Dog Colour - Greying/fading Gene - Which Colour?

[kelp]

I have recently become the new owner of 2 year old minature poodle.

he was born brown but he seems to have a fading gene. He is now a mottled greybrown colour all over. his registration certificate states he is brown.

i need to regisiter him with the local authorities, but i dont know which colour to call him. the online registration form has preset colours, with no free text, such as brown fading to grey.

if he were lost, (hope not!) my guess would be that the person who found him (or the dog warden) would use his current colouring which is more grey than brown. I think it would be more useful and practical to use his now colour, not what he was born into.

the online form does have grizzled. which i thought was for dogs who were born into that colour. but he does look a bit grizzled.

Any suggestions as to which colour to use?

[Leah82]

I'd use brown

If he was lost the local authorities will use the contact details attached to the microchip number not his colour

[Rebanne]

I'd use the colour he currently is grey. Council's are not interested in what his rego papers say, and change it on the chip as well.

[kelp]

thanks all

.

brown/grey polls are 50:50 :)

yep, microchip would be the best. but in case the would-be finder did not have a microchip scanner, then they would go by the colour.

i've had a look at other possible colours.

Ash

pepper

salt

smoke

would those with fading dogs use any of the above?

as an aside, what sort of breed is pepper-coloured? or salt-coloured.? isn't salt a white colour?

[Mystiqview]

Register him to what colour he is. Look at as a layman, if some person picks him up, what would they call it?

Some council registrations will also have a spot for listing any distinguishing features. Mention the greying on there

[RiverStar-Aura]

^^ Yep what Mystiqview said. My Aussie Terrier is blue/tan but for most people who have no idea what an Aussie is, they're not going to say they've found a little blue/tan dog. She'd most likely be called black/tan or black/brown.

List her as a colour the average Joe Blow would use.

[Dame Aussie]

Register him to what colour he is. Look at as a layman, if some person picks him up, what would they call it?

Some council registrations will also have a spot for listing any distinguishing features. Mention the greying on there

I agree with this.

[denali]

Yep, My ruby cavalier is 'Red'

The otehrs are black and tan and tricolour though.

I would probably go grey.

I think pepper is used to describe schnauzers?

[kelp]

ok, thanks all.

agree useful to gone with what layperson/josephine blow would use. OTOH I am thinking i should retain some sort of reference to his ANKC heriitiage and microchip document (which state he is brown), which might end up being a red flag to anyone trying to match up his information.

SO:

as he is both colours at the moment, i have just emailed a request the dog rego people to ask them to include

(a) brown/grey as a colour choice, plus

(b) a free-text field to allow people to include distinguishing featured, (eg, three legs, brown fading to grey, different coloured eyes , spectacles etc).

i hope this request makes it . i will ring up tomorrow to see if i can do the rego over the phone and somehow overide the choices on offer.

[kelp]

ps

the two-colour combo request follows the other choices available. that is black/brown and black/white are available.

logic has it that brown/grey would be ok too.

[RuralPug]

Yes pepper and salt is used to describe the most common schnauzer colour which is grey with silvery white points.

Need a poodle breeder to chime in here, but there is a colour in poodles (shadow gene or something like that) that is born dark and ends up silvery. I remember my aunt talking about it, but not much more than that, sorry.

Edited to add: phantom was what I was trying to remember, but that doesn't apply here. Silver beige poodles are commonly born brown and lighten gradually as they age.Google that colour and see if your pup is changing colour in a similar way to the examples online.

Or just just the silver beige on this webpage.

Edited December 2, 2014 by RuralPug

[kelp]

phantom coloured. ????. i like that.

when i ring tomorrow iwill ask to also include that :D

[Dogsfevr]

Keep it simple ,if he looks grey then just say grey ,

[dancinbcs]

I'm pretty sure in Poodles the colour is termed cafe au lait. They end up dilute brown but still with a brown nose as opposed to a dog born dilute brown that has a dilute nose as well.

[kelp]

a little update.

I followed up with the dog services person this morning. He was happy to include both my above suggestions. He was able to include the brown/grey colour on his system, plus there was an area for notes in the electronic file that would include additional info, such as the dogs's greyiing from brown.

he seemed quite busy, so i just kept at straight bat and didnt teae him with the phantom/, cafe,/mushroom colours and the rest.

happy ending all around.