The breed standard, as dictated by the ILWC, states that “Any color, markings or combination thereof” are accepted. Because of this the Longhaired Whippet comes in an exciting variety of colors and patterns, which I will explain below.

Coat color, like any other trait, is passed down by genetics. Genes control what pigment is produced, where, when, and for how long while the puppy is developing inside the mother. In coat color, each gene has two or more alleles. Every dog has two alleles of each gene, one inherited from the sire, one inherited from the dam. With most genes, only one allele can be expressed. In every series, or locus, there are alleles that are dominant and recessive. A dominant allele will “cover up” a recessive one, so that only the dominant allele will be expressed. A dog needs two copies of a recessive gene in order for the trait to be expressed.

However, in some cases a dominant allele can have incomplete dominance. This allows the recessive allele to be partially expressed.

When talking about genetics every individual has a genotype and a phenotype. A genotype is the actual genetics of the dog, and which alleles it has, whether they are expressed or carried. The phenotype is what is actually expressed on the dog (what you can see).

Pigment

Even though there is a huge variety of coat colors in dogs, there are only two types of pigment. Eumelanin is black pigment. Because dilution (blue) and liver & isabella (not found in LHWs) are modified forms of black, they are created by eumelanin too. Phaeomelanin is the second type. This pigment is responsible for any red pigment in a dog’s coat, which can vary from dark mahogany to very pale cream. Phaeolmelanin only affects coat color, and does not affect the pigment of the eyes, nose, or skin. However eumelanin does affect these. a dilute blue dog will have a blue or gray nose, paler eyerim pigment, and paler brown or even amber eyes. White is an absence of either pigment.

All pictures are copyright their respective photographers. If you have a picture of a color that I’m missing, please email it to me!

A-Locus (“Agouti Series”)

Ay  as  at

Different alleles at the A-Locus (the Agouti Series) control which cells produce eumelanin pigment and at what time. The original “agouti” allele was the one found in gray wolves - these are all modified examples of it.

Ay : Sable

Possible genotypes: AyAy, Ayas, Ayat

The allele at the top of this locus in LHW’s is sable, which is dominant to everything else in this series. There are several different ways that sable can be expressed – these are probably caused by undiscovered modifiers.                                                                            

        

When sable dogs have two copies of the dilution allele (more on this later) the black hairs are diluted to blue.

This puppy is a blue clear sable (blue fawn) - note the gray nose and mask and the blue

cast to the coat.

Sable dogs often have a “widow’s peak” on the forehead and lighter “harness markings” behind the shoulders.

as: Saddle

Possible genotypes: asas, asat, asa

This allele is recessive to sable but dominant to tan points. Saddle tan dogs have black (or blue) across the ears, back of head, back, tail, and upper legs. They are similar to tan point dogs (and there are some dogs in between – calling creeping tan in some breeds). Dogs with saddles can be distinguished from heavy sables because saddles have solid color across their backs - sables either have darker hairs mixed in or light hairs tipped with black. Sables often have a brown tinge as well.

Most saddles aren’t born with a saddle; they are born with tan points (see below) and as they grow, the black is replaced by tan.

As with any other pattern, it can also be diluted, creating a blue saddle.

Blue saddles have the same pattern, but the black is replaced by blue.

The tan (phaeomelanin) is unaffected.

If a dog has a saddle as well as the allele for brindle, it will have a brindle saddle. There will still be a black or blue saddle across the back but all tan in the coat will be brindled.

at : Tan Points

Possible genotypes: atat

Tan points are the bottom recessive allele in this allelic series (in this breed). This marking is most easily recognized as the pattern found in Doberman Pinschers and Rottweilers – tan points are found on the sides of muzzle, cheeks, eyebrows, as two spots on the chest, lower legs, and often a vent spot beneath the tail.

As with saddle, tan points can be affected by dilution or brindle.

          (photo missing)                                                                                            (photo missing)

C-Locus (“Albino Series”)

C  cch  ce

Though there is no true albino in dogs, this locus is located where the gene for albinism is found in most other animals. Alleles of the C-locus affect the intensity of phaeomelanin (red pigment).

