Mason
- SexMale
- ColorFawn
- Age9 weeks
$700Available
Boxer Dog Colors
Fawn and brindle, flashy and plain, white, and the "black" Boxer: what each one is.
Boxer dog colors are simpler than the long lists online make them look. The breed standard names just two, fawn and brindle, and every purebred Boxer is genetically one of the two, whether its coat is pale, dark, trimmed with white or almost entirely white.
What varies is the vocabulary. Golden, red, reverse, sealed, flashy, check and "black" are all used to describe Boxer colors, and only some of those words mean anything to a show judge. Use this guide to sort the accepted colors from the sales names, read a young puppy's coat, and find out whether color changes the dog itself.
The Boxer Colors
What Colors Do Boxer Dogs Come In?
Every Boxer coat is built from two base colors, with white markings added on top in some dogs. The table gives the common names, what each one really is and where it stands with the breed standard. Each color has its own page with more detail.
| Color name | What it is | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Fawn | A solid tan coat, from light tan to mahogany, with a black mask | Accepted |
| Brindle | Black stripes on a fawn base, sparse to heavy, including reverse brindle | Accepted |
| Black and white | A flashy dark brindle, or a white dog with dark patches | Flashy dark brindle accepted; mostly white check disqualified |
| White | A fawn or brindle Boxer with white over more than one third of the coat | Disqualified in the show ring |
| Black | A very dark brindle, or a dog with another breed in its background | Not a Boxer color |
Which Boxer Colors Does the AKC Accept?
The AKC standard for the Boxer, approved in 2005 and still the current version, is brief on this point: "The colors are fawn and brindle." White markings are allowed on either color, but they "may not exceed one-third of the entire coat" and are unwelcome on the flanks and back. A Boxer of any other color, or with more white than that, is disqualified from conformation shows.
Two details surprise people. First, the standard says a "plain" fawn or brindle with no white at all is perfectly acceptable, so flashy markings are a matter of taste rather than quality. Second, the AKC's color list for the breed has three entries, not two: brindle, fawn and white. A white Boxer can be registered, but white sits outside the standard. Boxers bred to the European standard, often sold as German Boxers, are held to the same two colors.
Are There Rare Boxer Colors, or Just Rare Names?
Most of the unusual names attached to Boxers describe a shade or a marking, not a new color. Here is what the common ones usually mean:
- Golden, red, tan or honey: shades of fawn. The European standard calls the darkest fawn "deer red."
- Reverse brindle, dark brindle or tiger: brindle with more or fewer stripes. The standard covers the whole range.
- Seal or sealed: a brindle so heavy it looks black. The American Boxer Club accepts "seal" or "black brindle" but asks breeders not to say "sealed," since the standard requires the fawn to show through.
- Flashy: a fawn or brindle with bold white on the chest, feet, neck or face.
- Check: a white Boxer with patches of fawn or brindle.
- Black, blue, chocolate or tricolor: none of these appears in the standard or on the AKC color list for the breed. The American Boxer Club states that Boxers carry no gene for a black coat.
Rarity is not a quality in itself. A seller who leans hard on a rare color is usually selling the label.
What Is the Difference Between Plain, Flashy and White Boxers?
White on a Boxer is controlled mainly by one gene, the white spotting gene, which comes in a solid version and a white version. A plain Boxer carries two solid copies and shows little or no white. A flashy Boxer carries one of each, which typically shows as white on the chest and paws, sometimes with a collar or a facial blaze. A white Boxer carries two white copies, so white covers most of the coat.
Because flashy dogs carry the white version, two flashy parents can produce plain, flashy and white puppies in the same litter. Other genes nudge the amount of white up or down, so the borders between the three are not always sharp.
How Can You Tell What Color a Boxer Puppy Will Be?
The base color is fixed at birth. A fawn puppy grows into a fawn adult and a brindle puppy stays brindle; stripes never appear later on a fawn dog. What can shift is the shade and how easily you can read it. Heavily striped brindle puppies can look almost black while young, and the fawn between the stripes tends to show more clearly as the coat grows. Natural light gives the truest read.
White markings are set from the start too. They do not spread, and on many dogs they look a little smaller once the body fills out. The parents are the best guide to both color and shade: two fawn Boxers can only produce fawn puppies, because brindle is dominant, and the parents' shades hint at the puppies'.
Does Color Affect a Boxer's Temperament or Health?
Color has no bearing on temperament. A Boxer's character comes from the individual dog, its parents and the way it is raised, and the Boxer temperament guide goes into each of those.
Health has one real exception. White Boxers carry a higher risk of deafness, linked to the same genes that produce the white, and their pink skin can burn in strong sun. A BAER hearing test, from the breeder or your own vet, is worth having for any white or mostly white puppy. Everything else on the list of Boxer health problems applies to every color equally. When you look through the available puppies, choose on the parents and the puppy's nature first and let color be the tiebreaker.
Boxer Color Questions
Do Boxer puppies change color as they grow?
Not in base color: a fawn puppy stays fawn and a brindle stays brindle, though the shade can shift slightly.
Are tricolor or blue Boxers purebred?
Neither is a recognized Boxer color. The AKC lists only brindle, fawn and white for the breed, so a blue or tricolor puppy is either mislabeled or not a purebred Boxer.
What are the different types of Boxer dogs?
When people talk about Boxer types, they usually mean American and German Boxers, which are judged by different standards. Both standards accept only fawn and brindle, with limits on white.
Which Boxer color is best for a family?
None of them. Color does not change energy, trainability or affection. Pick the puppy whose parents and nature suit your home.
What color is a Boxer's mask?
Black. The standard calls the black mask essential, on fawns and brindles alike. On a flashy dog, some of the mask can give way to white, including a stripe between the eyes, provided the expression stays true.
Have a Color in Mind?
Tell us the color, boy or girl, and when you would like a puppy, and we will let you know what we have.