As coat color/patterns go, “seal” seems to be a mystery. It makes some black dogs appear brown, and some dogs look liver colored (until closer examination reveals a black line down the back, and on the dog’s legs and tail). Seal appears only in a handful of breeds, and to our knowledge, little genetic research has been conducted into it. Consequently, our knowledge of how it’s caused or which locus is responsible for it is less than what is known about other patterns and colors. Genetics is a “walk in tall weeds” for us, but we can share that current theories include suspicions that seal is either an allele on the A locus, an allele on the K locus (recessive to K, potentially something like a faulty K allele that works in a similar way to brindle), or a modifier on an unknown locus that causes the A locus to partly show through on Kk dogs. Got that?
What does seal look like? In black and white Boston Terriers, the black appears black until bright sunlight hits the coat, and then it has a reddish cast to it making it look almost brown. That said (and as far as we know), a black seal dog will always have a black nose, regardless of how brownish its coat appears.
Seal is an accepted color in the American Staffordshire Terrier and the American Hairless Terrier, but not in Bulldogs (we found one site that “specializes” in “rare” colors in the breed, including “lilac seal” that’s not an accepted color in any Bulldog standard we found). Both Alaskan Malamutes and Boston Terriers accept seal and white, and add “seal brindle and white” to the list of Boston Terrier colors.
We would be beholding to readers if they would share with us pictures of their “seal” dogs in the comments section below (not on Facebook where it’ll eventually get lost in time).
We end with useless trivia (our favorite kind): Seal brown is one of the official colors of Lehigh University, Brown University, the Cleveland Browns football team, and the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi.
Image: We found this fine illustration on a Russian website that even Google Translate didn’t translate. We’d very much like to give credit, or seek credit, to the artist. Anyone?
I had a rescue boxer that was labeled a “seal” coloration – though for all intent and purpose, I could see only the black – and black and white boxers are not a recognized color for AKC.
A wonderful picture, Susan, and we appreciate the time you spent sharing it with us!
Was Das dan
My dearest Italian Greyhound boy, William, puppy-mill product of god knows what. Definitely seal.
Bless your heart for taking in William, Julie, and for sharing with us an illustration of “seal.
“
I’ve got 2 seal brindle frenchies! Mother and daughter.
Here is her mom. When Tina (the puppy) was born, she was black with brown tips on her fur. There was another brindle in the litter that was true black brindle. Black eyes, black faces, the black stripe down the back and black legs.
Jackie, this is an EPIC picture, thank you so much for sharing it!
Valerie is 30 pounds. This was her pound picture.
Jackie, this is a fabulous example, and so helpful in the discussion about “seal.” Thank you so very much for helping illustrate “seal.”
Both are great pictures, Jackie, and such a help because it’s tough to visualize “seal!”
Thank you for posting this! You’ve solved the mystery of my recent rescues’ coloring. She looks black unless in bright sunlight, only then can you see the brown tones. Most people look at me crazy when I try to explain that she isn’t black. Now I have a color to say! She is most likely a chihuahua/dachshund cross.
We’re delighted to have been of some help, Lindsay, and we also learn right alongside our readers. If you get the chance, post a picture?
Hi!
Can you help identify what colour this standard poodle puppy will be? I gave never seen one with so many colours:)
He is definately liver/chocolate. If he continues to lighten its possible he could also have the progressive graying gene. (as a chocolate he won’t turn gray hed turn cafe au lait if he has that gene) Coat type and length can also affect how color appears usually being lighter in the longer areas. If he’s outside a lot the sun can also lighten the coat. Many things can contribute to the multi colored effect.
Seal Italian Greyhound bitch, “Twyla” (Argos Twilight’s Last Gleaming). Twyla’s fawn/red under-shading is especially visible on her neck, eyebrows, and temples.
A wonderful illustration, Justin, Thank you!
May be you can see our blue boy’s colour on his shoulder, thigh and under his ears. It comes only in summer.
Wow, great illustration, Richard, thanks for sharing it! He’s a handsome boy!
Here is an 8-week-old seal IG with obvious brindling.
Same girl at 4 mos.
And from above…some of the brindle marks cross the dorsal “stripe”.
Great pictures, Celeste – they are so helpful in getting this color explained (especially the black “stripe”) – thank you!
Forgot to say, the brindling is not apparent at birth. It starts to show at 5 weeks old. The dam was seal/white, and the sire was red with black masking and white markings.
