There is a wide variety of colours which the whippet can come in. This also includes the many different shades and colour intensities, markings, patches, and colour mixtures, and combinations.
What are the different types of whippet colours available?
The base colours of a whippet can come in cream, black, grey, silver, fawn, tan, orange, blue, and sometimes even white or dun. While some whippets may be one solid colour, a lot of them may possess a combination of colours, or a few white markings.
They could have darker or lighter brindle stripes on their body, or they could have a black mask. They are often seen with a white patchy colour or white splotches or streaks as markings.
Sometimes, they can have a mixture of all these different markings and patterns together.
Some breeds of dogs only come in a few basic or typically occurring coat colours.
On the other hand, others dogs come in a wide variety of different colours, markings, and patterns. Also, in some breeds, almost every colour combination is a valid and recognised one.
What about the Whippet? Whippets are indeed seen in an array and assortment of colours, ranging from lighter shades to darker, with colour combinations and without them. Some are common, whilst others are simply not so popular and widespread.
So what exactly are the different available colours in which you can get your Whippet?
What sort of Whippet colours are rare, and which ones are common? And as an important question, does it matter what colour of Whippet do I get? Will it affect the way my Whippet may act?
Follow along to find out.
The Different Whippet Colours Available
These are all of the known colours and colour combinations a Whippet can come in:
Cream Colour Combinations
- Cream
- Cream and white
White Colour Combinations
- White
- White and blue brindle
- White and fawn
Brindle Colour Combinations
- Brindle
- Brindle and white
Black Colour Combinations
- Black
- Black and white
- Black brindle
- Black brindle and white
Tan Colour Combinations
- Tan
- Tan and white
- Tan with black mask
- Tan and white with black mask
- Tan brindle and white
Orange Colour Combinations
- Orange
- Orange and white
- Orange with black mask
- Orange and white with black mask
- Orange brindle and white
Silver Colour Combinations
- Silver
- Silver and white
- Silver brindle
- Silver brindle and white
Blue Colour Combinations
- Blue
- Blue fawn
- Blue brindle
- Blue brindle and white
- Blue and white
Fawn Colour Combinations
- Fawn
- Fawn and white
- Fawn brindle
- Fawn with black or blue mask
- Fawn and white with black and blue mask
Grey Colour Combinations
- Grey
- Grey and white
- Grey brindle
- Grey with black mask
- Grey and white with black mask
Brown Colour Combinations
- Brown
- Brown and white
- Brown brindle
- Brown with black mask
- Brown and white with black mask
Dun Colour Combinations
- Dun
- Dun and white
Does The Colour Of My Whippet Matter?
The colour of your Whippet does not matter when it comes down to their temperament or behavioural traits. This is because temperament is often determined by the dog’s genetic makeup, individual personality, and the breeding line, not on colours.
Some Whippet breeders strive to breed only the dogs they have with the best temperament, to improve it generation by generation.
However, they do not usually take the colour of their Whippets into account, as it does not affect the disposition of the dog.
It is rare for Whippets to be bred for a certain personality characteristic or trait depending on their colour, unless it occurred that two Whippets of the same colour happened to have a desirable temperament or good attributes worthy of reproducing.
What about any health factors related to the coat colour of a Whippet?
The colour of a Whippet may indeed matter when it comes down to choosing what colour it is best to get.
These are some of the health conditions that are sometimes associated with owning a Whippet of these particular colours:
Blue And Fawn Whippets
Blue or fawn Whippets – including all the combinations of these particular colours – are more prone to an incurable disease called colour dilution alopecia.
This disease will usually result in the thinning and drying out of the hair, and gradual patchy or complete hair loss.
White Whippets
Whippets that are fully white, or the majority of their body is of a white colour, even if it is mixed in with another colour combination, tend to be born completely deaf, or begin to lose their hearing bit by bit later on in life.
This is especially true of white Whippets which have either both white ears, or a large amount of the white colour on their head.
Are Some Colours Rarer Than Others?
The most common base colours of a Whippet include cream, tan, fawn, gray, and black, often accompanied by white markings and sometimes a black mask. Brindle Whippets are less common, and so are Whippets with a silver, orange, or white coat.
The rarest colours to occur in a Whippet include white, blue, and dun. Fully white is rarely seen, and a lot of the time it will be white with patches and markings of another colour on his body, such as cream.
Blue, which is another very rare colour, is caused by receiving two copies of the dilute gene, and it is a difficult colour to achieve, especially the uncommon blue brindle variety.
However, the rarest colour to be seen so far on a Whippet is the dun colour. In fact, this colour is so rare, that there is a chance of only 1 in every 1500 to 2000 Whippets being born of the dun colour.
This special colour is a chocolate brown or liver red hue, and it can range from a softer, lighter colour to a very deep, rich colour. Every dun-coloured Whippet will always have a pink, liver red, or brown nose, never a dark or black one.
More About Whippet Colours
The Whippet can come in a whole range of different colours, colour combinations, and an arrangement of various markings. Nonetheless, there are few colours that are not recognised by the American Kennel Club (AKC).
One of these colours is, for instance, the blue merle variety, which is not accepted as a standard Whippet colour.
If your Whippet has a coat that is a blue merle, this will therefore indicate that your Whippet possesses the genes of another breed that had this colour and he is not of a purebred line.
Other Considerations
In spite of a few colours of Whippets being rarer than others in general, some colours of Whippets are more readily available in either the US or the UK all the while considered rare in the other.
For instance, brindle Whippets may be seen on a larger scale in the US than the UK, whereas blue colours and their combinations are more often encountered in the UK and very rare in the US.
The reason behind this is unknown, and blue coloured Whippets in the US are more commonly bred to be used for racing than for showing.
Therefore this colour, as well as the dun colour variety, will be spotted very infrequently in the show ring and will be a rare sighting.
Additionally, brindle Whippets bred for show will often have patches, blotches, or white trimming. Racing lines and regular brindle Whippets are not seen to possess any of these white markings as much.
Final Thoughts
Does the coat colour or the markings of my Whippet matter in any way?
When it comes down to the temperament and behavioural traits or attributes of your dog, colours do not matter at all, unless a breeder uses a certain colour to produce offspring with a better temperament.
However, blue or fawn Whippets (especially blue ones which possess two copies of the dilute gene) and white Whippets will be more prone than others to get certain diseases or conditions.
While Whippets are considered to be a healthy breed of dog in the majority, blue and fawn Whippets may have a bigger chance of developing colour dilution alopecia.
White Whippets, on the other hand, are at a higher risk of being born deaf or suffering from hearing loss.
What are the most commonly seen and occurring colours in Whippets? Usually, you can get this breed in a variety of different colours, but most often your Whippet will be tan, grey, black, brown, or cream.
A lot of the time, he may also possess white markings on their body as well, such as patches and white trim, or a black mask on their face.
Less frequently occurring Whippet colours would include silver, blue, orange, and white
especially when the dog is fully white. Brindle Whippets and all their various varieties are also not as common or widespread.
Blue brindle and dun Whippets are extremely rare, and thus it is quite hard to achieve an abundance of puppies that come in these special colours.
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Hello. I’m Luke- the founder of WhippetCentral. I’m somewhat of a whippet nut and have been for most of my life. In that time, I’ve owned and raised numerous whippets. Bonnie is my latest girl; she is currently eight years old and keeps me very busy! Understanding the need for whippet-specific content, I decided to create this blog to share what I have learned and to share my expertise regarding owning and raising whippets – the right way!