Dalmatian Colors

Of course anyone who thinks of a Dalmatian instantly thinks of the black and white loving pups from 101 dalmatians. Black is the dominant color for the breed, they are gorgeous and jaw dropping! 

Fun Fact: any other color but black is recessive, meaning both parents HAVE to carry the genetic marker for other colors in order to produce pups with other colors. If the parents don’t have any “common” colors then the puppies will all be black. 

Liver is the second most common color. Liver is a recessive gene and is also Akc show accepted. Black and liver are currently the only colors allowed in Akc confirmation events.

Lemon is yellow spotting and can range in shades. Lemons have black noses while “orange” have liver noses. 

Lemon dalmatians are NOT dilute, they are e/e which is the same genotype that yellow labradors are. 

They are NOT allowed to be shown in conformation currently but they can have fun in agility. They are recognized by the Akc and can be registered as lemon/orange. In order to produce lemon both parents must at least carry the little e genotype at the e locus.  

There is NO known increase in heath issues with lemon Dals as compared to black or liver. However you absolutely do want to make sure you purchase from a responsible breeder, and not a byb breeding for profit. 

Tri color dalmatians are recognized by the Akc, however can not be shown in conformation at this time. 

They are Black or liver based, and have “tan points” on their legs, chest, neck and face. Tri color is a two part gene, meaning the parents have to carry it at the a locus (at is tan point) and at the k locus (ky allows agouti expression). a tri color is genetically atat or ata as at is dominant over a, and kyky. a trindle is ata or atat and kbky (the kb in this instance stands for kbr the brindle genotype but there is not many companies who test for kbr so many report as kb) 

Trindle Dals are black or liver based and their “tan point” spotting is actually brindle and not just tan spots. 

It is VERY important that if your looking for one, you get one from a responsible breeder who does genetic health testing, and BAER testing. Who knows the pedigrees and lineage, sadly it is not uncommon to see tri colors coming from puppy mills or bad breeders. So please be careful 

The earliest photo found of a tri color Dalmatian is of a dog named Captain, from Cassell’s illustrated book of the dog by Vero Shaw in 1881 (see photo gallery) 

Sable dalmatians are extremely uncommon. So far we only know of one sable Dalmatian who was dna tested and is purebred. 

I believe there are a lot more sable Dals out there, however they are just very slim to none. Sable is one of the most uncommon Dalmatian colors as of now.

Sable is a “two part” color, so a sable Dalmatian is sable at the A locus, and also has to be Kyky at the k locus 

Brindle dalmatians are just as uncommon as sable. So far I have only been able to find one, although I do believe to Have found another, I am just working on confirming her as purebred prior to posting her here. Brindle dalmatians are one of the most uncommon Dalmatian colors. there is also “trindle” dalmatians which are tri color dalmatians but they have brindle to their tri color spots.

Brindle is absolutely stunning!

in order for a dog to show as brindle, they must have a sable or dawn base. Dogs who dont but carry brindle, May show some signs of brindle on their legs face or chest, these are so faint you can barely see it unless in the perfect lighting.