We LOVE having more information on our website, Celeste, so thank you for posting this!
Last but not least, a seal IG with only a brindle mark on one shoulder.
Seal black staffy, puppies available
Great illustration, Elmer, thank you! There’s just nothing like a photograph to help educate!
Most of the above are brindle. Seal looks like sun-bleached black. It’s an even color- no points or striping. This is my seal American Staffordshire Terrier. Seal is becomig very common (although not desirable) in the breed.
This is Rosie. She is an F1b Labradoodle. I have just been told recently that she is black seal.
Rosie is lovely, Misti, but we can’t weigh in on her color because Labradoodles are considered to be cross-breeds, or “designer breeds,” and as such, aren’t recognized by the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, the Canadian Kennel Club, FCI, or any other widely recognized all-breed purebred dog registry, and thus, have no breed standard that we can consult regarding color. The Australian Labradoodle Association and Australian Labradoodle Association of America are, to our knowledge,the only registries for the breed, and probably the best source for information about colors. Some day, this may change. The Australian Labradoodle Club of America founded in 2005 is focused on obtaining full AKC recognition, but we weren’t able to find a standard on their website either.
I’m astounded that the only breed clubs that recognize doodle as a breed has no description of a “Breed Standard”!
A breed standard is tough to compile when there isn’t all that much uniformity among the dogs.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my baby is a Blue Seal. Thoughts?
Very possibly, Lexi! Cute dog!
Just had a seal aussie bulldog, father is solid blue and mother is red and white pied, father also sired a different litter and had one solid seal pup in that litter too
Really interesting, Melina! Has anyone traced the original seal color on the sire’s side?
The father has seal through his linage
So sad that most of the photos no longer appear,
Here’s my boy. Though not the greatest picture of him, you can very clearly see the black stripe and lighter brown fur on the side. Most people would probably consider him a black dog, but he’s definitely seal. As for breed, he’s a rescue mutt. 🤷🏻♀️
Thanks for sharing a picture, Lauren! It’s a difficult color to describe and photographs are very helpful!
I think my dog may be seal coated, as he doesn’t seem to fit the description for brindle, sable or agouti. You can find him @bowie.goes.outdoors on Instagram. He looks black in poor lighting, but usually you can see the mahogany tones throughout. He’s a rescue mutt and we have no idea what mix, but malamute and shepherd are common in dogs from the region he was found.
Great picture, Jenna, and your observation fits in line with what others have told us about the seal color, namely that it’s tough to see in dim light, but is quite apparent in the sunshine. Thanks for sharing his picture with us!
Our Sasha. She about a year and a half, and we assume she is part GSD, lab and something else. She was mostly black when we adopted her last year, but she has lightened up to this shade! I’ve just been calling her “black” because I honestly didn’t know what else to call her. But my neighbor mentioned the color “seal” the other day, so I just started looking into what exactly that is.
Jenee, your neighbor’s suggestion of “seal” is actually a pretty good one, we think.
Might want to look up rhodesian ridgeback. This pup very clearly is a rhodie.
Looks like belgian Mallinois instead off gsd
Our dogs could be twins! Mine also has the dark stripe down the back and white patch on chest, although also has some white on paws. When we adopted him from rescue, we completed the DNA test that was offered at discount. It suggested he was 50% Blue Tick Coonhound and his Mom who was actually a yellow dog, was a mutt- with all kinds of breeds. Very unexpected results as he doesn’t look like any of those things!
Your dog looks nearly identical to mine. All we know for sure is that he has some Siberian Husky as his brother unquestionably resembles a Husky, but we have no idea what else he has.
My Luna is a seal, they told us she’s a Dutch Shepherd. She is a rescue found in Mexico and we got her at 7 months old she was all black . Her sister, they found her with is all brindle but way lighter brown . Luna is about 2 now and you can totally see the seal colors , especially in the sun 🖤
That’s a great example of the color, Kerube, thanks for sharing it here!
Petey American Staffordshire Terrier father with papers, also seal coated. Bitch without papers Red Nose American Pitbull Terrier.
My Thai street dog is seal, black stripe stands out more in winter. She regularly gets people commenting on her beautiful and unusual colour.
