Alaskan Malamute Colors

Agouti & White

An agouti & white Alaskan Malamute has a black-based agouti pattern.

Agouti causes banded dorsal hairs and ventral tan markings.

The tan tends to be a very pale cream color in this Nordic breed.

The agouti pattern causes face markings with goggles and a nose bar of banded hairs (they call this a “full mask“). The pale tan markings are visible on the cheeks and eyebrows.

At birth, agouti & white Malamute puppies have a very dark sooty look. This is very obvious next to domino siblings, which already have very tan markings at birth.

The Royal Kennel Club lists Agouti & White, Wolf Grey & White, and Wolf Sable & White as common Alaskan Malamute colors. I guess, these are just lighter or darker variations of agouti.

Gray & White

A gray Alaskan Malamute has a black-based agouti domino pattern. Domino reduces the amount of eumelanin (black) and increases the amount of phaeomelanin (cream).

The domino trait removes most of the normal agouti face markings. A gray and white puppy is typically born with already very large, crisp face markings on the cheeks and eyebrows.

Some, but not all, dogs with domino have a pink stripe down the nose.

Another telltale sign of domino is the extended phaeomelanin banding at the base of the coat and severely reduced eumelanin banding except along the topline. Individual hairs may be light with only a black tip and little or no actual banding. Agouti domino creates an overall grizzled appearance with a reduced amount of dark areas when compared to normal agouti & white.

All in all, the combination of reduced black banding on the topline and pale gray, cream, or white undercoat creates the impression of gray guard hairs on the body.

The agouti pattern in an individual dog can be quite dark (often in tan point carriers aw/at), and the effect of domino can vary. Some dogs keep more of their black pigment than others. Thus, a very dark gray & white dogs may be confused with seal & white (aka tan point domino).

Black & White

A black & white Alaskan Malamute has a black-based tan point pattern. This pattern causes a mainly solid black dorsal coat with ventral tan markings. The very low red intensity in Malamutes makes their tan markings appear white. Malamutes with this pattern have black guard hairs (which can have a pale base) on their back and a black or dark gray undercoat.

Puppies can look almost black at birth and will keep most of their face markings into adulthood, including a black cap, black nose bar, and black around the eyes.

Malamute people are so used to the pale open face markings from domino, that they might call the dark face markings in a non-domino tan point dog “extreme black masking“.

Seal & White

The Alaskan Malamute breed term for tan point domino is “seal & white”. Domino decreases the amount of eumelanin (black) and increases the amount of phaeomelanin (cream).

Tan point domino usually comes with pale face markings, a dark cap, and some residual dark goggles or a residual nose bar running down the bridge of the nose.

Some seals keep full face markings (solid nose bar and goggles), but will still show extended white cheek markings and eye pips compared to a real black & white dog.

A very dark seal & white puppy may resemble a black & white puppy, but seal puppies will already have much larger white eyebrows at birth.

Alaskan Malamutes with seal & white can have some shades of gold or red on their legs, ears, or tail, pooling along the edges of their dorsal pattern. These markings are called “trimmings“.

Seal & white dogs can have black or tipped guard hairs. The domino will cause a pale hair base or some pale hair banding in the dorsal coat and very pale white or cream undercoat.

Red & White

A red & white Alaskan Malamute has chocolate brown eumelanin.

This is yet another breed term! In Alaskan Malamutes, red means chocolate brown. The term red & white is used for about any pattern with brown eumelanin.

The shade of brown can vary from light liver brown to very dark mahogany brown. Red Malamutes will always have a brown nose, brown eye rims, and brown lips.

The brown pigment in patterns with reduced eumelanin (domino) may appear beige or orangey. Just like reduced black appears gray from a distance.

Malamute folks have different names for different brown-base patterns:

• red agouti means brown agouti
• light red or gray red means brown agouti domino
• mahogany red means brown & tan
• dark red or seal red means brown tan point domino

People easily confuse the breed terms red & white (brown eumelanin) and sable & white (red phaeomelanin). Dogs with both traits (brown + intense phaeomelanin) are “sable red“.

Blue & White

A blue & white Alaskan Malamute has diluted black eumelanin.

Blue refers to diluted black eumelanin. This is super rare in Alaskan Malamutes.

Dilution will lighten all the black color to slate gray. Affected dogs have gray hair tipping or banding, gray skin pigment, gray eye rims, gray lips, and a gray nose.

