Brindle Cairn Terrier Color

The brindle gene causes a striping pattern in the coat. Cairn Terriers are often mislabeled in color, because with a long coat it's difficult to tell if a dog is a wheaten with black hairs in their coat, or a light brindle. A light brindle has black striping that goes all the way through the undercoat and has a lot of light colored hair in their coat. A dark brindle has the same striping in the coat but may have much more dark than light. A true brindle can not lose the brindle gene, even though Cairns do change color over time and from season to season. You can have a very dark puppy that appears to be a brindle because of the dark color. But if it does not have the tiger striping, it is not a brindle. I only know about the brindle gene because I owned a horse with the brindle gene and was so intrigued. In horses, the brindle gene is so rare there are not enough brindle horses in existence to trace the genetic marker!!! Shai was quite a rare Quarter Horse!!!!! Attached is a photo of his left side, where the tiger striping is very obvious. This is how the striping appears in the Cairn Terrier at birth and as the coat grows longer, the striping looks more mixed throughout the coat and they can be from a dark color to a light color. Also attached is a photo of Hailie from the side, showing her striping of silver, wheaten, and streaks of red. The black goes all the way through the undercoat and she is genetically a brindle even though she is very light in total color.