# Seal, Dark Blue, and Dark Sable??????



## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

So I am wondering what the difference between these three colors. They kinda look the same but I know there is a difference between Seal and dark Blue. Aimee and I have a cool convo about Dosia and Twilight. I was looking on a color chart and thought Dosia looked like the one they say is Seal. Aimee said Twi was called a Dark Sable by her breeders.

So here comes my question. I was reading on an AmStaff website that the difference between Seal and Dark Sable was the Seal has blue and fawn tones and dark Sable has Red or Chocolate tones in the fur. 

Yesterday I was taking Dosia for a walk and a woman approached me saying what a beautiful dog I had. She was very nice and she told me she raises and shows APBT's. She was telling me that his color was really beautiful and she has only had one dog that was colored like him. She said he was Dark Blue on his UKC papers. From everything I'm hearing they are all starting to sound like they are the same color or very very close. Can any one help me learn what the differences between these colors are? And if you could post some pics that would be appreciated


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## Sadie (Jun 18, 2008)

seal looks almost black but in the sunlight you can see red or brown undertones and blue or dark blue has grey undertones basically any shade of blue-gray or gray blue.

These are seal color dogs



















As for sable I have heard of a dilute sable or a sable brindle but not a dark sable here is a sable brindle










and here is a dilute sable or smut










And here is an old dog of mine who was blue pretty dark too almost looked black but her coat and nose were both blue


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## mcmlxxxvii (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm fairly certain Dosia is seal from all his pictures.

My understanding of the three colors is:

- 'Seal' appears black at first glance, but has chocolate undertones giving the coat a chocolate sheen in sunlight. (The pic has a black dog on left and a seal on right.)










- 'Dark blue' is simply a dark hue of grey that may appear black in low lighting. It appears to have a blue tint/grey undertones. The blue coat color comes in a variety of shades - it's still blue.

- 'Sable' is a brown dog with a tinge of black (on the tips of the hairs). The amount of black varies, giving the term 'dark sable' which refers to a dog with a large amount of black on the brown coat. GSDs are a good place to look to see the sable variations.

JMO. :roll:


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## Saint Francis (Jun 2, 2010)

Krystal, I hate to tell you this but Dosia is NOT a seal, he is a pit bull....you should know that by now OK, I just ate a gob of chocolate ice cream and am a little giddy


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## wild_deuce03 (Aug 14, 2010)

Saint Francis said:


> Krystal, I hate to tell you this but Dosia is NOT a seal, he is a pit bull....you should know that by now OK, I just ate a gob of chocolate ice cream and am a little giddy


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:And I'm drunk after watching THE Ohio State whoop up on Miami!!!


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## Saint Francis (Jun 2, 2010)

Yeah, and my Boilers barely won today, I think we're saving it for your Bucks LOL!!! More of a basketball fan anyway


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## Rudy4747 (Nov 29, 2009)

Zoey is Dark blue She looks black unless you are in the sun with her.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

I always thought Dosia was Seal and Marley was Sable but that convo with Aimee really got me thinking and then that girl said he looked like her dark blue. I was just wondering what all the differences in color were. Here is my Dosia boy in a few different lights.


























This is Marley my Sable boy


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## Rudy4747 (Nov 29, 2009)

i would say he is seal there is no blue tints in the lights that I see. And Marly probably sable. I would say you were right on.


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

Got a new one. lol. It's a Rhodesian Ridgeback.









Unusual RR Colors

Black wheaten is the rarest of these colors, however were it not for an owner's love, black wheaten RRs might have become more common in the US. Back in the 50's, the owners of a large kennel in CA went to Africa to purchase RR stock. While attending a party one night, they saw a gorgeous black wheaten dog and tried to purchase it, but the owner wouldn't part with it.

The body appears black, but on closer inspection the lighter roots show through in all the usual places - behind the shoulders, on the side of the neck and in the britches. Also it peeks through on the undersides of the dog and remains dark on top. I hope you can see it in this photo of a very rare dog - a black wheaten Ridgeback. Thanks to AKC for the photo.

*Wheaten* is an old term, commonly used by terrier people and others to denote reddish, banded hair where the root is lighter and the tip is darker. Genetically, this banded hair is called "agouti" and is considered the "wild type". Coyotes, wolves, foxes and raccoons are just a few animals that have "agouti" coloring. Agouti is the gene that makes a fox have reddish hair with black tips and a coyote to have yellowish hair with black tips.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

Oh dang Aimee that's cool, that was what I was trying to say to you before about his hairs being lighter towards the skin and darker on the tips when I pulled out the few hairs. Oh man now I'm a bit more confused. LOL


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

Twilight shedded quite a bit now her's is lighter at the bottom and darker at the tips as well. It was a bit different when she was a puppy(I think, tired). I think the same gene that is responsible for the lighter sable is also responsible for the darker kind probably in cahoots with a modifier gene to make the undercoat darker than a normal sable. Since it seems more like a pattern than a color. Like brindle comes in many shades because it's only a pattern overlay on a color.

I was trying to find that one to see what you said i couldn't remember and I couldn't find that other thread. lol. I looked, but I have been really tired lately and missing threads and whatnot. I've been working 12hr shifts at night. Not every night but lots of them.

edit to add. I think what people call seal is the same as sable. Just a darker sable than average.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

I think your right. That was what I was wondering when I started this thread. It was really starting to seem like the dark sable and the seal color are the same. Let me go check and see if I can find the other thread 

Ok so I dug up that thread where we were talking about it before 

http://www.gopitbull.com/pictures/29567-what-fat-head.html


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

Ah. That's why I couldn't find it. I couldn't remember who posted it. I thought maybe it was you but that didn't seem right.

I was also going to check to make sure we are right. When I get some spare cash it's less then $60 for a genetic test to see if the dog is sable or not. They just test if the dog has ay. VetGen: Veterinary Genetic Services - Canine - List of Services - Coat Color I've got to send in some samples to test for ataxia(just in case) anyway. They can test for other colors as well.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

Very cool info thanks Aimee.  I'm really interested in what the tests say.


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## pa2htown (Oct 26, 2010)

here are sum pics of mine..the sire is dark blue..the pup is seal...hope it helps u out...


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