Unusual Ridgeback Colors

The Ridgeback standard calls for the color “Wheaten”, but what color is that?

Wheaten is an old term, commonly used by terrier people and others to denote reddish, banded hair
where the root is lighter and the tip is darker. Genetically, this banded hair is called “agouti” and is
considered the “wild type”. Coyotes, wolves, foxes and raccoons are just a few animals that have
“agouti” coloring.   Agouti is the gene that makes a fox have reddish hair with black tips and a coyote
to have yellowish hair with black tips.

Technically, studies show that the agouti protein competes to bind on the melanocortin receptor and
must sometimes win. The competition is going on as the hair is growing and which results in a hair
that changes color along its length.  Little (1957) suggested that agouti is the gene that causes paler
colors on the underside and dark on the back – also a Ridgeback color trait

Occasionally, a Ridgeback is born with a coloration that we wouldn’t normally call “agouti” or
wheaten. This can be quite a curiosity and alarming for breeders – they assume the dogs aren’t
purebred.  
Unusual Ridgeback Colors
Brindle is a pattern of stripes, which can be red and black, fawn and black,
isabella and gray.
It occurs in Great Danes, Greyhounds, Boxers, et al and sometimes Ridgebacks.  
The cause of this pattern is not yet understood at the DNA level.
Little attributed this pattern to the E locus also, although thus far there is no
molecular data to support that theory.  
He suggested that brindle is a recessive pattern to solid colored based on his
breeding experiments.
Thanks to  Jabulani RRs for this photo.
Black & Tan (solid black coat with tan points) is actually carried on the “agouti”
allele and is a recessive coloration, that is, both parents must carry the
recessive in order for it to show up in pups. Pictured is Shona, a purebred RR.
Look how her ridge appears to be outlined! Very lovely
Just as there are Black and  Tans, the recessive of agouti,
there is also a “recessive” of it,
resulting in the Rust body color with Tan points.
Silver or gray is actually just a dilution gene acting on the body color. Puppies are
born very silver ( easily recognized in these newborns) or grayish and have blue eyes.
As they mature, the body color becomes less gray and more the color of a paper bag.
The eyes may stay blue or become amber in color.
Thanks to Kalmara RRs for the photo.
Just as there are variations in the coat colors of “normal” RRs,
 there are also variations in the “dilutes”.
This shows one example of a dilute and normal colored RR.
Black wheaten is the rarest of these colors, however were it not for an owner’s
love, black wheaten RRs might have become more common in the US. Back in
the 50’s, the owners of a large kennel  in CA went to Africa to purchase RR
stock. While attending a party one night, they saw a gorgeous black wheaten
dog and tried to purchase it, but the owner wouldn’t part with it.
The body appears black, but on closer inspection the lighter roots show
through in all the usual places – behind the shoulders, on the side of the neck
and in the britches. Also it peeks through on the undersides of the dog and
remains dark on top. I hope you can see it in this photo of a very rare dog – a
black wheaten Ridgeback.
The collie was in the mixture that made up
the Rhodesian Ridgeback during Von
Rooyen's era. This breed probably gave the
RR it's superior lion hunting abilities as
holding a lion "at bay" is a herding behavior.
According to some histories, Von Rooyen said
the best dog he ever bred was a Collie -RR
mix, because not only would it hunt, it would
go out and herd the livestock as well.
This dog shows it's collie heritage in the
body color.: Note how both this dog and the
Collie have  a "widow's peak between the
eyes, the darker ears and the black "ruff" or
ring under the neck, also the lighter lower
legs and the darker hairs on the tail. Early
RRs often had white ruffs just like the
Collies, but this was discouraged by
minimizing the white in our
standard.BTW, this is an agouti pattern, or
wheaten, as the base of the hair is light and
the tip darker - just darker in some areas.
Shona is a pure-bred, black and tan Rhodesian Ridgeback.  She is from
championship stock.  She was one of two black and tan pups in a litter of  eight.
The black and tan color is a double recessive and it occurs relatively
infrequently.  Although the color is not, in itself, disqualifying, it is not the
standard. Consequently, black and tans should not be bred. Aside from her
color, Shona is in every other respect a typical Rhodesian Ridgeback, as the
pictures below show. Occasionally somebody asks Shona if she is a Doberman.
She usually politely declines the compliment. There is a nice comparison of
Shona and a Doberman friend on the next page, along with pictures of Shona's
favorite vacation spots.
The blue gene is not a medical condition, merely a non-standard color.
"Blue" Ridgebacks are not truly blue like Blue Great Danes &
Dobermanns, they are more like the blue fawns that occur in
Greyhounds & Whippets.
Blue Ridgebacks have a silvery cast when they are born, because the
hairs that would normally be black are affected by the blue gene
which dilutes black pigment to gray. As adults "blue" Ridgebacks will
have a light eye (amber to yellow) and slate or dark slate colored nose.
Any masking (or black in the coat) will also be gray to dark gray. A
dark red wheaten "blue" can be quite striking (although incorrect).

There is an alopecia that is specifically connected to dilute color
(dilute of black is blue). Blue Weimaraners and blue Dobermans can
have this alopecia.
A special thanks to Sanddra Fikes for putting together and sharing the above information

Sandra Fikes
Kalahari RRs:   http://www.kalaharirr.com