Is this normal? Corky's black body is turning brindle. Has anyone else seen this in their tris? I'm not upset over it at all. He's still my sweet lovable boy no matter what color he is. I'm just curious if this happens a lot. Thanks!
I would bet that he is just blowing coat… they don't just turn brindle...?..
I think Pat's right. My boy starting changing colors (at least I thought so :eek: ha) I thought his coat was getting lighter & he's a brindle. Turns out his normal coat grew back in just fine. 
how old are they?
The color they are born are the color they stay… if born a Trindle you would have known it at a week old... same with a Tri and a Brindle, and while the strips on a Brindle may look "lighter" or "darker" depending on the time of year, what they are, is what they are.....
Sorry, I have to disagree with the masses here. I know what color he was when we got him at 8 weeks. His black was solid up until a few months ago. Even the black on his head from the crook of his nose up to his ears has brown mixed in with it now. Yes, he is blowing his coat and that seems to have made it more pronounced but, his brown is creeping into his black. There's no doubt abut it.
well my guess is the brown you are seeing is red mixed with the black.cairo who is a brindle is red and black which appears like a chocolate brown all over.
do you know of any brindle basenjis in your basenji's family tree? it isnt impossible if it is what you think it is.
caesar is red, but his mom is red and his dad was tri. he was born with black hair on his back, shoulder blades and the back of his tail (that he still has and is pretty common) and longer black hair on the back of his ears. you cant see it anymore, but he did show tri characteristics in the beginning that faded away.
here is what i have seen with the brindles and the strange coloring. if there is brindle in the family tree you may see a trindle which is a tri and all places red will be brindle instead of red. cairo had 2 out of 7 pups in his litter that were trindle.
It seems to be that Cairo's coat at 6months appears to be brighter and his red shows a bit more now than when he was a wee pup.
can you post a picture? is the brindle coloring on the spine or shoulder blades?
And the "brindle" markings would show on the face…. also you need to wait until he is done blowing coat to see the true color... again, he might have always been a "trindle" and maybe you didn't notice it as a baby puppy....because they do NOT change colors.... A Tri doesn't become "Trindle" they are born that way or not....
and, some brindles almost have that greyhound coloring where it is all light and a tiny bit of strip….
I am on the opposite spectrum from that but i have seen brindles that are very red dominant....
I would love to see a picture!
here is a pic I found online of a trindle
And the "brindle" markings would show on the face…. also you need to wait until he is done blowing coat to see the true color... again, he might have always been a "trindle" and maybe you didn't notice it as a baby puppy....because they do NOT change colors.... A Tri doesn't become "Trindle" they are born that way or not....
I'm confused because he's three years old and all of a sudden he's showing the red hairs in what was solid black but yet he was born that way. 
We absolutely love our dogs. I inspect my dogs almost daily for 'stickies' from the yard or anything else that can stick to their coats. Between my husband and I each dog gets some kind of special attention every day. My two boys get brushed at least once a week. (My little girl gets groomed.) I know what he looked like up until a few months ago. And so does my husband. He exclaimed at one point "Corky is not as black as he used to be."
Could you take a look at the pictures of him in my member gallary (most of which are puppy pics or over a year old) and tell me if he looks trindle to you and maybe now it's becoming more pronounced?
I will try to get pictures of him in the next couple of days.
Thanks!!!
As far as his brothers and sisters, I have no clue because Corky is a pet shop pup. No, I'm not proud of that but I am not sorry for it either. I am making a difference now. I am the foster and transport coorinator for a local rescue and I also foster small puppies. Along with that, I try to gently educate people about pet shops and puppy mills.
Also, just for the record, because Corky is a pet shop pup, he gets tested for Fanconi every 6 months. So far so good!!!
FYI, regardless of Pet Shop or not, Strip testing for Fanconi testing should be done monthly over the age of 2?
I will look at the pictures…
FYI, regardless of Pet Shop or not, Strip testing for Fanconi testing should be done monthly over the age of 2?
I will look at the pictures…
My vet recommends every 6 months.
My vet recommends every 6 months.
Sorry, this is going to sound nasty, your Vet is wrong. Strip testing the urine should be done each and every month. By the test strips, it is not something that needs to be done by the Vet… Believe me "if" he were to develope Fanconi, the best action is to catch it as early as possible.
In regards to his color, I looked at the pictures and I do not see that he is even close to a Trindle… I still say you need to wait till he is completely done blowing coat. They get an undercoat and it will change the color... Many times the reds when blowing coat will change to a "straw color"... and blacks sometimes with get a funky undercoat even giving them a red "hint of color".... Once again, they do not at 3 changed into a trindle... or brindle for the matter
I am not trying to "be" the know it all" and/or talk down to people… however in the case of Fanconi, I will do what I need to so that people understand the important of stipping your Basenjis every single month.. and not all Vets are correct... this is not directed at one person but everyone on this list... including long time breeders that sometimes "forget" to strip every month.
If you go to the Basenji Club of America website and read about Fanconi you will see that Dr Gonto who developed the protocol say, "strip every month".. many Vets to this day, discount his research and protocol. All Vets are not always right.
I have to agree with Pat. Testing should be done each and every month with strip testing the urine-not that hard to do at home. Also the onlly time the "change" to a trindle is when they are 0-5 wks. Then you start to see the colours come out. Shadow used to be pitch black-now that he looks like a Shiba Inu he is a brownish-black. Undercoats do change their hue and they will look different when blowing a coat. But they don't morph into another colour of baseni. I looked at your pics also and they are definitely tri-not trindle.
In regards to his color, I looked at the pictures and I do not see that he is even close to a Trindle… I still say you need to wait till he is completely done blowing coat. They get an undercoat and it will change the color... Many times the reds when blowing coat will change to a "straw color"... and blacks sometimes with get a funky undercoat even giving them a red "hint of color".... Once again, they do not at 3 changed into a trindle... or brindle for the matter
And just to clear up.. I am not saying that people (or Corky's Mom/Dad) do not look at their dogs every day.. I am just trying to say they do not change from being a base colored Tri to a Trindle as adults, or Red to Brindle… those are the colors they are born with, of course they change bunches with age and blowing coat, like getting grey, reds (deep reds too) getting all straw colored for over 2 months when blowing coat...
