Black and Tans
By Pat Doescher , Hi-Jinx Shibas USA
Black and tan Shiba puppies are all born darker then the color they will display when grown and can change drastically from birth to maturity. Just as the true black and tan Shiba is a three-colored dog, I have found there are three distinct ranges in black and tan coloring starting at birth.
#1. The first is the pup that is born with what would be considered perfect coloring for a mature Shiba. It has huge white cheeks and throat with the jaw and muzzle all clear and white. It may have nice rich red or a buff color along the black stripe down the muzzle and between the black and white under the mask. It will have huge tan eye dots and a big white bow tie. This pup's color will most likely fade at maturity through the mask and loose much of the black color under the eyes and over the bridge of the muzzle. The huge eye dots will fade to rings around the eyes and this fading ages the dog prematurely leaving a *mask that is more red then black. If this pup has rich tan markings it will remain a three colored dog but if the tan at birth is very light to pale buff the pup could fade to be a black and white dog when grown.
#2. A puppy born very dark with barely a bow tie and little to no eye dots most likely will remain a two colored dog at maturity, black and white. Although when newborn these dark pups have very little color on the face and bow tie, the color will start to show up by four weeks. It might be a meager amount but a good hint that a dark pup will not be nicely colored as an adult, is the presence of black guard hair mixing in with what little white/cream color shows on the bow tie, cheeks and throat. If you notice at 10 to 14 weeks that black guard coat is spiking up in these areas the adult color will remain muddy in appearance at maturity.
#3. A newborn pup that is quite average is my preferred choice. Born with gray or white cheeks and a dark jaw with the sides of the muzzle also shaded in gray allows the natural maturation of urajiro to lighten the pup, leaving the beautiful black mask with very little fading under or around the eye dot when fully grown. (Please note , a true three colored black and tan has some fading under and around the eye but never should the eye dot blend in with this to the point of making the eye dot look as if it has grown around the entire top of the eye in a quarter moon shape) I find these pups that are shaded gray at birth will usually grow to be a true three-colored Shiba Inu. I like to see a bow tie clearly defined at birth and I prefer some white splashes on the toes, chin and chest. Even at a day old the #3 pup looks quite dark however, you can hold it up to the light and see clearly where the cheeks and bow tie will be. As this pup reaches 4-6 weeks the color starts to lighten and there are no black guard hairs in the bow tie, cheeks or throat. The muzzle will sometimes start to clear at this age so that by 7-9 weeks the pup is pretty nice looking in facial color yet not that perfect striking white to red to black of the #1 pup. At 6 months to one year this pup will be perfect and at 3-5 years will not be faded.
Things to remember:
*Mask on a b/t is the black on the skull and forehead, the black surrounding the eye and down the bridge of the muzzle. Like a party mask.
*All lines mature differently but this “above” is what I have found to hold true in most instances.
*The grayer the cheeks at birth the more tan color will remain at maturity without fading.
*The muzzle may remain dark until the pup starts to grow in adult hair at 4-months and this is acceptable.
*As the b/t pup grows the urajiro starts to change the over all look of the black and tan pup to a lighter color
*Newborn black and tans pups are often dark and very black. After they dry or within a few days the color changes.
*Black is a dull black
*Tan is anywhere from a light buff to a rich red and white.
*White is not the crisp clear white as seen on a Dalmatian but more of the off-white to pale cream as seen around the Shiba's muzzle, on the cheeks and bow tie and wherever the urajiro should be on the body.
* White spots on the chest and toes are truly white spots, not urajiro.
*The blend is symmetrical and the colors fade into each other without a clear defined line of definition except on the face where the black meets the white or tan.
*A nice colored black and tan Shiba is a great thing of beauty.
Pat Doescher (If you have any particular questions or pictures you’d like me to see please contact me at hi_jinx@itis.com
Pictures to follow 1 2 3 4
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Black and tan Shiba puppies are all born darker then the color they will display when grown and can change drastically from birth to maturity. These pictures above are all of the same pup, Ch. Hi-Jinx Black Capped Chickdee.
This pup's color will most likely fade at maturity through the mask and loose much of the black color under the eyes and over the bridge of the muzzle
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A very nice litter with two pups (left and center) being very nice colored for black and tans of 7 weeks. The one on the right did not turn out to be a three colored Shiba, yet the other two did and held their color well with little to no fading at a year.
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