First pic was accident. Here is my seal Thai street dog. She regularly has people commenting on her beautiful and unusual colouring.
and another pic
Seal colored, 11 month old male, intact, Wooldridge Dog (working breed in development) coat length 1/2”-1” in photo. Never exceeds 3”-4” when grown out.
Thanks for the picture, Rogers, very helpful!
To me this dog looks more brindle than seal. What’s a Wooldridge”
A designer mutt.
Honestly tho yeah that looks nothing like seal 😅
I dont think this dog is the seal color being discussed here. This dog has dark tipping on the hair. My first impression was brindle but the hair looks tipped rather than striped so I think he’s probably a heavily tipped shaded sable.
He’s actually a very dark brindle, not seal. Though the two patterns are nir mutually exclusive (seal brindle exists) this is very typical of how brindle appears on a long haired dog, who’s also a shaded sable on A locus
My staffy. He fathered 1 litter that included 1 seal/white pup.
Oh how interesting, J! No other “seals” in the background?
This is Chelsea. She’s a rescue so we aren’t sure of her breed. She has the webbed feet and undercoat of a lab and the body shape, ears and temperament of a German Shepherd. I was looking into her unique coloring and came across your site. She was all black as a pup except for a white spot on her chest that is shaped like a dove. The brown coloring appeared when she got a little bit older. It’s only on her rear half though. Do you think she would be considered seal? I noticed a couple other shepherds in the comments with similar coloring. Does it occur in that breed too or is it more likely evidence of American Stratfordshire terrier in her lineage?
I take that back. She does have some brown on her front half too. It just doesn’t show up a much in the first pic.
Honestly, Anna, we don’t know about the rate of occurrence in the breed, but her coloring sure does look like a seal. Perhaps our other readers can weigh in on this?
Hashbrown is a 9.5 month old rescue from the Dominican Republic. A Reddit user pointed me in the direction of this page — I’d never heard of seal colouring before.
More pictures of him here: https://imgur.com/gallery/lgS1hMc
He does suspiciously look like that color, doesn’t he, Danielle?
Definitely could be seal, but also looks like a variant of sable
This is my amstaff Indy at 9 months old…. this is interesting reading , I believed his colour was liver….
My pretty girl Jada Reign around 2.5 years old. People I got her from said she was pure pit and 8 weeks old, but ended up being around 4 weeks so I’m not certain about the whole purebred factor. Would love some thoughts on it!
Dani, let’s see what our readers think!
Definitely full
Blooded pitbull/amstaff
This is Edison. His coat has just started to change color.
The nose is brown so I would say not seal, also doesn’t quite fit the description from what I see.
He is chocolate . The apparent change in color is just old faded coat shedding out.
This is what it used to look like.
Wow, Jackie, great pictures, thanks!!
My lil dog Stella is 9 months old and is losing her puppy coat, but it’s being replaced with the seal coat, which I have just learned about. She also has one blue eye and one brown eye and has very webbed feet. They said she was a lab mix, but who knows? I used an app that said she also looked like a catahoula dog. One day I’ll test her genetics. She’s a true rescue MUTT. ❤️
What an interesting color she’s becoming, Cindy! Mutt or no, what’s important is that you found each other and have a wonderful future together!
The big dog is 50% purebred chessie, 25% shar pei & 12.5% chow – the rest is a mystery mix. The smaller one is an FMD from taiwan.
This is our new girl, awaiting breed results. I’ve been told her coat is seal.
Here’s another photo from a different angle
She’s got the most marvelous ears, Becca! And yes, that could very well be a seal coat.
here is my girl 15 mounths old she is seal
Tracy, we’re missing her picture!
I believe I have a blue seal, the entire litter is seal, they appear blue in the shade and indoors but in certain light almost look orangey brown. This girl has the darker stripe down her back to.
her as a pup – Breed Southern cross bulldog
My dads American Staffordshire Blue nose gave birth to a litter of puppies exactly 6 weeks ago today and the pup I picked out turned out to be a seal color. She’s not fully black, she’s like a dark grey with the black line down her back and on the tips of the dark grey fur, are little like, almost blonde tips.
IMG_8886.HEIC
Would love to see a picture, Mahalia!
This is Eva she’s 6 weeks and 3 days old
Great photo, Mahalia, thanks for going to the trouble of sharing it. It sure looks like a seal to us!!
Seal Coat Malamute
Fascinating, Jean, thank you for sharing!
