal year
Expenses Not Correlated to Ratio Due to Acquired Fund Fees [Text] rr_ExpensesNotCorrelatedToRatioDueToAcquiredFundFees The operating expenses in this fee table may not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund, not the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney As with all mutual funds, there is the risk that you could lose money through your investment in the Fund.
Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock
Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess Because the Fund has less than a full calendar year of investment operations, no performance information is presented for the Fund at this time.
[1] The management fees above assume the Sub-Adviser's base fee. Actual sub-advisory fees may be higher or lower depending on Fund performance compared to the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index. The sub-advisory fee is a fulcrum fee with a base or fulcrum of 0.40% and can range from 0.10% to 0.70% depending on the effect of performance fees.
[2] Estimated for the Fund's first fiscal year.
[3] Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies. The operating expenses in this fee table may not correlate to the expense ratio in the Fund's financial highlights because the financial statements include only the direct operating expenses incurred by the Fund, not the indirect costs of investing in other investment companies.