Variations in colour of NI General Chat

I don't think they are aiming for one colour over another it just depends on what the breeder like the look of . . . I think its the same as Sibes or Mals with a range of colours still falling under the BS with no one being favoured more then the rest . . .

For me Ela and Torin are the same type of colouring with him just being a bit darker (like one of Ela's brothers). I don't think they are that different TBH.

She's a lot redder though not that its a bad thing at all mind x

Jem & Raz i do see your point & i hope you can see mine when i say - Yes many husky's are different colours but you know they are all Husky's.
Some NI lately look very husky (the black & white's) Some look very GSD (the saddle backs)
I would have thought the NIS would be leaning toward a certain look by this point so that the public would recognize them & say (there's an NI) Do you see what i mean?

I did read what you wrote..but you seem to make a think out of the fact they all had masks..which made it sound like they were all supposed to have masks..The question wasn't what you prefer though..it was asking what the NI is aiming for?

I disagree with breeding from patchy and odd coloured dogs too..but thats because its against the breed standard..and whats the point in breeding if its not for standard?

Have you seen pics of Cruiser??

he was black and white when he was born..then went cream when he was around 4/5 months..and now.... look on the gallery page on my website..

But type is about more then just colour, you get black and white huskies and you get soild colours ect ect. Same with GSD's some have large saddles some small some are black all over others are white.

Here is an example:




The key IMO is the way the colours blend, if the change is gradual then its ok if is a very sharpe contrast then it goes against the BS and is not desirable (sp?)

Sorry Raz i think you missed my point, if you see a husky, no matter what colour it is you know its a husky, same with GSD.
What i'm saying is a lot of NID look like Husky or look like GSD.
Dont they want the dogs to be recognized in their own right?
Dont you think aiming for a specific colour/mask ect would help in people being able to identify them correctly?

But again type is about more then just the colour of the dog and this thread is about colour variations . .

The Dobe and rottie are both black and tan but they are not the same breed . . .

Well yes of course but you can tell the difference between a dobe & rottie.

The point i was trying to make thought was that colour alone do not make a breed recognisable (sp?). So if every NI was the same colour it wouldn't make a difference unless the type was also correct . . .

So IMO its more important for the NIS to focus on getting a uniform type (as well as health of course) then colour. That is the key to getting the breed recognised in its own right.

Yes i see where you are going Raz, how then do you think they have not managed to fix type yet to be instantly recognizable? Dont you think that the colour would help as so far so many of them still look Husky or GSD in their markings.

I don't think there is much GSD markings in most of them, there is the odd one with a dark saddle but these are often from breeders that like that look on a mainly white dog to resemble artic wolves rather then the more commom timber/EU ones. It is a fault in the breed standard to show black and tan markings (which is what i class as very GSD).

They are always going to have similer colours and coats to the husky but i don't think this is going to be a problem. The mal colour is very similar as well (to joe public) and all northern looking breeds are lumped together as snow dogs anyway so it doesn't really matter to me.

I have three dogs and they are all the colours I favour, (pics below) Ref the markings, If I were playing God, I would choose for all NIDs to have similar markings to the first four pics I have put on (I refer to it as 'full face mask') , but that is simply my personal preference:









Love this pic, couldn't leave Thunder out xxx

Yes i agree with you ww, i would also as personal choice prefer to see them all with full mask.