This is our rescue dog Pico. His parents were both pits and he’s the only one of the litter who looks like this. We were lucky to have met someone who had met him as a puppy and saw pictures! You can see his nice black stripe.
Wow, Jess, he’ll never get mixed up in a crowd, bless his heart!
I had a trainer ask if my dog Kimbo always had a black stripe down his back. I had only had him for six months and he was a 1.5yo at the time. So, as far as I knew he always had it. I didn’t understand why she would ask until I looked it and discovered seal coloring. Kimbo is a Hurricane Maria survivor from Puerto Rico. His DNA results came back being predominantly Siberian husky, German shepherd, and Chow as the identifiable breeds. Which is interesting… because the first remark I get from anyone who asks about his breed, is if he’s a cattle dog.
We’re guessing that it’s probably the ears and his nose that might make people ask if he’s an ACD, Tara – but that’s quite a beautiful stripe!
This is Valerie, she was listed at shelter as a Mountain Fiest. One year spayed. I have not found another Fiest with this color. Nose, head, legs, back and tummy are black. Sides are a mix of tan, brown and black.
Valerie is 30 pounds. This was her pound picture.
My staffy rescue girl is seal. Looks black, but in bright sunlight most of her looks like the color of black coffee.
She’s smiling, Rebecca!!
This is my girl. We get comments on her color all the time, and I finally looked into it and found this thread! She was black as a puppy and every year fades except her stripe and face. She’s a lab/pit mix 😊
Isn’t that interesting, Zena? It’s so pretty!
2.5 yr old FMD (Formosa Mountain Dog/Taiwan street dog). Had evenly dark colored coat when we got him at 1.5 yoa. After a few months of filling out (eating raw), his coated color changed drastically to a noticeable “Seal”.
Kay, he’s stunning, thank you for sharing his picture – and isn’t it remarkable how effective a raw diet can be?
This is Rosco. 11 breed! So DNA says. I see there are others with his stripe and colors. He came from Tennessee to Minnesota.
Hello, Rosco!
This is mazy, same black stripe. Very soft fur, very vocal, not much of a lover like my pit mix.
Hey! What did the DNA test say his breeds were? Looks so similar to a foster dog I used to have and loved dearly.
This is my little monster, ButterBall! I definitely think she’s a seal color! I’ve been wondering what her color was and thought it was some shade of Agouti. She’s supposedly a purebred (backyard bred) chihuahua. I think there may be some Dachshund in there somewhere!
Here’s another picture of ButterBall with her sister, Pepper.
Butterball. What a cutie, Amy!
And one more with her other siblings and cousins lol
My dog is from the animal shelter. We think she is a pit bull/collie with some whippet or Italian greyhound mixed in. I looked up seal coloring to see if any of those breeds are known for it and found this site. Hopefully you can see the color on her head and hind quarter.
You did a good job of capturing the color, Sonja. Thank you for sharing it!
My dog Gillie, I rescued him at 8 months old. I took home what I thought was a large black and white tuxedo dog. I saw my first photo after taking him home was brown. I soon realized his color has a nap. He looks black facing me and brown walking away.
Gillie has the black stripe down his back. I call him a giant french roast coffee bean. His coat is slick soft and short but because he is GSD with 1/3 ABT he has fuzzy guard hair undercoat.
Here is Gillies pic
Here is Gillies pic again
Here‘s my seal Whippet puppy. Her mum is black, dad is a blue fawn.
She’s wonderful, Claudia, thank you for sharing her picture!!
Thank you! 🙂 She‘s the only seal of the litter, all her siblings are black, and one black and white. We just found out her (very tall) dad is part Greyhound (which she also is the only one to take after, 50 cm / 12 kg, at 4 and a half months :).
Someone mentioned the Grey heritage might have a part in her color, too. Seal Whippets are pretty rare. Do you happen to know if that might so?
We don’t, Claudia, but perhaps one of our readers knows. Anyone?
My female staffie looks seal, basically black with a brown tinge and she just had a pup that looks seal.
This is Nox, I’m pretty sure she is a mystery color. So glad I found this page!
We’re glad you found us too, Amanda! Nox is a cutie!
We rescued our seal Amstaff from a breeder who was going to put him down for being the runt of the litter. He was 5 weeks old when we brought him home! He was our baby! He lived to be almost 11yrs old when crossed the rainbow bridge. He is so missed and still very loved!
