SNIP from the AKC Brittany Breed Standard Color:     Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification. END SNIP from Brittany Breed Standard END SNIP

Below I will be highlighting sections of the above snip from the AKC Brittany Breed Standard and showing photos of dogs who, IN MY OPINION, match a particular part of that snip.

	First I want to say, that color has no effect on how well a Brittany will hunt. Also a dog with "good" color and a dog without "good" color can be equally good pets. However; in the AKC conformation ring and in breeding Brittanys to meet the ideal standard, we need to understand the colors as they are written in the AKC standard.
This is Casey, she's holding: a Tri-colored roan girl: Rolling Terra's Princess Gigi and an orange roan girl: Sunnybank's Cherry Blossom		This is my son, David And our orange roan girl, Three B's Idida Rondy Moon, CGC "Ginny"

Let's first look at parti-color / piebald pattern:
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.

PARTI-COLOR OR PIEBALD PATTERNS

AKC defines Parti-color as:	Two or more definite, well-broken colors, one of which must be white.
PARTI-COLOR PATTERN CH Warbonnet's Wild Wild West "Jesse" Owned by: Warbonnet Brittanys Notice how this dog appears to be wearing a blanket of orange. In the parti-color pattern it is common to have white feet/legs, tail tip, collar, blaze and cheeks.
PARTI-COLOR PATTERN TEK-FNH Almond Extrordinaire "Whitney" (August 2, 1991-March 1, 2006) Owned by: Flyin' High Brittanys Notice how this dog appears to be wearing a blanket of liver. She also has white legs, collar, blaze and cheeks; however, any of the preceding could be liver instead of white and still be considered Parti-colored...as long as she does have SOME white. A dog that is nearly solid in color but has JUST white feet, or JUST a white blaze...is NOT a Parti-color. There should be a good amount of white.
AKC defines Piebald as:	Covered with patches of two colors, especially black and white.
PIEBALD PATTERN CH Three B's Oneida Sundset CGC "Oneida" Owned by: GO North Brittanys This shows both sides of Oneida. Notice how she has orange patches rather than one main large orange area.
PIEBALD PATTERN FC Choc Talk's Diamond "Diamond" Owned by: Bill & Kip Tate Notice, again how this dog has liver patches rather than a main area of liver.

Next, let's look at clear or roan pattern:
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.

CLEAR OR ROAN PATTERNS

CLEAR PATTERN CH Three B's Orion of Wind Mtn, JH "Orion" Owned by: Wind Mountain Kennels Orion's white is clear--there is no roaning.
CLEAR PATTERN Little Girl Dogg "Little Girl" Owned by Al Ashton; Reno, Nevada Little Girl's white is clear--there is no roaning; however, you will notice SOME ticking--which is desirable.
AKC defines Roan as:	Frequently a blue-gray or iron-gray, this color is the fine mixing of colored hairs with white hairs. For example, a blue roan is a coat comprised of black and white hairs. (Note: This is the same definition as the Belton color in English Setters.) Color definitions may vary by breed. Always check the breed standard for the definitive color description.
ROAN PATTERN Three B's Idida Rondy Moon "Ginny" Owned by: GO North Brittanys Ginny is Roan. Look at her face, see the way her nose has orange and white hairs that grow together--not in patches or dots. See the second picture of Ginny's back. See how she has the orange and white hairs speckled together there, too. Roan dogs also tend to have the heavily freckled legs.
ROAN PATTERN KB'S Shadow-Dancer "Dancer" Owned by: Herb Rea Dancer is a heavily-marked liver roan. Some roan dogs have MORE roaning than others. It's NOT the AMOUNT of roaning that makes them a roan...it's the fact that they have colored and white hairs growing together in the same area--not in patterns of patches or dots (as with ticking).

Sometimes a heavily ticked dog can be mistaken for a ROAN.

REMEMBER--It's NOT the amount of color in the white portion of the dog that makes it a ROAN--It's the way the white hairs and the colored hairs are in relation to one another. (the fine mixing of colored hairs with white hairs)

Below are examples of heavily ticked dogs that are NOT ROANS!

