Among Japanese breeds is a pattern called “roppaku.” It describes a dog with a white blaze on its face, a white tip on its tail, and four white paws, or “socks.” Though some may mistake it for urajiro, it differs in that the white can mask black parts of the dog’s coat, there are hard edges between the colored and white areas, nor does it have to be symmetrical. Add up the parts (four paws, one tail and a face) and one comes up with the other name by which this marking is known, and that is “six white.”

In other breeds, and genetically speaking, this pattern is known as irish spotting. 

Image: Akita Inu puppy/DepositPhoto