Not all breeders are alike, Stacey, and we’re alternately delighted that your AmStaff was found by you, and saddened that the breeder didn’t think to place him as a beloved family pet first. Grrrrr.
Got a 6month old staffy in Nairobi,Kenya.
I’m just in love with this dog.
Congratulations, Kombinho! Staffies are marvelous dogs.
This was my sweet foster dog that had the prettiest dark seal coat with dorsal darkening and a mask.
This is Clementina Caprice, a solid seal (Fauve Charbonné in French) Italian Greyhound. in the EU the colours of IG are often solid. in USA, more white is allowed.
Handsome boy. Black seal olde English bulldog
Found 2 pit bull sisters on the side of the road in a common dog dumping area and took them home. Looked like black and white pits that needed a bath. One passed from parvo unfortunately but karma made it after getting a bath and seeing her coat in the sun we noticed the brown on her head and sides. Just discovered this coloring is called seal.
Bless you for taking the dogs in, Mary
This is my little guy. I’ve been told he’s part whippet and shepherd. Certainly has a mixed personality with parts from both breeds. Just discovered seal and I think it fits perfectly!
Suggestions or guesses on breed are always welcome 🙂
We could begin to guess his ancestry, Alaina, but he’s a cutie and his color does indeed look like seal, doesn’t it?
My 1.5 year old American Bully…
I’ve searched high and low for information on seal coats in chihuahua and I’m stumped. I have a 5 month old girl who was born as a washed out chocolate and has gotten darker every day to a very rich brown ever since. I’ve done genetic testing and was floored that my “chocolate” puppy cake back with a genotype of Black and Tan castin carrying chocolate and carrying dilute. So long version she’s at/at, ky/ky, Em/e, B/b, D/d, S/Sp
I’ve had numerous additional testing, via UC Davis, with regard to chocolate and dilute as Embark doesn’t test for additional loci that UCD does. Finally, these additional tests yielded no new information. I’ll attach whichever pics I can as well as a link to her Embark.
It appears that we don’t know enough about seal to test for it.. sooo here is my “seal” phenotype chihuahua who’s genotype says she’s Black and Tan.
Additional photos
Undercoat- age 5 months
Please help me to figure her out.
She can’t be expressing northern domino nor can she be wild or wolf agouti as she’s at/at 😬
Marla, with your consent, we’d like to share your pictures and information (but not your name) with other dog people we know on Facebook. Let’s see what they think?
Northern domino isnt testable with commercial testing though it usually tests “E” rather than “Em”. I did notice that your dog is carrier “b” and carrier “e”. I’ve seen that particular genetic combo allow a “bleed through” effect of chocolate color. A black/white siberian with a red/white tail. (Not sun fade) a solid sable mixed breed that should have had black nails had red nails. Black tipping on the head but moving back the tipping went from black to chocolate. Some husky breeders feel carrier “e” can lighten color to make light silvery gray. If seal dogs are carrier “e” as your dog is, it would give weight to that theory. Might be something for geneticists and dog owners to look into.
I have a chocolate seal, I had no idea on the color, I was told sable!
Her dad is an American staffordshire terrier and the mom is an American Bully XL
Bronte is about 75% German Shepherd, 15% Alaskan Malamute, and I believe she is a sable seal (haven’t gotten around to genetic testing quite yet!) She was also born with microphthalmia and is fully blind in her left eye. I know that microphthalmia is linked to double merles, and I am curious if there may be a similar link to seal coats. Unfortunately there is so little information on both seal coated dogs and dogs with microphthalmia that I cannot find anything! If anyone has any thoughts on it, please let me know! 🙂
Annika, we took your question to a group of experienced breeders and owners, and so far, we’ve had these responses:
From Yvetter: “We don’t have the merle gene in the Pembroke and I’ve had one microphthalmic puppy.”
From Caroline: “It occurs in Borzoi and we don’t have either merle or seal;”
From Sharyn: “I’ve seen a sable and white collie with it, no seal color in collies.
And Sonja suggested to contact this group to learn more:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CoatColorAndGenetics/?ref=share
Hope this helps!
This is my dog, Good Golly Miss Molly. She is 25% each Labrador retriever, English pointer, Collie, and Border collie(I call her the quintessential farm dog- she can hunt and herd). Until now, I always told people she was black with a strong brown cast in bright sunlight. I didn’t know that it was an actual color.
