Difference in brindle boxer

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Jezabel

Boxer Pal
Hi, I was reading on the FAQ that they name the difference in brindle color with different name: light, golden, fawn, red, mahogany, dark, reverse or seal brindle, my english is not that good so do you have a website the describe them with pictures? Specialy for mahogany, dark, reverse and seal, I'm not sure I understand the difference.

Also, which kind of brindle would you consider my female Anaïs? Not sure how to post it here here so here's s link with pics Thanks! http://www.hissnherps.ca/porto.html
 

boxer

Boxer Insane
Well, the correct term for any shade of brindle is still just brindle. The rest are just descriptions - in the same vein as having a mahogany or dark red fawn (it's still a fawn).

I'd term your girl a brown brindle. She is not a reverse brindle - she is very clearly a brown dog with dark stripes. And her fawn base colour appears to be of the very brown shade - hence, brown brindle. There's one photo where the base colour looks to be mahogany, but in the others (including the outdoor shots) it appears clearly brown. So brown brindle is how I would describe her.

Here's one site that gives pictures of some of the different shades of brindle and fawn coats: http://www.worldwideboxer.com/COLOUR.html

BTW: Cute cat you have pictured there - what breed is he?
 

mymax

Boxer Booster
You have some great photos of your boxers! They look like they are the best of friends and it makes me want to get a pal for Max! Max is considered a reverse brindle if you want to take a look at my gallery. What part of Quebec do you live? I lived in Quebec City for a few years and studied at Bishop's University in Lennoxville (5 minutes from Sherbrooke). Great looking dogs! Denise

ps. sorry I can't write in French.
 

CondoPup

Banned
boxer said:
Here's one site that gives pictures of some of the different shades of brindle and fawn coats: http://www.worldwideboxer.com/COLOUR.html

Debbie, thanks for this link (and Jezabel thanks for starting this thread). I knew the terms were brindle and fawn, but had never seen any photos showing what people call the varieties within those groups. This is useful, and fun!

Guinness' coat falls somewhere between a golden and red brindle. :)
 

Jezabel

Boxer Pal
Thanks for the info! So, from what I saw, mahogany would be a dark red right? And they don't talk about seal brindle. Could it be with no white?

Thanks for the link, it's really healpfull! And the cute cat in the pics is a Cornish rex, a really dog-like breed of cat.

Mymax, having a second dog was my best move. It's not more work and they're much more happy (but I live alone with them, if I would have a family with kids, not sure I would have got a second one). I'm from Beauport (next to quebec city). Where do you live now? Max si really nice!! The other boxer on your gallerie are friend of yours?
 

gmacleod

Elusive Moderator
Staff member
Seal brindle is just another term for reverse brindle ;) LOL - there are regional terminology differences to contend with too (which is why it's a good idea just to stick with "brindle"). Neither reverse nor seal brindle are terms used outside of North America though, and the boxer standards elsewhere in the world do not describe such a colour (in fact, they indicate it to be undesirable). In most countries, a very dark dog would simply be called dark brindle.

A mahogany brindle, incidentally, is simply a brindle dog with brindle stripes overlaying a mahogany fawn coat. Does that make sense to you? It is usually the fawn ground colour that dictates what shade of brindle a dog is described as being. So if the fawn ground colour is mahogany, then you've got a mahogany brindle. If it is red, then you have a red brindle. And so on.

The only exceptions to that are "light" brindle - which describes a dog of any fawn ground colour, but with only a very few brindle stripes. And dark/seal/reverse brindle that describes a dog with such a concentration of dark stripes that it appears that it's the fawn (of any shade) that are the stripes. These dogs often appear black in photographs (not in the flesh though - the striping should be clearly apparent).

What shade of brindle a dog is is unaffected by whether or not it has white markings. That just makes the dog flashy or not. So a golden brindle is still a golden brindle irrespective of whether or not it is also flashy or plain/classic.
 

Jezabel

Boxer Pal
Thanks for the precision. It's all make sense now. I knew they are still only brindle anyway but just want to understand the descriptive word some use. I tought of seal point cat with all the end (tail, paws and face) dark so that why I thought seal ment no white!

Now speaking about white and flashy, I saw a few time "semi-flashy"? What's the difference?
 

gmacleod

Elusive Moderator
Staff member
LOL - that's a simple question with a very technical answer!

Technically (genetically) speaking, there is no such thing as semi-flashy. Only classic (plain), flashy and ultra-flashy (white). This is because the difference between flashy or not is actually genetic. The "semi-flashy" category is a useful description for a dog whose genetic makeup can't be determined for certain just by looking at it. BUT even if we call the dog "semi-flashy" it *will* be genetically either flashy or classic. There is no in-between ;)

Take a look at our coat colour genetics page here: www.boxerworld.com/coat_colour That gives some basic information about the coat colour combinations it is possible to get, and also of flash.

In very basic terms though, there are two genes governing pigment distribution in boxer dogs. There is S - a gene that produces mostly solid coat colour (except for a bit of white usually confined to the chest, toes, tip of tail) and there is Sw - the extreme white spotting allele, which produces lack of pigmentation (white).

All genes come in pairs - one from each parent. So if you get a dog that has two copies of S then you get a classic/plain boxer. If you get a dog that has two copies of Sw, then you get a white boxer. And if you get a dog that has one of each gene, then you get a flashy boxer - essentially the effects of both genes combined.

Just to complicate it further, these genes are affected by modifiers. This is why all flashy boxers do not have identical markings, or why some white boxers have patches of colour while others don't. It is also why there are some boxers who have an amount of white that we commonly describe as "semi-flashy". The dog is genetically either a plain individual (two S genes) where the unpigmented areas, affected by modifiers, are more widespread than one would normally expect; or else it is a flashy individual (One S gene, one Sw gene) whose unpigmented areas, again affected by modifiers, are not as widespread as you would normally expect.

Does that make sense to you? There are quite a few threads on the forums discussing the genetics of flashy vs plain that go into more detail, if you care to read.
 

Jezabel

Boxer Pal
Thanks! I understand more (I'm use to those color genetic and dominant vs recessive gene in reptile so it's easier to understand) but it was'nt the answer I thought! I thought it was meaning something with the marking (like a flashy is one with a full white colar, a white mask and paws and a semi one would be one missing the mask or the colar...)

I'll read again the color genetic page, now that I know more what everything meen. Thanks again, it was really helpfull :)
 
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