cream havaense

The Many Colors of the Havanese Puppy

The Havanese come in many different colors and on top of the colors are their markings. Here is a list of the colors of the Havanese puppy.

  1. WHITE - crisp and bright; pure snow white from birth (no color allowed on any part of the dog including ears).
  2. CREAM - Ivory or creamy yellowish white, the color of dairy cream or almonds.
  3. CHAMPAGNE - pale tawny yellow, the color of champagne. Yellow undertones. Champagne coats can be beige from light to deep intensity. In some registries (AKC) Cream and Champagne are combined as one color.
  4. GOLD - This is a rich warm color in various shades of medium gold from honey to apricot. There are very definite reddish highlights to the coat. True Gold dogs retain much of their color throughout their lifetime, though the color may soften with age.
  5. RED - Red is also a rich warm color, similar to Gold with deeper and more intense color, ranging from to Orangey Red to deep Mahogany. Some registries combine Gold & Red while others have them separate.
  6. FAWN - Fawn is a cool color ranging from tan and buff to light brown shades.
  7. SABLE - Sable coats are distinguished by darker tipping on a lighter colored underfur. The amount of tipping may be very heavy or very light. The underfur can be brown, fawn, red, gold or silver. Tipping is generally black but may also be darker shades of brown, gold or silver. Each hair will be variegated from root to tip. Sable coats often lighten or progressively silver as the dog matures. Some Sable dogs lighten dramatically almost all the way to a pale Ivory or Off-white leaving just subtle shadings and highlights of color. A true Sable will always retain the dark tipping on the ears and tail (even if its just a few hairs). Sable is the most changeable of all the Havanese colors. The degree of silvering is dependent on the other colors in the genetic makeup of the dog. If the tipping is cut off, generally it will not return except perhaps on the ears and tail.
  8. BRINDLE - Much confusion surrounds brindle markings. Brindle is one of the more complex coat colors. The classic brindle combination gives dark bands, more or less regular tiger striped on a lighter background any shade from cream, champagne, tan, gold or silver. (ie. Similar to brindle coats of the Boxer or Dane). Tiger stripes are apparent at birth and run all over the body in streaks or stripes of black or brown. Not all Brindles have this classic striped look. Brindle may also appear more subtly as a combination coat where two or more different color hairs are mixed throughout. Black, brown and auburn hairs intermixed may make a dog appear a tobacco color all over. This combination is often called Havana Brown. In Brindle coats, the color of each hair must go from root to tip. The base color may lighten as the dog matures but the overall pattern will remain. Brindle dogs often have a dark mask on the face. Brindle is not the same as sable where the coat is only tipped in color.
  9. CHOCOLATE - Puppies are born chocolate. True chocolate dogs will have self colored liver or soft tawny red pigment; they cannot have anything black. They usually also have lighter colored eyes in warm brown, amber or golden shades. Chocolate coats may vary from very light Cafe au Lait to Milk Chocolate to a darker bittersweet Chocolate color. Some chocolate dogs may turn silver (see below). These would correctly be called a "Chocolate Silver". Chocolate refers to the pigment color not only the coat color. Eye color is the most reliable indicator of whether a dog is actually chocolate or if it just has poor pigmentation. On a true chocolate, in addition to the liver pigment, the eye color will be a soft amber color. If your dogs eyes are black with a lighter brownish nose then what you have is poor pigmentation and not a chocolate.
  10. SILVER - Puppies are born black and start to lighten at about 4-6 weeks of age. As the dog matures, the coat will lighten to varying shades of silver from pale platinum, sterling and pewter to deep grey. The coat change is complete at approximately 12-15 months of age.
  11. BLUE - Puppies are born black. The black is dull rather than glossy like a true black and may have a dark reddish cast. The coat may start turning as early as 6-8 months or as late as 3-5 years. Once it starts turning, the coat color will continue to develop until it takes on a definite steel blue cast. The in between color is often a muddy brown or reddish color. Final Blue color may be any shade from medium to dark silver/grey/blue and charcoal.
  12. BLACK - Deep jet black - no reddish or brown tones -color does not lighten.

The Havanese colors are also defined further by their markings.

    1. PARTI-COLORED or PIEBALD -Two color coat. Coat is predominantly white (over 50%) broken with irregular patches or spots of a second color. These patches may be any other color. Lightly marked dogs with less than 10% color are called extreme Parti or extreme Piebald. An example might be a white dog with one or both ears partly colored and no colored patches on the body.
    2. PIED (also known as IRISH PIED) Two color coat. Over 50% of coat is colored. Coat pattern is laid out as follows; The underbelly and lower legs at least up to the elbows are white. There is also white on the chest up to the bottom of the chin, as well as a full or partial white collar or shawl around the neck. The tip of the tail is always white. There may be a colored mask on the face. The coloring on the back is solid and appears as a large saddle or cape covering the shoulders, back and sides. Topline is colored while the underline is always white.
    3. TRICOLOR - there are variations - Three color coat. A classic TRI is basically a parti or pied dog with the addition of a third color. This third color can be any shade of tan or gold and is laid out following the typical point pattern. Tan Points are found on the muzzle, eyebrows, cheeks, ears, chest, legs and vent.
    4. Another variation is the HOUND MARKED TRI - the markings are similar to a Beagle or other hound breeds. Three colors; generally Black, Tan and White. These dogs may display a classic saddle pattern. They do NOT have tan points. Typically the markings are Black and Tan or Sable appearing on the head, legs and saddle.
    5. Some registries do not recognize the Tricolor patterns but rather refer to these dogs as BI-colored partis or BI-color Pieds. Ie: Black and Tan Parti indicates patches of black and patches on tan on a white base coat.
    6. TAN POINT - Predominantly dark coat overlaid with a color point pattern and with or without white trim. The classic Black coat with Tan Points without any white trim at all is known as the Black & Tan. Though the most common background coat color is black, it may also be Sable, Blue, Silver or Chocolate. Color points are laid out in the following pattern; lighter markings appear on the muzzle, eyebrows, ears, cheeks, legs, chest and vent. The point pattern is similar to the markings on a Doberman or Rottweiler. Color points may be any shade of tan or gold (Tan Point) or silver (Silver Point). Points often lighten to silvered pearl or creamy white as the dog matures. White trim is permissible on the chin, chest and feet.
    7. WHITE MARKINGS - Two color coat - Predominantly colored coat. Solid color with small patches of white trim found on the chin, chest and feet. Trim may also be cream, tan or silver.

 

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