Here is a close up of her coat
Molly is adorable, and we sure do see the tint to her coat that you’re talking about!
Finally! Been trying to find out what to classify my Thomas (adopted from Mexico) he looks black til you get him in the sun..and he’s a deep chocolate brown
Delighted we could solve the mystery, Beth!
💝Trouble 💝
Catahoula Leopard/Pitbull (Pitahoula)
Do you accept comments from non purebred seal pups? I have lots of fun stuff going on with my mini goldendoodles.
Sure, Angie. While we are a purebred dog-centric website, our readers are always interested in genetics
Leeloo, American Staffordshire Terrier, has a seal colour! Her Irish Kennel Club registration says “black and white” though, I’m not sure why – would seal just be registered as black?
This is my dog Captain Jack he just turned a year. I rescued him when he was around three months old at I guess around 6 months old I started seeing the change in the color only when the light hit it a certain way outside . people would actually argue with me and tell me that he’s black. I used to tell them to look at him next to a black dog and you can see the difference. I used to call the color black coffee that is that what it reminded me of. Now the color is much more telling and people can see it. I’m glad I finally found out what the colour is and that he’s even more special now. LOL he couldn’t get any more special then he already is. Waiting for his DNA test to come back definitely looks like American Staffordshire Terrier but he is much bigger is 90 lb is now.
I have a purebred standard poodle I have bred, and she is a BROWN seal. Almost no information on this rare colour, but she will clear to look just brown…she also has a dorsal stripe! but it’s just darker brown!!!
Really fascinating transitioning of color, Lisa. When she’s older, send us another photo of her?
I have asked her new owner to do just that!
Here is a picture at 11 weeks…
Lyca is a chocolate Lab mixed. Not sure what she’s mixed with. Lyca definitely has the seal trait.
This is Summerlyn, she is a 2 year old female mixed breed rescue pup. We didn’t understand why she had that black strip down her back, and why she looked black sometimes and brown other times until doing some research.
What a really interesting place to manifest the seal, Keith. There will be no mistaking her for someone else, she is unique!
This is Evie. She’s a 20 lb chihuahua, pit/lab mix. As a puppy she was completely black. As she has gotten older, (she’s 6) the brown has gotten lighter. The interesting thing to me is the brown area on her haunches is the softest fur I’ve ever felt on a dog. The black down the middle is coarser.
Here she is out of direct sunlight. You can barely see it.
My dog Timber is seal colored.
I believe he is 3/4 American Pitbull and 1/4 Chihuahua.
This is our seal coloured Coonhound, Bentley.
Just rescued this guy today..no idea what breed but definitely seal…looks black until you get close then he looks kind of grayish brown
This is Mazy. She is a rescue dog. We have no idea of what breed she is. She has a black tongue and the roof of her mouth. Everyone comments on how soft her coat it. She’s very vocal like husky.
Here is my 8 month old rescue girl. You can see the seal coloring in the sun!
My papillon River is seal, I think. He’s KB/ky ay/at, you can see the lighter colour faintly above his eyes and on his cheeks, and the backs of his ears look almost like they’ve bleached very slightly in the sun even in winter.
I thought at first he was a ghost tri at first, but his markings didn’t seem “defined” enough, so I was a bit confused when he came back ay/at. But then I realised you can often tell if a sable dog is carrying tanpoint because they tend to be subtly lighter where the points would be. I think that’s what’s going on with him, he’s showing very very faint sable in his black areas and it’s a little bit lighter in the tanpoint areas.
He’s also i/i so his tan colouring is lightened to lemon.
This is my sweet Alice. She has 16 breeds according to Wisdom panel and one them is 14% Am Staff. I know that Seal is mentioned as mystery, but her color genes according to wisdom panel are:
Chocolate Variant 1 – 1 copy “Black features likely, chocolate possible”
Dominant Black – 1 copy “Black or Brindle possible”
Fawn – 1 copy “Fawn Possible”
Mask – 1 copy “Dark muzzle possible”
Tan points – 1 copy “Tan points possible”
Saddle Tan – 1 copy “Saddle Tan possible”
Here is an example of seal on a long haired dog. He looks black with a faint sable pattern that is more noticeable in the sun, but the lighter parts around his shoulders are noticeable even in dim lighting. Interestingly, he also has some white countershading/urajiro under his tail, back of legs and belly which normally only affects areas of red pigment and wouldn’t be expressed in a solid black dog. He genotypes as KB/KB (dominant black) and ay/a (sable), and he’s a mix of mostly APBT, great pyrenees, and German Shepherd.
