The American Eskimo Dog is a small spitz-type breed with a fluffy double coat. American Eskimo Dog colors are limited, they only come with either a solid white or a pale cream biscuit coat.
Read on to learn more about the Eskie standard colors.
White
Having a solid white coat is the “ideal” when it comes to American Eskimo colors.
Their white color is achieved by a recessive red (e/e) pattern with very low red intensity.
Being e/e causes them to only produce red phaeomelanin in their coat. And the very low red intensity causes them to appear white, actually a very pale ivory or cream color.
Dogs with this pattern will always have pale whiskers.Their paw pads are black, but their nails are white. And their breed standard calls for their eyelashes to be white.
Their skin pigment is black, which gives them a black nose, eye rims, lips, and paw pads. Many dogs with a recessive red pattern tend to have some fading nose pigment.
BASE PATTERN
recessive red
MERLE
–
OTHER
–
EUMELANIN
black
INTENSITY
white
WHITE
solid
can have white markings
White & Biscuit
In American Eskimo Dog colors, biscuit just means a very “pale reddish cream“.
Biscuit Eskies have the same black-based recessive red pattern (e/e) as their sparkling white cousins. Just with an ever so slightly richer pigment intensity that gives a very light tan color.
Eskimo dogs can have any color on a smooth gradient from white to biscuit. It’s normal for dogs with recessive red to have slightly more intense red shading on the ears or back.
The official term for this pattern is “white & biscuit” since these dogs are still very pale with a fluffy whitish undercoat, they never look solid yellow. Their fluffy coat can hide the outline of their biscuit shading. The illustrated breed standard even says, “many times the biscuit cream markings will be almost imperceptible when the Eskie is in full coat.”[5]
BASE PATTERN
recessive red
MERLE
–
OTHER
–
EUMELANIN
black
INTENSITY
white, biscuit
WHITE
solid
can have white markings
Base Patterns
The base pattern describes the placement of phaeomelanin and eumelanin in the coat.
- The A locus controls the basic distribution of both pigment types.
- Next, the K locus can add black to the A locus pattern.
- Finally, the E locus regulates the general ability to produce black pigment.
A Locus
| Ay | sable |
| aw | agouti |
| at | tan point |
| a | recessive black |
American Eskimo Dogs can not express their A locus due to being e/e.
K Locus
| KB | dominant black |
| kbr | brindle |
| ky | wild-type |
American Eskimo Dogs can not express their K locus due to being e/e.
E Locus
| e | recessive red |
American Eskimo Dogs are fixed for the e/e pattern. Being recessive red impedes their ability to have black in their coat and causes them to be solid phaeomelanic.
American Eskimo Dog Base Patterns
The Eskie breed is fixed for one pattern:
| A LOCUS | K LOCUS | E LOCUS | PATTERN |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | e/e | recessive red “white, biscuit” |
Base Colors
The base color is determined by the B locus and D locus.
B Locus
| B | black |
| b | chocolate |
Eskies are supposed to have black pigment (B) at the B locus. Only very few dogs seem to carry the chocolate allele (b) for brown pigment[3].
D Locus
| D | dense |
The D locus controls color dilution. But American Eskimo Dogs have normal pigment (D).
Red Intensity
Phaeomelanin intensity can vary from ivory white to intense red colors.
The shades seen in Eskies are called white (ivory white) and biscuit (pale cream).
““Color: Pure white is the preferred color, although white with biscuit cream is permissible.””
AKC Breed Standard[1]
White Markings
Different traits can delete pigment from the coat and replace it with true white.
Many Eskies are sP/sP. But S locus testing does not work for all breeds. And the distribution of real white is impossible to see against their already very pale coat color.
Some biscuit Eskies have a thin white blaze, a white chest spot, or white paws. The white Eskies have this, too. White spotting is just not visible, since their red pigment is so diluted.
The skin under white markings will be pink, and the AKC standard says “the skin of the American Eskimo Dog is pink or gray“, indirectly supporting dogs to have some white markings.
But they also have measures to get breeders to select away from too extended white. They do this by mentioning blue eyes and pink eye rims or pink lips as being faulty in this breed.
“Faults – amber eye color or pink eye rims.”
“Disqualification – blue eyes“
AKC Breed Standard[1]
American Eskimo Dog Eye Colors
Eye color depends on the color, amount, and distribution of melanin in the iris. American Eskimo Dogs have black eumelanin. Their eye color can vary from lighter to darker shades of brown.
“Dark to medium brown is the preferred eye color. Eye rims are black to dark brown.”
AKC Breed Standard[1]
American Eskimo Dog Nose Colors
American Eskimo Dogs are supposed to have a black to dark brown nose.
But the Eskie standard does not actually mean “chocolate brown”.
Instead, these lighter nose colors are caused by weak black. Their recessive red pattern predisposes Eskies to nose pigment fading or “snow nose”. This can cause their nose to turn a brownish-gray or pink color, often with some seasonal change in pigmentation.
“Nose pigment is black to dark brown.”
“Faults – pink nose pigment or pink lip pigment.“
AKC Breed Standard[1]
American Eskimo Dog Coat Type
Most Eskies are long-haired, some test as short-haired[3]. I don’t know if some people produce smooth Eskies or if they just have one of the less common l alleles that can not be tested by all companies.
American Eskimo Dogs have a smooth face, a longer ruff, and lots of feathering on their hind legs and tail. Their double coat has a dense undercoat and long straight guard hairs.
Some Eskies have a variant for curly coat[3]. This might produce a wavy coat, which goes against the requirement of their breed standard to always have a straight coat “with no curl or wave“.
“The American Eskimo Dog has a stand-off, double coat consisting of a dense undercoat and a longer coat of guard hair growing through it to form the outer coat.“
AKC Breed Standard[1]
The basic hair morphology is determined by hair length and the presence of furnishings or curls. Other factors, like hair thickness or the amount of undercoat, can vary within each coat type.
This causes a spectrum of coat types with different degrees of shedding and different coat textures, e.g. thick hair with a stiff and coarse feel, as opposed to fine hair with a silky or cotton-like quality.
The spitz-type breeds have lots of thick undercoat, they are high-shedding.
Related Breeds
The American Eskimo Dog was developed from the German Spitz. This makes him a cousin of breeds like the Pomeranian, Keeshond, Japanese Spitz, or Volpino Italiano.
Learn More
Links
[1] AKC Breed Standard: American Eskimo Dog
[2] CKC Breed Standard: American Eskimo Dog
[3] Dreger et al. (2019). True Colors: Commercially-acquired morphological genotypes reveal hidden allele variation among dog breeds, informing both trait ancestry and breed potential. PLoS ONE 14(10): e0223995. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223995
[4] AKC: Colors & Markings
[5] American Eskimo Dog Club of America: Illustrated Breed Standard
Image Credits
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Hi! I’m Steffi. I am a biologist and a big time dog nerd. You are curious about coat color genetics? You’ve come to the right place! Read more.