Casa Hidalgo

Coat Color

This article by courtesy of Mr. Sebastian Alonzo                                                   

Coat color in the Spanish water dog

The standard for the Spanish Water Dog allows all solid colors and bicolors as long as one of the colors is white. Colors not allowed are spotted coats such as found in the Dalmatians and the bicolor (black and brown) a variety found in Dobermans and Rotweilers, a color known in Spain as "ORITO". among the solid colors the dominant is brown, black, beige, and white, allowing all shades of all the different colors, such as blond, gold, ivory, cinnamon and such.

Genetically it is difficult to guess the colors of your future litters, particularly when the breeding is an "outcross". because the genetic pool embraces a wide variety of colors. In order to predetermine coat color we have to resort to inbreeding and close line breeding, and even still there is no total certainty that this can be achieved. And we have to be careful that we don't develop a genetic bank of non desirable genes and genetic defects.

As for coat colors, and within the solid colors. In blacks we can find different varieties, from the brilliant black satin, to blue blacks, grey blacks and  light grays. They can also change to grey depending on the amount of white hair interspersed in the coat. Another factor that appears frequently in blacks is oxidation "sun bleach" causing a reddish black look. As for the dogs that are born brown, the great majority are born a dark brown ( commonly known as chocolates ) they turn grayish brown when they are shorn several times. The new coat will grow a lighter color, there are puppies that are born brown but turn lighter with age, some turning golden brown and a variety of different shades, very few remain brown and fewer are free of white hair.

In regards to bicolors, we find that the combinations of coat colors are well defined, white with brown, white with black, white with beige, As for color patterns we find two frequent coat patterns, some are totally white with colored patches , usually on the ears and the root of the tail and sometimes on part of the ribs or both, or a mask on the head with white on the muzzle and a line running from the muzzle up the foreface and between the ears, these are popularly known as pintos or berrendos, another type consists of a dog of color with muzzle and neck white these are known as "acollardados" in the US known as Bostons.

within the coats that are not allowed we find tricolors, spotted coats, (ORITOS black and browns) with respect to the two first colors , they are infrequent, but the third there still exists a population that possesses  it and another that passes it on to it's progeny. Even though it appears in the standard as a severe fault. There is discussion among the fanciers as to whether to recognize it or not. These coats appear to be an enigma, particularly when there are no dogs with this color for generations.

Most common coats in the

Spanish Water Dog

Black coats

            Black coat                                                  Sun bleached black coat

Bicolors coats

        Acollardado ( Boston )                                       Pinto pattern

Brown coats

               Golden Brown                                        Chocolate Brown

Beige and white coats

                    Beige Coat                                           White Coat

Bicolor "Orito" and Spotted coats

     Bicolor Orito "Black & Tan"              Spotted Coat " Dalmation Pattern"