Oh my goodness, my groenendael puppy has this exact coloration. Thanks so much for the long-haired example!
Happy to oblige, Elena!!
My dog Stormy is a feral rescue from Taiwan. I worried at first that I was somehow bleaching him when I washed him, but after seeing several other Taiwanese rescues with same coloration, I figured it might be something else and started looking into seal coloration
We had to chuckle at your reference to “bleaching the dog, but it’s an apt description. Stormy is a cutie!
Your article says seal is not recognized in Bulldogs. Bulldogs is pretty generic. It is definitely accepted in Alapaha Blue Blood bulldogs as mentioned in the ABBA Standard for the breed. This girl is 100% Alapaha Blue Blood bulldog and definitely has a seal coat as do some of our puppies.
Thanks for writing, Diana. “Bulldog” is the name by which the breed is known in the AKC, FCI, the Kennel Club on England, and the Canadian Kennel Club (the United Kennel Club refers to the breed as “English Bulldog,” and Dogs Australia refers to it as the British Bulldog). Our “default” is to go by what the AKC uses, and the Alapaha Blue Blood is so unique that we would have definitely written out the whole name. Your girl is stunning!
I’m pretty sure she is seal
Pretty sure you might be right!
Smokey our rescued Pit. You can really see the dark line down his back in the sunlight
You sure can!
Any idea what breed my rescue is? Toby will be 2 in October (best guess). He is the 1st male I’ve owned (besides a long haired short dachshund my parents had when I was young). He has a very strong temperament, though NOT violent. He has a decent amount of energy, & will get the ‘zoomies’ frequently. Not a big barker, but he is a big debater (we know he has Husky because of his brother) & loves to argue.
Here is another angle showing the stripe he has down his back
And Toby as a pup, his 1st day home
Toby (standing) w/ his brother (laying) while at the rescue as pups
This is my baby girl Pepper!!! She gets grays on her sides during fall/winter and when we get her furminated in the spring she goes a little more brown. We have no idea what she is made up of but she’s a great nanny dog and hunter. She is 47 pounds and currently 10 years old and showing no signs or arthritis or any other issues. We found her on the side of the road when she was a puppy. Chose a outside photo of her but she normally looks less “old” inside😂
Here is a photo of her next to her older and younger brothers!
I have just taken on a Thai Ridgeback and have been trying to work out his colour, pretty sure that it is Seal.
Hard to get his true colour in pics, I love the colour.
This is princess my 11 month Staffordshire bull terrier from UK. She is seal brown, she has a solid black nose, solid black line down her spine and back of legs but in the sun she looks red/brown. Her mum was a red staff and dad was blue.
Princess in the sun
Princess 11months in the sun looking red/brown
Hi! We got our Thor at 8 weeks old from Craigslist back in 2016. We were told he was a lab/shepherd mix and that was it. But as he grew older he started to look less like a black lab pup into a short maybe chocolate lab with this black head and black predominant streak down his dorsal. It’s more noticeable than in my picture but his head can be said to be as big and heavy like a pit but he also points! He is short and not as tall as normal black labs which the vet as him under. Would this be a seal and if so can this be seen in labs as I have seen it in shepherds as well.
This is Kapone which is Blue Seal pied
I am pleased to be able to put a name to my sweet girls coat!! She’s an American bulldog, mixed with a fox red lab. Awesome to know 🙂
I think my Original Mountain Cur puppy is seal brindle.
Here is a picture of the Mountain Cur pup next to my sweet old Catahoula. The Catahoula is black with brindle points. The pup is clearly not black, but she has a black nose.
Great picture, Robert, thanks for sharing it with us!
This is Gunna, my 3yo pitty. He was jet black when he was born, but by the time he was 3wo, I saw some red and grays reflecting in the sun. I had to explain to my kids and parents what seal was when they got his paperwork back and I had listed his color as “seal”
Meryl was found as a tiny puppy at a gas station. She was solid black and when she grew up she has the black thick stripe down her back and kinda fuzzy texture, brownish color on her sides. A little brown on her cheeks. Everyone asked me about her unusual coat color. Could it also be called Ghost Tan color?
My dog has had some genetic testing but not extensive. She is very much seal