![\"\"](\"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/great-pyrenees-1-1024x706.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhile most people imagine Great Pyrenees as all-white giants, that may not always be the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though they are principally always white, some dogs may have markings of other colors. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The breed standard prescribes that these patches can’t cover more than one-third of the Great Pyrenees’ bodies, but it still means that they can have a significant level of coloration. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These markings can be different shades of tan, gray, orange, badger, or reddish-brown.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The dominance of the white in the Great Pyrenees’ coloration is no accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The breed is very old and throughout their history, Pyrenees were commonly used for herding livestock, mostly sheep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, favored dogs born with predominantly white fur were always favored by the breeders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The bright white color made it easier for their owners to spot them against the mountain landscape and also distinguish them more easily from predators, even in dim light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the white color dominates among the Great Pyrenees, but let’s look at some of the more rare colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For starters, there are levels to the breed’s whiteness. Not all dogs feature bright and clear white coloring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The coat color can range from pure white to more cream-white or even yellowish shade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, these shades are still not considered markings, but a principal color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American lines of the breed sometimes feature orange patches on the head or body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These can be in various shades of orange. Badger markings are also rather rare. Occasionally, this coloration can cover the whole body while the dogs are young. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who don’t know, badger coloration is a mixture of white, brown, black, and gray hair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Very rarely, the Great Pyrenees will have red markings and its variant is considered the most infrequent of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Great Pyrenees litter is commonly a mixture of all-white puppies and those with markings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, but the time they grow up, most of them will change color, at least to some extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When they’re born and at the earliest age, puppies of this breed will often have very dark brown or black markings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These patches can appear on the head, body, ears, and base of the tail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, as puppies get older, these markings will start to fade, turning into softer shades of tan or gray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This usually happens when they’re about 8-10 weeks old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time they have their first birthday, most of these patches will only leave highlights behind, commonly behind the ears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tan marks commonly fully fade to white. Still, some dogs may keep distinct markings as long as they live<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some dogs with badger patches will even have them become darker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though they can have black markings while very young, this coloring at the adult dogs is not known or verified in the Great Pyrenees gene pool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, solid black patches are commonly a sign that a particular dog is not purebred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It should be noted that true black markings are not the same as badger markings where only the tip of the hair may look black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The origins of black markings are not clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, they’re most likely the result of crossbreeding with some other breeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout history, the Great Pyrenees were mostly crossed with other herding breeds such as Border Collies or Pyrenean Mastiffs<\/a> with whom they share a similar geographical origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The beautiful white color may be one of the main reasons why people choose Great Pyrenees as their pets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, keeping this magnificent white fur clean, and charmingly fluffy will take some work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This shouldn’t scare you because the level of maintenance required for them is nowhere near as high as for some other similar breeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Great Pyrenees are even able to keep relatively clean on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They seem to have perfected a self-cleaning system, necessary due to their abundant fur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their topcoat is very practically designed, shedding the dirt and mud after it dries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you’re too lenient with your maintenance routine, and let them get too dirty, the coat can get damaged<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, the lack of maintenance can lead to cobweb matting which can cause some skin issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, weekly grooming and occasional baths<\/a> should be more than enough to keep them beautiful and healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The snow-white lush coat is the most recognizable feature of the Great Pyrenees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s contributed greatly to their popularity and put them straight at the top of the list of the most beautiful dogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, if while searching for the Great Pyrenees for your family, you run across a dog with tan, badger, or gray markings, worry not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can still rest assured that you’ll get a purebred dog, as these markings are also recognized as standard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, dark markings at puppies will likely fade away as the dog gets older. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As long as they don’t cover more than a third of the dog’s body, you’re safe and can freely go ahead and add this amazing and loving dog to your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s definitely something special about all-white dogs. Unlike most of their dark-colored canine counterparts, they always carry themselves with a certain elegance and in a graceful manner. We can easily … Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[657],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-pyrenees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Great Pyrenees Rare Coat Colors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/great-pyrenees-1-lic-1024x817.jpg\")
Do Great Pyrenees Keep their Color?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/great-pyrenees-puppy-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCan Great Pyrenees Feature Black Markings?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do you Keep Great Pyrenees White?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/puplore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Great-Pyrenees-1024x646.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n