In the hundreds of photos of Brittanys I've studied, I've noticed that there seems to be two types of ticked dogs.
1. Dogs that have what I think of as sub-ticking--ticking that seems to be close to the skin--the dots almost show through the white part of the dog.
2. Dogs that have what I think of as super-ticking--thicking which is close to the outter hairs--the dots look like the rest of the colored part of the dog.

It's just a personal observation. It is of no concequence.

Check out the two examples below. I've included one of each.

HEAVILY TICKED DOGS     NOT ROANS

AKC defines Ticked as:	Small, isolated areas (smaller than spots) of black or colored hairs on a white background.
WHITE AND ORANGE TICKED Ch Fly'n-Hi's Movin' Violation "Tyler" (July 5, 1992-January 14, 2002) Owned by: Flyin' High Brittanys Tyler is White and Orange...NOT ROAN. This dog is heavily ticked, but look at his legs and face compared to the Roan examples above. Ginny's face (above) has orange and white hairs throughout her face, while Tyler's is all orange on the side and all white on the top. Ginny's legs are much more heavily ticked than Tyler's. It is also my understanding that heavily ticked dogs develop more ticks (dots) as they mature.
LIVER AND WHITE TICKED "Misty" Photo from: American Brittany Rescue Look at the ticking on Misty and compare it to the Roans above. She doesn't have the amount of ticking on the legs and her face isn't marked with the liver/white speckled hairs like the roans above.

Next, let's look at Tri-colors:
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.

TRI-COLORS     ALLOWED BUT NOT PREFERRED

The Brittany standard defines exactly which areas of a Tri-colored dog are allowed to be orange.	A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange.
TRI COLOR Kiana's Tri-Rific Moment Owned by Terri Bray This dog has classic Tri-colored markings on her face.
TRI COLOR "Big Al" Photo from: American Brittany Rescue Big Al has the classic Tri-colored markings on his face.
TRI COLOR "Andy" Photo from: American Brittany Rescue Look closely at Andy's legs. Can you see the that ticking on the lower part of his legs is orange? This is a correct marking for a Tri-colored Brittany. (However, Andy looks like a black/orange/white tri--which would make him a French Brittany or a cross--FOR THE SAKE OF THE EXAMPLE, LET'S PRETEND HE'S A LIVER/ORANGE/WHITE TRI.)
The Brittany standard defines exactly which areas of a Tri-colored dog are allowed to be orange.	A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized.
Mismarked TRI COLOR This dog doesn't have classic tri-color markings. Many call this a mis-marked tri-color. Others call it a three colored Brittany. AKC only has a place to register the dog as a Liver/Orange/White dog.
Mismarked TRI COLOR Sunnybank's Penelope "Penny" Born: 1979 Owned by: Sunnybank Kennels Bred by: Martha Close This dog doesn't have classic tri-color markings either.

Next, let's look at washed out colors:
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.

WASHED OUT COLORS

Washed out ORANGE AND WHITE "Rose" Photo from: National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network (NBRAN) This photo makes Rose looked washed out. Other photos of her didn't look as washed out, and keep in mind that she is a "senior" dog...at 9 years old, but I wanted to show a photo of a washed out looking Brittany. See how light her color is compared to the the NICE Orange and White colors above? Washed out colors are not desirable.

Washed out LIVER ROAN "Mitch" Photo from: American Brittany Rescue Look how light Mitch's liver color is...this is not desirable.

Lastly, let's look at disqualification colors:
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable. Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.

DISQUALIFICATION

BLACK is a disqualificaiton "Uttal" Owned by: Goldie Coats Uttal is a French Brittany -- where BLACK is allowed. If shown in the AKC ring, Uttal would be disqualified.
BLACK NOSE is a disqualification "Catja vom Junkenhof of Tressalier" Owned by: G Bagshaw Catja is an (Epagneul Breton--a French Brittany) where having a black nose is allowed. This dog would be disqualified in the AKC show ring.

OK, now that we've gone through the AKC Brittany Standard (for colors). Let's look at HOW to register your Brittany with AKC--regarding color.

