Cairn Colors

[bradl]

Wheezie23's comment in another thread rang a bell. Got a light dog and have a hankering for a dark one? Hold on to your hat, you may get your wish. Some brindles turn very dark as they get older. See this progression from red (2 yrs) to gray (5 yrs) to black/silver (9yrs):

Edit: split this topic off from original thread where it was off-topic

[bradl]

Oh, this is for hallswel who asked me about some of the names of Cairn colors. I'm not old enough (*cough*) or experienced enough to be knowledgable, but Berit has this great page with samples showing quite a few colors with fairly typical names. People will also make up descriptive names too. We gave up and just register all ours as 'brindle' if they show any brindling at all. Red, cream, gray, whatever. We have a friend who says all brindle cairns should be registered as 'pre-black.'

Cairn Colors

[Guest posting as: Milopup]

My pup's colors went in reverse to the pics shown. He was a darker grey/brown at 9 weeks, and is now a light silvery blonde at 1 year old. Funny thing is, he is getting a darker blonde patch along his spine (like how some westies have), so who knows what color he will be in 6 months?

[CathyAnn]

I can certainly identify with this thread!

Our oldest Cairn, Toto, now 12 years, changed colors numerous times.

My Mom, who didn't see her but a few times a year, used to ask if I had gotten a 'new/different' dog everytime she saw her!!

Cathy

[hallswel]

Thanks Brad the information is very helpful. Color is such a strange thing with Cairns because there are so many different ones.

[MikeC]

Like Milopup, Duffy is getting lighter as he gets older too. When he came to live with us he was mostly black with a little red (the breeder called it Red Brindle). As he has gotten older, the black is lightening and the red is turning almost an ash blond shade. Actually it is very pretty!

MikeC

[bradl]

Our little Stella is going through that darker-to-lighter curve right now too. We do expect her to end up darker when all is said and done but I love the red brindle so will not be disappointed if she circles back to her starting color.

[toomanypaws]

My 3 1/2 yr old was a dark red brindle, mostly black as a pup. She then got lighter for a while and now she is darker again. I love looking at her coat in the sunlight and all the color she has. My dh likes that she's getting darker while I hope more red comes in. My wheaten will be 1 yrs old next week . I've noticed her getting more red in her coat and some black around her mask. The baby is only 6 mths. I thought she was a black brindle when she was born being she was almost all black but the breeder called her a cream brindle and said she would lighten up but would keep the black muzzle. By 4 wks the breeder said he was wrong, she was staying dark. She's still dark w/ some cream on her sides and her black muzzle has a tint of auburn in it when she's in the sunlight.

Now I know why breeders say there's no guarantee on color.

[GIDGETSMOM]

I am a new member and very excited to get in on some of these great conversations! I have done quite a bit of studying these little bundles of terrier before deciding to get one, but don't remember reading anywhere the color changes! I am so excited to see what my little girl does. She is the only girl in her litter of 6! Her mother is wheaten and the father is red....I know that the colors they are at 6 days old are definately going to change, but all of her brothers are red. Some have a black stripe down the back. My little Gidget is almost black, with just a touch of red.

At what age will she show her main color? The breeder seems to think she'll keep a lot of the black in her color.

Any help from the Cairn experts here would be much appreciated