GALTx eNews: Colors Of The Greyhound Rainbow!
We often hear colorful descriptions of our beautiful Greyhounds such as tuxedo dog, cow dog, lemon brindle, snowflake or tiger striped, but only 18 color descriptions are recognized in the American Greyhound Track Operators' official color chart.
The striped dogs are all a shade of the most common (37%) greyhound color - brindle. Brindles are properly described using the base color first. For example, a dog who is fawn under the stripes is a "fawn brindle." A dog who is red under the stripes is a "red brindle." A brindle with few stripes is "light brindle"and a brindle with many stripes is "dark brindle." Although we often hear of "black brindles," it isn't a color recognized on the chart. About 20% of greyhounds are white or white with spots. A dog is properly described as "white and black" if predominantly white with black spots. A white dog with striped spots is called a "white and brindle." Ticking refers to small spots, usually black or liver colored, sprinkled throughout a coat of another color. If a white dog has brindle spots and little spots mixed in its white, it is properly called a "white and brindle ticked."
On the flip side, about 18% of hounds are black or, if predominantly black with white spots, "black and white." The same goes for the hounds that on the red/fawn spectrum - If predominantly red, the hound is "red and white." One of the rarest colors of all (only about 3%) is called blue, which is what most people think of as a grey Greyhound. A blue hound with stripes is, of course, a blue brindle. Greyhound color is determined by eight pairs of genes. Half of each pair comes from mom and half from dad, so it's a pretty complicated thing. If you're interested in "nerd level" information about the genetics behind hound color, we recommend Patricia Gail Burnham's "A Colors Primer." It'll have you looking at your pup's coat in a new way.