All colours are permitted but no white permissible, save for a small patch on

chest which is permitted but not desirable. The dapple pattern is expressed

as lighter coloured areas contrasting with the darker base. Neither the light

nor the dark colours should predominate. Double Dapple (where varying

amounts of white occurs all over the body in addition to the dapple pattern) is

unacceptable. Nose and nails should be black in all colours except chocolate/tan and chocolate/dapple, where they are brown.

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There are potentially “lethal health risks with mating two dapples together. So called “double dapples” are at risk of being born blind and/or deaf. Dogs with large patches of white are not acceptable. Note that the nose (and eye line) and nails of chocolate/tan and chocolate/dapple should be brown not pink. It’s important that a personal colour preference must not be allowed to mar the judgement. From a glamour point of view there is no doubt that a bright clear red is eye-catching but all shades of red, right through to a pale fawn, are permissible, with the proviso that the points are dark. In black and tans it is preferable that the tan be rich and bright but not spreading over too great an area. There should not be so little tan on the black and tan dog that he appears sombre.

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The colours are recognised as:

• Black and Tan, Black and Cream,

• Red, Shaded Red, Red Dapple,

• Cream, Shaded Cream, Cream Dapple,

• Chocolate and Tan, Chocolate Dapple,

• Silver Dapple, and Blue Dapple.

• Brindle is also an accepted pattern.

• Other colours that are not recognised are often not purebred.