Black & Tan Variations

Open Face Black & Tans/Tri-colors

As adults, these dogs have a sable face with little to no black hairs on their face. There is usually a widow’s peak marked with black hairs at the top of their faces.

These pups are born with the classic black and tan face markings. Usually around four to five weeks in age the breeder will notice the hairs on the top of the head are showing sable roots. This is good indication that they will either end up as open faced or saddleback sables. Sometimes before the pups are eight weeks in age, the change is beginning to take place. Other puppies are older before they lose their face markings.

The Changing Markings of an Open Faced Tri-color

Saddleback Sables

As adults, the black hairs are confined to a “saddle” on the back of the dog.

These pups are born with the classic black and tan face markings. Usually around four to five weeks in age the breeder will notice the hairs on the top of the head are showing sable roots. This is good indication that they will either end up as open faced or saddleback sables. Sometimes before the pups are eight weeks in age, the change is beginning to take place. Other puppies are older before they lose their face markings. Eventually the black markings will recede and will only be found on the back of the dog.

The Changing Markings of Saddleback Sables

Red Tri-color/Red and Tan

These dogs not only have the tanpoint gene, but also inherit the recessive Brown gene (b) from both parents. The addition of the recessive brown changes what should have been black to a brown coloring instead. The tan on these dogs has a little different hue to it than the normal tan coloring. All areas of the dog that would have normally been black are brown, including foot pads, noses and eye rims. Puppies are born with this coloring.