Chihuahuas come in a huge variety of coat colors and patterns. There are some that you may not have ever heard of. There are many that are uncommon. But, there is only one elusive color that is the most unique and rare color of Chihuahua you will find!
It is often confusing when you hear a name of a “color” because sometimes the name is not talking about color, but the pattern of the Chihuahua’s coat. However, it will be a mystery no more because all will be explained in this article!
Do you think you can guess which color and/or pattern is the rarest you’ll find for a Chihuahua? For the fun of it, before you continue reading, put your guess in the comments below. No cheating, and no peeking! It will be fun to see the different answers and you may be right! Right or wrong, doesn’t matter, it’s just for fun!
But First …
Before we discuss colors and patterns and the elusive rare chihuahua, let’s talk about the Chihuahua breed and the types of Chihuahuas. The Chihuahua is the smallest breed of dog and there are only two types; The apple-head and the deer-head. They come in two coat types; the short-coated and the long-coated Chihuahua. There is no such thing as a “teacup”, “mini”, “toy” (Chihuahuas are in the AKC “toy group”) or mini Chihuahua. To learn more about the “teacup” Chihuahua CLICK HERE
Not sure if your Chi is an apple head or a deer head? Watch this video for a clear answer, at last!
Most Common Chihuahua Colors
When it comes to Chihuahua colors, they can be solid, two colors, or tricolor. They are all different shades too, pale to very dark. The most common are black, cream, fawn, chocolate, grey — also known as blue, or silver — also known as lavender.
Common color combinations are black & white, black & chocolate, white and tan (or fawn). Then there is the brindle, spotted, and merle markings or patterns. There are so many different combinations that there is no way to list them all.
The Merle Chihuahua
The merle Chihuahua is not a common coat pattern because if a breeder does not know the ethical way to breed a merle Chihuahua they are prone to a plethora of health issues. However, they are not a rare Chihuahua color.
Due to the number of colors and patterns occurring in the Chihuahua breed, the ethical breeding of the merle pattern can be much more difficult than in other breeds who limit the allowed colors and patterns ~ The Chihuahua Club of America
If not ethically bred they may be born deaf, with abnormalities of the eye such as increased intraocular pressure, ametropia (images fail to focus on the retina), microphthalmia (abnormally small or malformed eyes), and colobomas (occurs before birth and is missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye).
The double merle gene may also cause abnormalities of skeletal, cardiac and reproductive systems.
Brindle
The brindle is not a color, but a coat pattern as is the merle Chihuahua, and they are not the rare Chihuahua color. Brindle is a pattern sometimes referred to as tiger-striped. The brindle pattern is not rare in some other breeds such as Boxer, Great Dane, English Mastiff, Boston terrier, just to name a few, but a brindle is pretty hard to find in a Chihuahua.
The streaks of color are irregular and usually darker than the base color of the coat, although very dark markings can be seen on a coat that is only slightly lighter. ~ Wikipedia
Again it’s all in the breeding. Breeding Chihuahuas that produce the brindle pattern is not necessarily an easy thing to do. I don’t breed Chihuahuas and don’t know very much about breeding and what genes produce what color or pattern. But I do know that breeding a true brindle is not easy.
Lavender or Lilac
Lavender or Lilac color is diluted chocolate. This creates a color known as “lavender” in Chihuahuas. The lavender color is difficult to breed because it is hard to reproduce. Even if you mate two lavender dogs you may not get lavender puppies. One of the mates must have the diluting “d” gene as seen in blues.
It is referred to as lavender or lilac because of the purplish tint to the diluted chocolate color.
But, what is the rarest Chihuahua of all?
Okay, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. The rarest Chihuahua of all is a pure white Chihuahua. Not to be confused with the more common white.
What is the difference? To have a truly all-white Chihuahua you must breed two pure white Chihuahuas.
A rare all-white Chihuahua will have no black pigment to his skin. This means that the eyes nose, ears, and even the nails will be a light color. The ears will also be pink. This is a true pure white Chihuahua and they are not albino (as some have thought). On the other hand, a white Chihuahua may be all white but will have dark/black eyes and a black nose with no pink in the ears.
Sometimes the cream Chihuahua is also confused with a pure all-white Chihuahua. However, a cream Chihuahua will have those deep, dark black eyes that you can get lost in and a black nose.
So there you have it! The rarest and most unique Chihuahua of all is the pure all-white Chihuahua. Did you guess correctly? You didn’t cheat, did you?
Remember too that people have different names for the same color. For instance, some people call a tan Chihuahua brown or fawn. Some call a piebald a harlequin or spotted. I’ve tried to stay with the true color names that breeders give them.