SHIH TZU OF COLOUR

1
SHIH TZU OF COLOUR
The color on the face does not
matter when claiming coat color for reds, golds,
blacks, silvers and brindles see below for blues
and livers. The face comes in when determining
the presence of a mask or tips, only. So if your
dog is solid everywhere, but for streaks on the
face, of any other color, they are still solid,
but with a mask. The mask is what makes the Shih
Tzu a Shih Tzu, though the mask is not mandatory.
I also want to lay to rest a myth that "it is not
possible for two partis to produce solid colored
pups and two solids to produce parti pups". It is
possible I have had many solids in the past from
two parti parents. You may debate that all you
want, but there it is. Mother nature is not as
neat as all that and you may see some pretty
funny designs while you are at it.
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Solid Liver
Livers, like blues are determined
only by the pigment of their skin. A liver will
never have any black on it's body, as the darker
skin pigment makes the black impossible. They
will have brown eyes, skin, hair, nose, foot pads
and lips. Livers are less rare than blues, but
may still be hard to find. Unlike the blues,
their coats will look brown or red.
3
Solid Black
Pictures courtesy of Hermione Paddington
Karen Kenninger
Solid Blacks are very easy to
distinguish. They will only be black, but are
allowed only a tiny amount of white anywhere and
may have a white tummy. The black may change,
slightly, with age with a few dark highlights
presenting. If there is any more white on the
body, even if mostly black, it is a Black White
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Black White
Pictures courtesy of Rachel Conover, Kathy
Raymond Anne Loeffler
Black and Whites are also easy to
tell and they are the only coat color that will
always stay true without change with age. You may
have mostly White with only a small amount of
Black still Black and White. Blacks with only a
very tiny amount of White may be considered Solid
Black. If the amount of Black is absolutely tiny
the dog is a Solid Silver.
5
Solid Brindle
Picture courtesy of Becky Kidd Gloria Ramos

• Solid Brindles are the confusing and
  beautiful color. Brindles are a mix of Black,
  Liver, Silver and Gold. The mixture reminds me of
  Cookies and Cream Ice Cream with Caramel and the
  affect is lovely. These dogs seem to be harder to
  find lately since it has become practice to try
  to breed more of the rarer colors. What a shame.

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Brindle White
Pictures courtesy of Anne Loeffler, Gloria Ramos
Mickie
Again, there is the mix described
with the Solid Brindles, but with the patches of
White where ever they may be