C : Normal Pigment

Possible Genotypes: CC, Ccch, Cce

Normal, undiluted pigment is dominant over chinchilla.

cch : Chinchilla

Possible Genotypes: cchcch, cchce

ce : Extreme Chinchilla

Possible Genotypes: cece

Chinchilla and extreme chinchilla cause dilution of the red pigment in a dog’s coat. Chinchilla in a red dog will dilute any rich red pigment to a lighter tan; extreme chinchilla will lighten it further to a shade of cream. Neither chinchilla allele affects black pigment, so any black or blue on the dog will be at its normal intensity. Dogs with the chinchilla allele also have fully pigmented eyes and nose. There has not been much research done on this locus – it’s possible that chinchilla has incomplete dominance (meaning that a cchce dog would be lighter than a cchce dog). Chinchilla can affect any color with phaeomelanin - sable, brindle, saddle, tan points.

These two dogs are very pale and probably have at least one extreme chinchilla allele. For comparison the clear sable dog at the top of the page has normal pigment.

Urajiro or Deer Fawn

There is another form of phaeolmelanin dilution that less is known, but it is thought to an allele of the C locus. This pattern is called urajiro in Akitas and Shiba Inus, where it is best known, and deer fawn in whippets. This distinctive pattern only lightens red pigment, like chinchilla, but instead of being across the whole body it only dilutes certain areas - usually the lower legs, insides of the legs, tail feathering, thighs, underside, chest, muzzle, and above the eyes. It can be distinguished from normal white markings (on the S locus) because it:

                     -Only affects red pigment

                     -Is often cream/off-white instead of bright white

                     -The line between white and color is “blurred”, not crisp like in white markings.

It is unknown how this marking is inherited.

These two dogs both show deer fawn. Note that on the brindle dog, only the red pigment stripes are affected, not the black stripes.

D-Locus (“Dilution Series”)

D  d

D: Normal Pigment

Possible Genotypes: DD, Dd

As with chinchilla, normal pigment is dominant to dilute, so a dog with one or two copies of the dominant D allele will have normal black pigment.

d: Dilute

Possible Genotypes: dd

A dog with two copies of the recessive d allele will be dilute. This gene mostly affects eumelanin (black pigment) but can affect phaeomelanin as well – if there is any red on a blue dilute dog it will sometimes be a paler tan or cream. Any coat pattern can be diluted. The d allele limits the ability of cells to produce full pigment, so any black hairs in the coat are changed to blue. Blue can range from a pale silver to a very dark gray; you can usually tell the difference between a black dog and a dark blue dog by looking at the nose, which will always be blue or slate gray in a blue dog. Blue dilutes also often have lighter eyes (though they should not have blue eyes).

(photo missing)

E-Locus (“Mask Series”)

Em E

This locus determines if a dog has a eumelanin mask covering the face, and sometimes extending to the ears or tailtip. Some masked dogs also have pips above the eyes. Any color can be masked, though you won’t be able to see it on a self dog.

Em : Masked

Possible Genotypes: EmEm, EmE

This allele is dominant to normal extension (E) so a dog only needs one copy for it to be expressed. Depending on the dog’s pigment, it can be black or blue.

A masked fawn.                                                                          This tanpoint is masked, too - notice how the tan does not

                                                                                                    extend all the way down the muzzle. In some cases, the

                                                                                                    mask will cover up all tan on the face.

Watermarking

Masked dogs can sometimes have “watermarking” or “etching”, which is a thin line of darker color where color touches white. It is unknown how this marking is inherited.

(photo missing)

E: Normal Extension

Possible Genotypes: EE

Normal extension (unmasked) is recessive to masked.

K-Locus (“Brindle Series”)

K  kbr  k

K: Dominant Black

Possible Genotypes: KK, Kkbr, Kk

This gene determines whether the dog is solid black (or blue) or whether A-Locus alleles are allowed to be expressed. This means that while a dog can be genetically sable, saddle, or tan pointed but if it has one or more copies of the “K” allele the dog will have solid eumelanin pigment (with or without white markings). It “covers up” any of these patterns. It is also the top dominant allele in this series.