The first thing you will notice is that the AKC Brittany Standard says a dog should be orange and white or liver and white but when you are looking at the AKC registration slip, there are many more color choices to mark:

Colors
Description	Type	Code
Liver & White	S	125
Liver Roan	S	126
Liver White & Orange	S	222
Orange & White	S	134
Orange Roan	S	136
White & Liver	S	212
White & Orange	S	213
Black & White	A	019
Black White & Orange	A	314
Blue Roan	A	053
White Black & Orange	A	315
Markings
Description	Type	Code
Roan	A	036
Spotted	A	021
Ticked	A	013

WOW, that's way more choices than I've explained above...and there's no mention of parti-colored or piebald. There isn't even a Tri-colored. What is AKC thinking???? How do you know what color to mark down for your Brittany???

First notice there are two TYPES of colors listed.
S which is Standard and A which is Alternate.

French Brittanys can be registered with AKC; therefore, there are (Alternate) choices for the dogs with black coloration. A Blue Roan is a dog that is basically a Black Roan, but it's called Blue Roan, because the roaning gives these dogs a bluish look.

If you have a ROAN...is it a Liver Roan or an Orange Roan? That's easy. Mark either:
Liver Roan     Code 126 or Orange Roan     Code 136

The main question is what is the difference between White & Orange and Orange & White and then, of course, White & Liver and Liver & White.

If the dog is also heavily ticked, in addition to marking if it's white & orange or orange & white (or liver & white or white & liver), you will also mark (under markings):
Ticked     Code 013

Under markings, there is also a choice for spotted...I do NOT know if I've ever seen a spotted Brittany. This would be different from the piebald pattern which is patches--NOT SPOTS. And spots are larger than ticks, so it wouldn't be a ticked dog, either. ***If you have seen or have pictures of a SPOTTED Brittany, please email me!

So let's go back and look at the difference between White & Orange and Orange & White and then, of course, White & Liver and Liver & White.

The only difference is...the amount of the dog that is colored vs the amount of white (don't count ticking). Is the dog mostly white?? Is it mostly colored?? Is it more white on one side and more colored on the other?? How do you know?? Also, I don't count the legs of the dog when looking at the amount of color vs white. Most Brittanys have white legs anyway. Just look at the dog's body. What stands out?? COLOR or WHITE??

First of all...RELAX...if it makes you feel any better, all in all, it doesn't matter what is on the dog's registration papers as far as White & Color or Color & White goes.

However, it's important to register Roans and Tri-colors correctly. Why?? Well for one thing, a Roan can only be produced if at least ONE parent is Roan. What if you breed a Roan that wasn't registered correctly as a Roan; how does it look to have roan puppies from, what looks like on paper, is a non-roan breeding?? We as breeders, should also understand which dogs produce Tri-colored pups when bred together...for this reason, it's important to have them registered correctly.

I'm not going to go into detail of the genetics of which colors bred together produce which colors...when ticking is or is not produced. There are many good color genetics links on the web. One specificly to (French) Brittanys (with all possible colors accounted for) is:

So let's go back and look at the difference between White & Orange and Orange & White and then, of course, White & Liver and Liver & White.

ORANGE AND WHITE and LIVER AND WHITE

ORANGE AND WHITE BISS CH. Gourley's One Hot Ticket, JH "Rio" Owned by: Gourley's Brittanys Easy to see the amount of orange is greater than the amount of white.
LIVER AND WHITE CH Rainbow's Maroon Belle JH "Mia" Owned by: Rainbow Bridge Brittanys This dog is mostly liver.

WHITE AND ORANGE and WHITE AND LIVER

WHITE AND ORANGE CH Over Under Nevenes Showtime JH "Jazz" Owned by: Eileen & Carlos Gust & Lexis Lawhorne Jazz has more white than orange.
WHITE AND LIVER FNH Uptown Extrordinaire JH "Jenni" Owned by: Anna Zadrazil Bred by: Flyin' High Brittanys Notice how much of this dog is white.

Well, that's about it. I hope you've enjoyed my Colors Page. If you have questions or comments I'd love to hear them! Just email me at: elainebartlett@yahoo.com