Black & Tans
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Suteki Kuro Shinju The ideal black-and-tan coat colour is a three-coloured coat, with black base coat, tan points and white urajiro areas. The individual hair shafts are tri-colour as well, giving the dog a sooty or rusty black appearance. Each guard hair, if plucked from the back of a black-and-tan Shiba, holds some degree of all three colours as follows Starting at the base with white/cream, graduating slightly to reddish/buff before changing to the dull and sometimes rusty black, not shiny blue black, on the tip. The undercoat is reddish buff to light grey and the black tipped guard coat stands away from the body allowing the undercoat to show through when the dog is viewed from behind or when running your hand backwards against the grain of the coat. The graduation of colour on the coat of a black and tan puppy can be somewhat darker then on an adult, especially on the facial features. It is not unusual for a black and tan puppy at birth to appear almost solid black with the gradual lightening of the urajiro taking place as the dogs matures to be an adult. The coat is black in most of the dorsal areas, with tan points and urajiro as described in the following paragraphs.The back of the ears, skull, forehead, and bridge of the nose are black, and the inside of the ears is reddish-tan to white. The urajiro ranges from light cream to white. On the face it will appear on the cheeks and the upper lip, chin and throat. It must not extend over the bridge of the nose or up around the eyes. A few lighter hairs around the eyes are often seen, but the appearance of “spectacles” is not allowed. Urajiro can travel down the throat to connect with the chest markings but should not extend to the left or right of the chest beyond the shoulder. It can continue onto the belly and is always on the inside of the thighs and around the anal area blending into the tail. The guard hair on the ventral side of the tail (part uppermost when curled over the back) is straight, bushy and white in colour. There is some tan between the black dorsal side and where the white ventral meet. Keeping in mind the progression of the three colours of black to tan to white, the tan points are seen on the face as two oval spots (about the size of a thumbprint) over each eye. They are never so large as to blend to the point of giving the impression of an eyebrow or half-moon over the eye. The tan eyespots may include white hairs, caused by urajiro or aging. Tan is also seen between the black on the bridge of the nose and the white of the upper lip. This tan starts at the nose leather and is more colourful along that point. It will gradually fade to a slight tan as it travels between the black under the eye and the white of the cheeks. On the outside of the forelegs, tan will be quite apparent from the carpus, or a little above, downward blending to the light white/cream urajiro on the toes. The same pattern is repeated on the outside of the hind legs, down the front of the stifle and broadening from the hock joint to the lighter cream/white urajiro on the toes. Black is permitted on the rear of the pasterns, the back of the hock and as a small amount of black pencilling on the toes. Although commonly termed black and tan, the black Shiba is always a tri-colour. It is not a black and tan dog like Rottweiler or a Doberman, nor is it a black and white dog like a Boston Terrier, but in fact it is a gentle blend of white/cream, tan to reddish buff, and dull, rusty black.
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