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Glossary

  • Animal Colors
  • Animal Coat Patterns

• Black – Dark eyes and dark feet pads, can have white markings.

•Blue – A dark metallic grey, some breeds are born black and lighten with age, others have a dilution gene that lightens their coat.

• Brown or Chocolate – Ranges from deep, dark brown to a lighter and redder color.

• Cinnamon – A variety of solid light brown with distinct red overtones.

• Cream – Pale yellow to a creamy white color. The cream color can be a diluted version of the red. In combination with the blue, it can create diluted calicos and tortoiseshells.

• Deadgrass – Light tan, the color of dead straw.

• Fallow or Wheaten – A cross between pale cream and fawn coloring.

• Fawn – Can be one of two shades, a light red-brown often with darker red or black tips. Or a pale grey-brown caused by a dilution gene. It can also be a diluted version of cinnamon.

• Gold – From pale apricot to rich golden yellow to a sandy, honey color.

• Grizzle – Can be a roaning mixture of black, blue-grey, steel grey or red with white.

• Lavender/Lilac – Lilac or Lavender are interchangeable names for a shade of light gray-brown with pink overtones.

• Red – The color of cherry or mahogany wood, including deep, dark reds to rusty golden reds as well as ginger colors. Red is also the professional term for the coat color otherwise known as orange or ginger.

• Silver – The color of aluminum or a shiny coin and comes from an extreme dilution of a blue animal.

• White – Pure White color.

• Yellow – A light yellow to blond color.

• Belton – A white base coat with tiny spots over most of the body giving the impression of blue, yellow or orange colors.

• Bi-Colored – A coat with two colors.

• Blenheim – Refers to the red and white coloring of certain spaniel breeds.

• Blotched Tabby – Where the two shades create a blotched pattern of rounded stripes and circles. This is also called a “marble” pattern.

• Blue Merle – Marbled blue, grey & black.

• Brindle – A lighter background with a fine and fairly even mix of black stripes.

• Dappled – Mottled markings of several different colors.

• Harlequin – Large black or blue splotches on a white background coat.

• Hound Coat – White base coat with tan and/ or black patches on the head, back, legs & tail.

• Mantle – A white base coat with a second color blanketing the body, & part of the neck, head, tail & legs.

• Peppering or Sesame – A fairly even mixture of black and white hairs which give a salt and pepper look to the coat.

• Roan – An even mixture of colored & white hairs.

• Sable – A light background coat (usually gold, silver or tan) with black tips – often accompanied by a black mask.

• Shaded – Roughly half of the hair is light and half is dark.

• Smoked – Most of the hair is dark, with a light undercoat that shows through as the animal is moving.

• Solid – The easiest one to recognize is a coat of one color that is evenly distributed all over the body.

• Spotted Tabby – Where the dark color appears in spots all over the agouti body. In a show-quality spotted tabby, the spots should be round and evenly spread.

• Striped Tabby – Where the cat has vertical stripes along its body. This is sometimes called a “Mackerel” pattern, because of the resemblance to a fishbone.

• Ticked Tabby – Also known as agouti . There are no clear markings other than the tabby facemask. This pattern is typical in several breeds, such as the Abyssinian and the Singapura, but is otherwise rare.

•Tipped – only the tips of the hair are dark.

• Tortoiseshell – A consistent mix of orange and black (or their diluted versions of cream and blue) creates this unique coat pattern.

• Tri-Color – A coat with three distinct colors.

• Tuxedo – Black dog with white pattern on chest, chin and feet resembling a tuxedo and spats. Most commonly found in the Boston Terrier.

• Phantom – Markings similar to those of Rottweilers or Dobermans, with a different color on the legs, eyebrows, beard & mustache, inside of ears and under tail.

• Parti-Colored – Has a white foundation coat with spots or patches of another color. They can be found in a variety of different colors.