Hey everyone! One quick question. So we have had Rory for a year now and I'm still a little confused on the color category she'd fall under. Any ideas? Thanks

Here's another photo of her from a front angle.

I would call her a dilute black. Don't know about anyone else.

Black/Wht.

Is there any way you can get a photo in better lighting? Could just be a grey/wht but its altered by the light.

Very pretty girl you have there. Her mask seems similar to my Kohdi.

I looked at the pics earlier and thought the same thing jmscott has asked you to do, pics with different lighting. In the first pic I see a grey and white, mostly because of a certain tone she has and what appears to be some Browns/tans...but in the second pic I see more a black and white. My Kohdi had this coloring earlier on and he is a grey and white but at a year old I believe he had his grey white coat, I think this coloring Aurora has was more like when he was 4 or 5 months old (somewhere in that range) but still, do you have pics taken in different lighting?

Black/white

Thanks for everyones input thus far! JIMMY: You are spot on about the browns and tans. They are very subtle, but they are there. That is what has thrown me off the most. I don't think she is strictly black and white ( she obviously could be) because the only place where she is fairly black (not jet black however) is her mask and the thin strip on her back. Thus at the moment I am leaning towards what Amy says, which is Dilute black. However, keep the comments coming, the more opinions the better!!

Per Jimmy and Scotts request (Here is another photo).

The strength or dilution of the color and the scrubbing (tan/brown under tones) do not change the color classification of the dog-

HUSKY MOM: Very interesting!! Thanks for the valuable information:)

I love when you post ,Huskymom! I always learn something when I looked at the pics, Aurora's headpiece definitely looks like a black and white, but starting from the back of her ears down into the rest of her body, I was reminded more of my Kohdi and Mishka, than say, Ashleigh's Mishka so I really was confused. If you look at my avatar you might see what I mean. I really thought Aurora could be a grey!

Not to hi jack the thread, but when the puppy is born, how do you differentiate between a grey and a black, husky mom? I've always been curious. I thought it was the tan/browns mixed in..til now, haha. Is there a tell tell something that just makes it obvious one is black?

The red/brown scrubbing merely means the dog is likely red factored...Black/Whites and Gray/Whites can both have scrubbing and many do, that does not impact the overall color of the dog. As far as young puppies, black/white puppies are usually darker than grays. Sometimes it can be hard to tell at hours/days old, it becomes more evident as they grow toward their end color. Generally the rule of thumb in puppies they end the color of the darkest stripe down their back-

For example, Kenna when she was born it was a coin toss if she'd go dark gray or black.


Within just a couple weeks we knew for sure


Vs our Denali babies from last year, these were obviously gray babies


A few weeks later


Vs a black white baby, these are a most recent litter out of North Wapiti


A few weeks later

Thank you Huskymom! Very interesting! I've noticed myself now matter how light the coat gets, the color on the forehead is more than likely what color they will be when they are older but I never knew about the striping on the back. All very good information, thank you so much for explaining it with the pics, it helps me a lot. Beautiful beautiful puppies too!!!