Part of the American Bully’s strength lies in the diversity of the gene pool from which it comes.
American bully colors reflect this diversity and you’ll be amazed by all the colors you’ll find in the American Bully color chart.
Planning to breed the most sought after American Bully colors? The laws of genetics mean that you can use an American Bully breeding color chart to check out what you can expect from the combined genes of any pairing.
Let’s begin by looking at American Bully colors and the way in which they’re named.
It’s a whole doggie rainbow! Thinking of getting an American Bully? Spot your favorite color here.
American Bully Coat Colors: Origins
The American Bully is still a fairly new breed, and some kennel clubs still see it as a cross-breed.
That’s because it was created by combining American Staffordshire terriers with American Pitbulls with the addition of some of the Bulldog breeds.
All of the breeds that went into the American Bully come in a range of colors instead of just one or two, and you can bet that all of those colors, plus some interesting color combinations can now be found in American bullies.
American Bully Solid Colors
The “solid” colors in the American Bully are the easiest to describe because “solid color” means that your dog is one color all over – or almost all over.
White, black, blue (a cool-gray color), lilac (grayish-brown), liver (a reddish-brown shade), and red (an auburn color) can all be found in American Bully lines.
Any Single Bully Color With White In The Mix
If your dog has a few white markings, you can add that to the description. For example, “blue and white,” “fawn and white,” or “red and white.”
These combinations are fairly common, but they’re much admired all the same.
But now, things get even more interesting as we move into all the shades and color combinations that a Bully can be.
An American Bully with a white chest and legs is said to have Irish markings. The rest of the coat can be any other color.
Pinto markings, on the other hand, are white markings found in places other than the chest and legs. Black white pintos, Blue and white pintos, and red and white pintos are among the most popular colors.
Two-Color Combos Other Than White
American Bully genes can result in some really artistic combinations. Dogs with markings in two shades include black and blue, black and red, black and brindle, liver and brindle, or blue and fawn.
Each of these has its enthusiasts, and of course, the owners of dogs in these colors will be the first to say that they think the color combination their dog has is the best of all.
Shades Of Fawn In American Bullies
For a simple explanation of this range of American Bully colors, we can say that fawn is a color that ranges in shades from light brown all the way through to a soft, blondish or reddish-tan.
But this color includes quite a lot of extra variations. Let’s check it out!
Blue fawn is a pretty combination of blue and fawn hair. About half the hairs are blue, and the other half are fawn.
This can appear as a look that’s similar to a solid color, possibly with extra markings or brindling. It’s relatively rare, and very popular!
Red fawn combines red and fawn in the same way that we saw in the blue fawn, and it’s also possible to have a red fawn brindle bully.
Sable fawn sounds like an exotic color, and it’s certainly an interesting combo. It’s made up fo black and fawn hairs with ratios ranging from 50/50 to 90/10.
Reverse Fawn Brindle may sound confusing, but it’s a favorite among many dog owners. Usually, brindle markings are dark on a lighter background.
But reverse fawn brindle means that the background color is dark while the brindle markings are fawn.
The Brindle American Bully Color Palette
If you love a dog with an intricately patterned coat, brindle is for you!
We’ve touched on brindling and reverse brindling when we spoke of fawn American Bullies, but now we get to explore the possibilities that brindling has in store.
Fawn Brindle Bullies have fawn stripes and are often known as reverse fawn brindles because the base color is darker than the stripes are. We can divide these combos into blue fawn brindles, red fawn brindles, and black fawn brindles.
Blue Brindles, on the other hand, have blue stripes and the gorgeous color combination has made them a firm favorite.
Liver Brindles have liver-colored markings on a darker coat. It’s a gorgeous contrast!
Red Brindles have red and black markings. It’s very striking.
Striped Brindles are real charmers. All types of brindle can show up as stripes or spots, but the striped brindle has a coat that’s striped in a whole bunch of shades of brown.
Tricolor American Bullies
American bully colors don’t stop at brindling, though. “Tricolor means “having three colors.”
The tricolors are very sought after, and several names are used to describe the patterns these colors form and the colors that go into them. They’re quite unusual, because single colors and mixtures of two colors are far more common.
