Colour Enquiry of Pups and my Dogs mother! Grey

by Lisa Quick
(New Zealand)

Glory as pup

Glory as pup

Colour Querie.
Glory my female was true Brindle, three colours with black tips as puppy, became red at 6 months then more Grey.
She has a Silver, blue-Grey mother and gold and white father.
What would you call her mothers colour!

Also, she has had a litter with a Black and White. Pups have black patches but in bright light show Chocolate. One pup is All Chocolate, can't mistake it for black. This puppy has a White chin, feet, and chest steak.
What do I call pups? Especially the All dark one?

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Hi Janice here from Miracle Shih Tzu
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Lisa, You have some beautiful colors in your Shih Tzu dogs and such variety. When there is so much variation in the line, there's no telling what you might end up with unless you were to do DNA color tests to find out all the different colors in the background of a particular Shih Tzu.

I will try to answer some of your questions but with one caveat. I see you are from New Zealand and I'm from the U.S. I looked up the breed standard for Shih Tzu from the NZKC and it was very similar to that of the American Kennel Club but I could not find the listings of acceptable colors at least on the club's website. I'm not sure whether you were planning to register the puppies, but if not, all I can do is give you my best guess based on the U.S. Standards.

As far as the color of Glorie's Mum, she looks blue to me based on her nose, eye rims, and mouth, however, the photo is small and it is difficult to tell exact colors based on a photograph alone. If her nose is a solid dark black, then I would call her a silver.

The litter is showing all of the colors of both the mom as well as the grandparents, something that I've encountered numerous times. Since there are so many colors, it would appear from a genetic point of view that there is no dominance. By that, I mean that the genotype is likely to have one dominant gene from each parent and one recessive (Bb v Bb).

I have had litters where they appear black and white at first but once you look at them outside in the natural light, there are definite streaks of brown. This is actually more common than you think when you breed a brindle. Brindles are all very different and it is likely that the puppies will eventually look more brindle (and white) as time goes on. Case in point, take Glory for example. As a puppy, she looks like she was a red brindle but by the time she was old enough to have puppies of her own, her brindling is much lighter looking more like a gold brindle. If I had to take a guess, I would say that her puppies will lighten up as the grown and become more of the same color brindle as she is. The white in the puppies' coat is likely coming from the father.


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I hold an undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in biology, Early Childhood Education, and Nursing, and a Master's in Mental Health Counseling.

I'm a lifelong learner, a dog lover, and passionate about the welfare of animals. Though Shih Tzu is my favorite breed, I've also lived with Poodles, Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Beagles, English Bulldogs, Carin Terriers, and a Cocker Spaniel. Little critters that shared my space included guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, hamsters, mice, tropical fish, and birds. (Oh, and one crayfish and hermit crab that my daughter brought home from school)

When not writing, reading, and researching dog-related topics, I love spending time with my 6 Shih Tzu dogs, husband, and family, as well as knitting and crocheting. She is also the voice behind Small Dog Place and Smart-Knit-Crocheting. Please visit my other two sites or send me a note.