Urajiro on American Akita?

Crispy

I ask because when I was looking at Nala today in the light, it almost looks like she has urajiro that is COMPLETELY covered by heavy brindle and a mask on her face. Is that even possible? Or is it just more probable/likely that she has some natural variation on the fawn in her coat?

shibamistress

I'd guess it's just a variation in coloring, since American Akitas don't have urajiro. They are often pinto, though, so I can see how that kind of white could get in there. It is interesting on her, though, isn't it? She's a pretty girl!

ayk

Actually, AA's could have urajiro but when they do, it's usually not crisp or very well defined since quality of the urajiro is not selected for. When they do have it, it gets hidden under brindles, dark face masks, and even spotting/pinto.

Pinto has priority over brindle so a dog with both pinto and brindle would have brindled spots on a white body, not brindle over white.

shibamistress

@Ayk....ah makes sense! Good to know how this works from a genetic point of view. And it's funny, I was just looking at Oskar this morning and thinking, well, he does kind of have urajiro, as he is white underneath and on his legs (and silvery/champagne buff above) and the pattern is very much like my Shibas' urajiro....

Makes sense, though, that it's not selected for in AAs so it's not so common....

ayk

@shibamistress - Looking at Oskar's puppy pic, it looks like the white on his legs is due to white spotting.

shibamistress

Oh, that made me laugh to see that pic of him when he was a baby! He was so much darker then!

Is white spotting like the white patches on pintos?

ayk

Yes, the white spots are like white patches on pintos.

Crispy

@shibamistress - I want to derail to talk about how adorable that puppy picture is. SO CUTE.

@ayk - so do you think Nala has urajiro, or do you think it's more likely it's just a variation of the fawn/gold under her brindle? When I asked her owner about it, he didn't really know the difference, but he found it really interesting!

ayk

@Crispy - I really can't tell with the picture. The stripes are really close together.