hair color

[daphnesdad]

Hi.....Just got a 9 week old cairn and she is tan with predominant black highlights. Her undercoat is tannish.

Just curious as to what color she is going to be when she matures. Any help? Does the puppy coloring have anything to do with the adult coloring?

Thanks,

Alan

[MikeC]

Hi Alan,

I know from my own experience that it is very hard to predict what color your pup is going to up as an adult. When Duffy, my 13 month old came to live with us (he was 10 weeks at the time), his coloring as specified by the breeder was red brindle (but he was mostly black). As time has gone on, his coloring has changed to what I can only describe as ash blonde with some red highlights, and what black is left has turned to more of a dark grey. Very exotic looking to say the least. I'm sure other members of this Forum would have the same things to say about coloring. Its really unpredictable. If you get a chance to post a pic of your girl I know that we would all love to see what she looks like now.

MikeC

[bubba]

Cooper also is a red brindle and was quite dark as a puppy. Then he turned to about the color of a fox. Now the black is coming back, his face is really getting dark, and there are a lot of black streaks thru the rest of his coat.

MikeC, have you noticed your cairn is looking awfully golden retreiverish?

pat....who will try to be better

[MikeC]

Hi Pat,

Duffy had an extreme pet makeover.......Retriever head, Cairn body. Quite a sight. Actually I don't think I have enough "hit" points to actually post his picture so I had to settle for what was available and being the dog person that I am, a retriever was better than the freebies that were shown. But I totally appreciate the humor and have actually been waiting for a member of the Forum family to point it out!

MikeC

[Carolinasmom]

I don't think you can tell. Carolina was dark as a puppy, then turned very, very light for a couple of years. Now she is back to being dark at almost 7 yo. She doesn't even look like the same dog! Her dad was dark and her mom was light.

You can see the diff. in her coat by checking out her website:

http://www.dogster.com/?84188

There is one of her laying on her back in her hammock and she is very light!

[Scully'sMom]

The two Cairns I've had pretty much have stayed with the same coloring. My first Cairn was brindle and she lightened up a bit but always had the really dark face. Scully seems to be the same wheaton color with some dark spots underneath her outer layer. Her mom and brothers were VERY dark and her dad was light. She was the only one that looked like her dad.

[kayharley]

I guess that's another wonderful trait of the Cairns......what will they look like in 1,2,3 or 4 years of age?

Elliotts mom was a very dark redish/black brindle and his father was a lighter somewhat silvery brindle. Right now, at almost 5 months, his face is light with dark points and his body seems to have a redish brindle look. Of course he still has the puppy fuzz that I'm slowly stripping away when he's not looking

[toomanypaws]

Right now it sounds like your pup is wheaten w/ blk markings but time will tell. From my little experience, I've noticed that wheatens seem to stay the same in color compared to brindles where you're never quite sure what to expect. I have 3 cairns, a red brindle, a wheaten, and a cream brindle. My oldest (red brindle) is 3 1/2 and I've seen her go from very dark w/ red highlights as a pup to light, back to dark again. My other two are still too young to predict their colors although my wheaten (1) has pretty much stayed the same in color and she was the color as a pup that you're describing about yours. I noticed her black mask fade and is now getting darker. My youngest (8 mths) started out jet blk and has quite a bit of cream highlights on her sides but kept her black mask.

Here's a link I found interesting when I was searching out colors:

cairncolors

[Milopup]

When we first brought our pup home, he was a dark grey/black little bundle, and we didn't believe it when we were told he would be a wheaten brindle color. Well he quickly lightened, first to light brown and silver, and now to a darker blonde brindle with dark points (ears, face, tail tip, paws).

[Eliz222]

Scout was solid black when she was 10 weeks old. She is now 2.5 years old and she is a grey brindle with some red highlights.

Finch is a red brindle and at 9 months old is still a beautiful red brindle! Her muzzle was black and is now mostly red. Finch's mom was dark black and her dad was a red brindle. Her breeder said she looks exactly like her dad! She was one of 3 females and both of her sisters were black.