Great Dane Colors
Great Dane Colors: What You Can Expect
When it comes to the Great Dane, colors are more fashionable these days than they are utilitarian. At the origin of each breed, color and coat really said a lot about what the dog was intended for, and this trait became one of the most important distinguishing factors from one class of dog to the next. Later, as jobs and lifestyles changed for the canines, alternative coat patterns and textures were experimented with and refined, often separating one breed of dog into two or even three different breeds. The Dogue De Flanders, for instance, otherwise known as the Bouvier, was originally bred as a working cart dog, and as such his coat was wiry and tough, just like he was. His beauty and wonderful temperament soon prompted his use as a family dog, and soon he was available in a silky, long show coat as well.
There are five Great Dane colors to choose from, the blue coat being the most difficult to procure, and therefore at the top end of the price range. This doesn’t mean that the blue will always beat out the fawn in the show ring, because conformation, expression, movement, and disposition are much more important to the breed judge, but for owners the blue coat seems to be an instant favorite. It is actually a sleek, steel gray which gives a bluish hue to the dog, and is really quite beautiful and striking.
Two of the more common and popular Great Dane colors are the harlequin and the black. The harlequin is either a solid white with black markings or a solid black with white markings, and the markings can be in any shape, size, or place on the dog. There are no rules when it comes to the distinct and unique patterns offered by each individual dog, as long as the skin and coat are healthy and radiant. The black is just that, and any markings will qualify him as a harlequin, or disqualify him altogether if they are not white.
The final two Great Dane colors that we will discuss are both prominent in the Mastiff as well, and this gives weight to the theory that the Dane is a product of the crossbreeding between the Mastiff and the Irish Wolfhound. The brindle and the fawn are quite common, though each beautiful and distinct in their own rights. The brindle is allowed to have solid white patches or markings at the chest, neck and face areas, but is otherwise expected to be black with brown to tan ripples throughout the coat. The fawn is a cream to red color with black points at the ears, muzzle, the bottom quarters of the legs, and the tip of the tail.