Dog Coat Colors and Patterns
http://homepage.usask.ca wrote:Bicolor a dog that has some shade of black or brown and also white but no tan in breeds like the Shetland Sheepdog
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
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
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.
