Monday, June 27, 2011

Glossary of Terms Used in Relation to Dog Coat Colors and Patterns

I got this from:http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogcolors.html  
  • Belton a name for ticking in the English Setter

  • Bicolor a dog that has some shade of black or brown and also white but no tan in breeds like the Shetland Sheepdog

  • Blenheim a name for red coat color with white markings in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

  • Blue a coat color that is typically a solid grey (note that a Blue Belton is a black ticked/roan dog however)

  • Brindle a pattern of alternating stripes of eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigmentation, i.e. yellow and black, red and black, cream and grey, etc.

  • Chocolate a coat color that is typically brown, used in breeds such as the Labrador Retriever

  • Domino a term used in Afghan Hounds to mean a specific facial pattern and body pattern caused by a specific genotype (see the Afghan page).

  • Dilution an effect on a coat color that causes it to become a paler shade like blue or cream

  • Eumelanin a melanin pigment that causes some shade of black or brown coloration

  • Grizzle a term used in Salukis to mean a specific facial pattern and body pattern caused by a specific genotype (see the Saluki page). This term in other breeds means something different.

  • Harlequin a coat color pattern of ragged black spots on a white background in the Great Dane

  • Irish Spotting a pattern of white markings that include white undersides, a white blaze and usually a white collar

  • Liver a coat color that is typically brown but is occasionally used to describe a shade of orange or phaeomelanin pigmentation

  • Mask a pattern in which the muzzle and perhaps as far back as the ears are pigmented by eumelanin, resulting in a black or brown face

  • Merle a pattern which reminds one of marble in which the melanin pigment is swirled and patchy amongst many white areas

  • Phaeomelanin a melanin pigment that causes some shade of red, orange, gold or yellow coloration

  • Piebald random spots of color on a white background

  • Red a coat color that is typically the result of phaeomelanin pigmentation, however in some breeds such as Doberman Pinschers brown is called red

  • Roan a pattern of intermingled white and colored hairs on some part of the body

  • Ticked a pattern of many small pigmented spots on a white or roan background

  • Tricolor a combination of some shade of black or brown, some shade of red often called tan and some white. Therefore both eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigmentation occurs on the same dog.
  • Christopher W. Jones

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    Email: thenovacainkennels2014@gmail.com