To describe them simply may seem like a tough task, but we can sum it all up by saying there’s a dominant base color, there’s a tan color, and there’s some white.
The base color can be any of the solid colors an American Bully can be, and to indicate that it’s a tricolor, we add the word “Tri.”
So, a black tri will be black with white and tan markings, a blue tri will be blue with white and tan markings, and so on.
When describing the patterns these markings make, we come across a whole new set of terms.
Ghost tan sounds rather sweet and mysterious, and as markings go, it is just this. You’ve probably seen hundreds of dogs with tan “points”. You’ll usually see these tan markings on the eyebrows, feet, tail, muzzle, or front of the chest.
When you have a solid-colored dog or a tricolor in which the tan markings show rather faintly, that’s termed “ghost tan.” So now, we can expand our descriptions to include this!
Creeping tan differs slightly from the classic tan points because the tan color expands or “creeps” as the dog grows up.
As puppies, dogs with a creeping tan color may look like any other tricolor, but the tan markings get bigger while the other markings remain the same.
Trindle patterning simply means that you have a tricolor, but the dog has brindle markings too. When it comes to being colorful, this color combination has to be among the most intricate.
Tri merle should probably be avoided. The merle coloring consists of blotches of color.
It’s quite pretty, but the genes associated with merle colors mean a greater chance of health problems. Top breeders will not use merle dogs in breeding programs and they’ve become rather rare.
Piebald markings differ from merle markings, so you can have a colorful dog with patches that isn’t a merle.
In merles, the gene responsible dilutes the pigmentation in patches anywhere on the dog. Piebald dogs have patches on the body and head, but not elsewhere. It can be a tricky distinction to make!
Ticked tri bullies have a ticked coat with tan points. A ticked coat is flecked and shows up as small spots or marks.
Red nose Tricolors deserve a special mention when we’re discussing American Bully colors. As you’ve probably guessed, you can tell a red nose by looking at the color of the nose.
These dogs have lovely colorings ranging from champagne to chocolate-brown. White doesn’t enter into the combination of colors, but there are blue shades in the combo.
Albino Bullies
Albino American Bullies are white in color, but they differ from dogs that are just white.
They suffer from a rare genetic mutation which means that they lack pigment anywhere, and since pigment is what protects the skin from the sun, you can expect a lot of skin problems. Albino dogs can go blind, and deaf too.
Although white American Bullies aren’t necessarily albinos, they may also experience some of these health problems, and their smooth, short-haired coat does little to protect them from the sun.
However, with a few precautions, it’s easier to keep a white American Bully in good health. The look is certainly striking, and you can tell the difference between white and albino by looking at the eyes.
A pinkish cast shows albinism. Blue-eyed adults (all puppies have blue eyes at first) are not approved as meeting the breed standard because the blue signifies low pigmentation.
Since white genes are recessive, white American Bullies must inherit the white gene from both parents. Neither parent has to be white to carry the gene.
They can inherit it from one of their parents. More on this later when we discuss gene recombination.
Merle And Double Merle
Merle American Bullies are extremely rare for a very simple reason. Ethical breeders will not breed with merle dogs (or albino dogs, for that matter) because of the health problems they have.
A merle dog has beautiful patches of different colors on his coat, but lovely though he may be to look at, his life is almost sure to be plagued by health issues.
Merle colors include red merle, blue merle, and cryptic merle and because they’re beautiful and very rare, some people are willing to pay more for merle dogs because they see rarity as having value.
That’s why people sometimes breed two merles with each other (a double merle), and with the recessive genes now finding expression in more ways than one, the poor puppies are almost certain to be destined to have a great many health issues in adulthood.
These may include ear and eye issues, autoimmune illnesses, neurological issues and more.
American Bully Genetics And Coat Color
If you’re interested in breeding American Bullies or are wondering what the results of a certain cross might be, it’s important to know a little about genetics.
Puppies inherit half their genes from their mothers and half from their fathers. The combination forms gene pairs that ultimately determine things like coat color, eye color, and so on.