The eye color is often a pale yellow-green or hazel color.

Just like brown pigment, blue eumelanin can affect any pattern a Mal can have:

• dark blue means blue-based tan point domino.
• blue agouti means blue-based agouti.
• blue & white means blue-based tan point.
• light blue means blue-based agouti domino.

Sable & White

A sable & white Alaskan Malamute has red phaeomelanin.

In color genetics, “sable” usually means a red coat with or without dorsal sabling. Just think of “traditional sable breeds” like the Malinois, Pug, or Leonberger!

Being “sable” can mean any pattern with an unusually rich phaeomelanin intensity showing through on the body. These dogs have a peach, yellow, orange, or red undercoat, red shades in their face markings, and red undertones in their dorsal coat.

You can translate “sable” in this breed into “with red phaeomelanin“. It’s often used to replace the “and white” part in pattern names. For example: A “seal and white” is tan point domino with cream phaeomelanin. A “seal sable” is a tan point domino with red phaeomelanin.

Whatever reduces the phaeomelanin intensity in the majority of Malamutes is absent in sable & white dogs. This causes their phaeomelanin to keep a more intense color.

These dogs are often genetically “gray & white” (aw domino) or “seal & white” (at domino), but are classified as “sable & white” purely due to the color of phaeomelanin in their pattern.

There is also a gradual transition between a tan that still classifies a dog as “sable” to a just slightly lighter cream pigment found in many dogs that would be classified as “gray” or “seal” patterns. This leaves somewhat of a gray area with some dogs being “almost sable”.

The phenotypes in the “sable” category are very diverse. That is, sable is just a breed term for about any pattern with a decent amount of orange undertones. But a tan point domino (“seal sable” or “dark sable”) will naturally be much darker than an agouti domino (just “sable”).

It seems like only agouti dominos are registered as sable.

About any Malamute pattern can come with a sable coloration. There are many terms people might use for these other patterns, e.g. agouti sable, red sable, black sable, etc.

Any agouti, black, gray, or seal dog can have red sable trimmings. This refers to areas with red pigment concentrating in areas where the darker dorsal coat meets the lighter markings on the lower body. But red trimmings on a dog with otherwise pale phaeomelanin don’t make it sable.

Silver & White

A silver & white Alaskan Malamute has a very light gray color.

They only have minimal black hair tipping and a white undercoat.

Silver can refer to any atypically light version of agouti domino. However, there is no clear definition of just how light a “light gray” must be to be called “silver.”

Silver & white puppies may look almost white at birth or have a very pale buff color with some dark shading or a dorsal stripe of tipped hairs. Some have hints of black eye shadow, but never a black nose bar. Their guard hairs are very light with minimal black tipping.

In adult silver Malamutes, you will find a very pale silvery color with a white undercoat, a white hair base with maybe some black hair tips along the topline.

Their face markings are often very reduced to white with a silvery cap on the forehead. Dogs that carry tan point (Ay/at) can sometimes keep more sabling and may be called “dark silver”.

Some believe that a few of these silver dogs might actually have a true sable pattern (E/- Ay/-), looking silver due to the very low phaeomelanin intensity.

In theory, a silver Mal can have a brown or blue base color instead of black, which would further lighten the contrast between its white undercoat and its minimal pattern.

White

A white Alaskan Malamute is solid white, often with some light reddish shading.

White Malamutes are recessive red (e/e). An all-white Alaskan Malamute is born without any black in its coat, since these dogs can not have eumelanin in their hair.

They are almost solid with white guard hairs and a white undercoat. Many dogs have some reddish ear lacing or shades of cream or biscuit on their head or in their dorsal stripe.

Most white Alaskan Malmutes have a black nose that typically fades to pink, which is quite normal for dogs with the e/e pattern. White dogs can have a brown or blue nose. But the lack of eumelanin (either black or brown with or without dilution) in their coat and the already faded nose doesn’t cause an obvious change in overall phenotype, so there is no real term for this.

There is a slim chance for sable domino (Ay/- ky/ky eA/-) in this breed.

The domino trait deletes much of the already sparse black hair tipping, and affected dogs often look solid white. The only difference is that sable domino puppies can still have some dark puppy shading or stray black hairs, which is impossible in true white e/e Malamutes.