The Coat Types of Great Danes

All Great Danes have short haired coats that are easy to groom, but these coats come in many different colors. Great Dane breeders usually stick to breeding only one color, so Great Danes of one color may have health problems not seen in Great Danes of other colors, according to "Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds." The Great Dane Club of America only recognizes four genetic strains of coat colors.

  1. Fawn and Brindle

    • Both colors are caused by the same gene. Fawn is a tan-gold color with a black face. Brindle is a tan-gold body with a black face and thin black stripes sometimes called "tiger striping." This is the most common color group in Great Danes. The Great Dane Club of America will only register fawn and brindle puppies if the sire and dam were either fawn or brindle.

    Harlequin, Mantle and Harlequin Bred Black

    • A Mantle Great Dane

      The only dog breed that sports the harlequin color pattern is the Great Dane, according to the Great Dane Club of America. The base coat is white with small, irregularly shaped patches of black or gray. Patches of other colors pop up in harlequin Great Danes, but they count as faults to dog show judges. Harlequins are prone to deafness in one or both ears. Mantles, which formerly fell under a classification called Boston coloring, have the Dutch pattern seen in rabbits and pet rodents. They have a black body with, ideally, a white "bib" of a stripe down the nose, white forelegs, chest and a saddle around the shoulders. However, some Great Danes have a black body and random white patches. Harlequin bred blacks are black Great Danes with one harlequin colored ancestor.

    Blue and Blue Bred Black

    • This is the rarest color group and smallest gene pool of Great Danes. The genes are similar, so black puppies can crop up in litters even if both parents are blue. The blue appears as a dark steel gray all over the body. Blue bred black looks the same as a black, only there is at least one blue parent.

    Black

    • The entire body of a black Great Dane is ideally glossy black, but often black Great Danes are born with white patches and cannot be shown in competitions. There cannot be any other colored Great Danes in the pedigree for the dog to be registered as a black.

    White

    • A Merle Great Dane puppy

      This color is not recognized by the Great Dane Club of America even though it pops up in purebred Great Danes. Their noses can be black or pink. The white is caused by the merle gene. White Great Danes are the color type most prone to deafness or vision problems, but not all white Great Danes will have these health issues, according to Great Dane Rescue.