Have you ever heard of a brindle Chihuahua?

If so, did you wonder what that was? A color? A new breed of Chihuahua? It’s neither of those things actually. It is a coat pattern. Not all breeds of dogs can have a brindle coat. A Chihuahua can have a brindle coat, however, they are not very common. See: What is the Rarest And Most Unique Chihuahua of Them All?

The brindle pattern occurs as a dark color on a lighter color in sort of a striped pattern. It’s also called “tiger-striped”.

Other animals also can be brindle. Horses, guinea pigs, and cattle can also have the brindle coat pattern.

Are They Accepted In The American Kennel Club?

Although most brindles are black on brown or brown on black, there are also black on white. According to the American Kennel Club breed standard for Chihuahuas, any color — solid, marked, or splashed — is acceptable and correct. A Brindle is a coat pattern where there are black or any other darker-colored streaks causing pronounced stripes on another color, and it is fairly rare in Chihuahuas.

How Do Chihuahuas Get The Brindle Coat Pattern?

Brindle coats are a less common color in Chihuahuas because it requires one or both parents to carry the recessive brindle gene. If one parent is solid colored and the other is brindle, chances are the pups will be mostly solid. A brindle dog mated to a sable dog could produce brindle puppies, and a brindle dog mated to a dark dog with tan points could produce black with brindle-pointed pups.

Our son has always had a Great Dane and most of them have been brindle. Although you may see less brindle Great Danes, they are not an uncommon coat pattern for a Great Dane.

Do you have a brindle Chihuahua? How many brindle Chihuahuas have you seen? Let us know in the comments below.