Dominant And Recessive Genes
Some genes, such as the tan point gene that’s a must for tricolors, are recessive. That means that the gene must be inherited from the mother and the father before it can be expressed.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be an expert to know whether the parents will pass on this gene. If both have tan points, they will both pass on the gene.
Dominant genes will overpower the effect of recessive genes, however. So, a black American Bully definitely has at least one set of the dominant black gene – the gene that it is paired with is hidden and could find expression in the offspring if it pairs with another recessive gene.
Examples Of Gene Combination Probabilities In American Bullies
As we’ve mentioned, two tricolor American Bullies will produce 100 percent tricolor puppies.
When a tricolor is crossed with a non-tricolor who carried the tricolor gene, on average half the puppies will be tricolors while the other half are tricolor carriers.
But do remember that the probability is the same for each fertilized ovum – so it’s possible to have more or less than half the litter being tricolor.
If you were to cross two tricolor carriers, you will know that at least one of each of their parents was a tricolor.
That means that there’s a 25 percent chance of a tricolor pup, 50 percent of getting a tricolor carrier, and 25 percent chance of a non-tricolor carrier.
A tricolor crossed with a non-tri carrier, on the other hand, won’t produce any tricolor pups. But all the pups will be tri carriers and may have tricolor offspring if crossed with tris or other tri carriers.
By now, you’re getting the hang of this, so it comes as no surprise that two non-tri carriers can’t possibly produce either tris or tri carriers.
Now, you can apply this knowledge to other coat color genes. For example, the gene for a black coat is dominant and will overpower any genes for a brown coat. But that doesn’t mean that a black dog can’t have brown puppies.
If he or she carries a gene for another color there’s a 50 percent chance it will be passed on. Whether it’s expressed in the puppies depends on the genes inherited from the other half of the pairing.
If, on the other hand, the black parent has black coat color genes from both of its parents, all the puppies will be black or have black in their coats without exception.
When red genes and black genes combine, something interesting happens: we get brindles!
Color Dilution Genes
Just to add to the fun of doggie genetics, we can throw color dilution genes into the mix.
They mean that the puppies will have a lighter shade of color to the one their parents boast. Red isn’t affected by color dilution genes, but other colors are.
So, a puppy that inherits the genes for a black coat from its parents, but also inherits a double set of color dilution genes will be blue or liver-colored. Remember, there’s more than one gene pair to consider here.
Eye Colors And Nose Colors
While we’re talking about color, let’s take a quick look at eyes and noses. Black, brown, blue, liver or red can all occur as nose colors.
Red noses are particularly highly valued, but a blue coat with a blue or black nose also makes for a charming look.
Eyes can be almost any shade of brown or striking amber. Blue eyes can occur, but blue eyes fall outside the breed standard laid down by the UKC.
Although blue eyes don’t necessarily mean that your dog will go blind or deaf, it’s a gene pairing that’s associated with these problems and is therefore discouraged.
Most Valued American Bully Colors
All the American bully colors are beautiful, and every dog owner is sure to see his or her American Bully as the most beautiful one in the world.
However, we can say that Tricolor bullies are very highly prized as are blues. But don’t let this put you off if you’d love to have a brindle, or admire black or brown.
At the same time, do remember that merles and albinos are prone to health issues, and that people shouldn’t be rewarded for breeding dogs with these genes – beautiful though the animals might be.
There’s an enormous diversity in the American Bully gene pool, so it makes sense to select and use genotypes that promote good health and strength instead of just thinking about looks.
American Bully Colors: Conclusion
As you can see, the huge range of coat colors and markings among American Bullies is part of the fun of owning these playful and affectionate dogs.
And if you’ve chosen an American Bully with markings, it’s quite possible that your pal really is one of a kind in looks and not just personality!
If you’re considering becoming a breeder, please remember that’s is a massive responsibility and is going to cost you a lot of money.
Yes, American Bully pups can fetch a very good price, but once you’ve taken the time, your effort, and veterinary costs into account, your profits may not be as high as you expected.
The top reasons to become a breeder are that you love the breed and want to be part of furthering and improving it.