These two dogs - a black self and a blue self - have one or more “K” alleles. There is no phaeomelanin pigment anywhere on either dog.

There is also a gene for recessive black found in some breeds that is found at the bottom of the A-Locus. However it is not thought to exist in Longhaired Whippets.

kbr: Brindle

Possible Genotypes: kbrkbr, kbrk

This allele is recessive to K (dominant black) but dominant to k (non-solid black). When a dog has one of the above genotypes, all red pigment in the coat is brindled, or striped with eumelanin. All dogs besides dominant blacks can be brindled. A dog that is both sable and brindle will be a solid brindle (with or without white). Saddles and tanpoints will keep their eumelanin blankets but all tan in the coat will be brindle.

As you can see, there is a large amount of variation in the appearance of brindle striping. Some brindles only have a few stripes throughout the coat while others are so heavily striped they appear almost black. Stripes also vary in width.

This puppy is a masked blue brindle - the brindle stripes are dilute blue instead of black.

k: Normal Expression

Possible Genotypes: kk

This allele of the K-locus allows the A-locus allele to be expressed normally (not solid black or brindle). It is at the bottom of the K-locus.

S-Locus (“White Series”)

S  st si  sP sw

This gene controls how much pigment will be present on a dog. White can be present on any color or pattern and in this breed can be in any amount. Mutant forms of this gene impair the ability of the skin cells to produce either type of pigment. It is believed these alleles function with incomplete dominance. This means that a “dominant” allele is not completely dominant so the recessive allele is allowed to be partially expressed. For example:

A dog with the sisi genotype will have traditional Irish spotting.

A dog with the sisw genotype will likely have “flashy” Irish spotting.

The five alleles listed above are the ones that are documented in the literature, as well as one I believe has to exist – there are probably more to explain the great variety of white patterns. Because of the gray areas I won’t list possible genotypes because we aren’t sure of them.

S: Self

A solid, or self, dog will have no white at all.

st: Trim

A dog with trim will have white on the extremities – tail tip, chest, toes, and sometimes on the face.

There is most likely another allele for trim – it’s possible to get a dog with trim with one copy of the self allele and one copy of the Irish spotting allele. But since there are breeds that only have white trim and never Irish spotting, white trim probably is associated with another allele which hasn’t been discovered. If it exists it probably lies between the solid and Iirish spotting allele on the locus.

(photo missing)

si: Irish Spotting

This is the pattern commonly associated with collies (but is found in many breeds). Dogs with Irish spotting usually have white lower legs, chest, underside, throat, tail tip, face and will sometimes have a white collar encircling the neck.

sP: Particolor

A particolor (often called “parti” for short) or piebald dog has large patches of color across the head and body, and sometimes on the legs.

sw : Extreme Particolor

Extreme parti dogs are similar to particolors but they have more white – color is usually restricted to the head, base of tail, and sometimes a few small body patches.

Because there is a lot of variation in this marking – a dog can have body patches, have color just on the ears, or even be solid white – there may be more than one gene that affects it.

T-Locus (“Ticking Series”)

T  t

Small spots of color throughout a white coat is referred to as ticking. This is a different pattern than particolor, which causes large patches of color. The easiest way to understand ticking is to think in terms of layers. The base layer is the basic color of the dog - black, blue, sable, saddle, etc. The second layer is white, which “covers up” the base color. We can think of ticking as little holes in the white layer, allowing the base color to show through. So, any ticking on the dog takes the color that would be there if there was no white.

T: Ticking

Possible Genotypes: TT, Tt

A dog with one or more copies of the dominant “T” allele will have ticking. This can vary from dog to dog - some have just a few spots on the muzzle or paws, while others have almost Dalmatian-like spots across the whole body. The modifiers that cause this variety have not been discovered yet.

t: No Ticking

Possible Genotypes: tt

A dog with two copies of the recessive “t” allele will have clear white with no ticking.