Watermarks are only found in sable and white dogs with an extended melanistic mask. It causes the dark sable shading to pool at the edges of the sable patches, creating a striking pattern. However, no one knows what causes watermarkings, also called etching or color pooling. What Is Watermarking? Imagine a dog with a sable … Read more
What exactly is a red dog? How is he different from a brown dog? In terms of color genetics, the difference is easy to explain. Brown always means chocolate-colored eumelanin. And red always means red phaeomelanin. Sounds quite simple, doesn’t it? The confusion about red coat in dogs originates from breed terminology, which is rarely … Read more
Irish spotting is a trait that causes a type of white spotting pattern. Both piebald and whitehead can also cause phenotypes that closely resemble Irish-type markings. True Irish Spotting Irish spotting is a white spotting trait that causes a distinct pattern. Typical Irish markings include some white on the chest, some white on the underbody, … Read more
Two very different mechanisms can cause a solid white coat in dogs. So… what’s the difference? Some dogs have a pigmented coat, but with a very pale pigment color. And the others appear white because they don’t produce any pigment at all. Both, low pigment intensity and extreme white can produce a fully white coat. … Read more
This page is a quick reference to show you the possible alleles at each locus. Summary A list of variants and genes affecting coat colors and patterns in dogs: B locus The B locus determines if a dog has black or brown eumelanin. B: Black Eumelanin b*: Brown Eumelanin B > b* D locus The D locus determines if … Read more
What is the difference between ticking and merle in dogs, you ask? Well, ticking adds pigment to white spotting while merle removes pigment from areas with black or brown coat. Both patterns can create blueish or grayish coat and are some of the most easily confused color patterns. For beginners, it can be difficult to … Read more
Urajiro is a type of countershading caused by a very light pigment intensity on a dog’s underside, forechest and muzzle. Urajiro markings cause light beige, cream or off-white areas on a dog’s underside while the pigment on the upper body keeps its original color. What is Urajiro? Urajiro is a term originally found in Japanese … Read more
Merle causes irregular patches of diluted pigment in all eumelanin-pigmented areas. Merle creates random patterns but different allelic combinations can result in some distinct phenotypes. What is Merle? Merle impairs the ability of pigment organelles to function properly. This causes a random mixture of areas with lighter diluted patches and areas with normal pigment production. … Read more
Harlequin in Great Danes acts as a merle modifier. Harlequin deletes all pigment from merled areas, turning them white. This creates a white background color with irregular dark patches. Harlequin (H) is not the same as harlequin merle (Mh)! What is Harlequin in Great Danes? What exactly is harlequin? The standard color for harlequin Great … Read more
If your dog has a lighter cream underside compared to the red on its upper body, it likely has some form of countershading. This is a trait found in many animal species including dogs. What is Countershading? Animals with countershading have very light phaeomelanin (red pigment) on their lower body. The phaeomelanin on the upper … Read more