The Lakeland Terrier comes in a wonderful variety of colors. These can range from a lighter shade of wheaten to pure black
Lakeland Terrier Recognised Colors
Lakeland Terrier owners are lucky in the vast range of colors available. This helps ensure every Terrier has their own unique colors and shades.
Wheaten Lakeland Terrier
The Wheaten Lakeland Terrier can often be confused with that of a Red Lakeland Terrier displaying lighter tones. There are however genetic differences between the two. Misleadingly the Wheaten Lakeland will always have a copy of the Dominant Red gene. It is however when this is combined with the wild or tan point gene with the A Locus that the wheaten color comes through. Similar to that of Red it is not dominated by other color genes leading to a high prevalence rate of Wheaten within the breed.
Black Lakeland Terrier
Despite relying on dominant genes to display the Black color it is not the most commonly seen. It is however more common to see Black Lakelands when compared to a few decades ago when there was a low prevalence. There are two different ways for the Black coat to appear within dog breeds, the Lakeland relies on the dominant K locus which is also where the Brindle genetics can be found.
Black and Tan Lakeland Terrier
Black and Tan can present itself in different ways dependent on the genetics of the Lakeland Terrier. The first way is know traditionally as Black and Tan. This is produced by the tan point gene leading to a largely Black dog with tan points usually around its feet and the underside of it’s body. Despite being largely Black it requires the genetics to lack the Dominant Black gene. It instead relies upon the non modifying version of the K gene to allow other genes to show through.
The other way Black and Tan can be seen on the Lakeland is known as Saddle. This refers to the unique way the colors present itself with the Black part being shown on the top half similar to that of a Saddle. It often forms as large Black area as a puppy before slowly fading to a completely Tan dog as they age.
Blue Lakeland Terrier/Grey Lakeland Terrier
Whilst appearing similar in appearance there are actually different gene combinations that lead to the Blue and Grey Lakeland Terrier. They both can be solid in color and usually are variants of the Dominant Black gene.
The Blue Lakeland Terrier relates to recessive genes which can also be referred to as the dilution gene. This leads to a faded version of whatever base color is present within the dog. When combined with the Dominant Black gene of a Lakeland Terrier this leads to a beautiful Blue/Grey effect.
The Grey Lakeland Terrier relies on a different gene to Blue known as the greying gene. This gene is not recessive like the Blue but works in a similar fashion. The main difference is that it will always lead to a Grey color no matter what other colors it interacts with.
Blue and Tan Lakeland Terrier
Blue and Tan can be shown in two different variations much like that of the Black and Tan Lakeland. This refers to the more traditional tan point gene showing a largely Blue Lakeland with diluted tan points on it’s feet and underside of it’s body. This require both the tan gene within the Agouti gene line and the recessive dilution gene. You should expect to the all aspects of this dog including the tan in a lighter version when compared to Black and Tan.
It is also possible to see the Saddle variation of this combination. This will appear with the Lakeland being largely Tan apart from a Blue area on top resembling a saddle. This will be more visible the younger the Lakeland is with it fading more as it reaches old age.
Brindle Lakeland Terrier
Brindle is a unique pattern which can be seen on a number of breeds. This is a commonly seen pattern on dogs such as a Boxer. It displays itself as an almost tiger like pattern with an almost marbling striped effect of Brown/Black. This is a variant of the same gene that can display the solid black color. It requires two copies of the brindling gene in order to display. This is relatively rare within the Lakeland terrier with the non modifying version of this gene being the most commonly seen.
Grizzle and Tan Lakeland Terrier/Domino Lakeland Terrier
Grizzle refers to the presence of a specific gene that can be referred to as the wild gene. This is present in the A locus and needs to be combined with that of the tan point gene in the same part of it’s genetics. The combination of these two genes lead to a wild grizzly look of an everchanging mix of colors. They will be interwoven on an almost hair by hair basis making it difficult to discern what the base color of the Lakeland is.
Liver Lakeland Terrier/Chocolate Lakeland Terrier/Brown Lakeland Terrier
There are two different sets of genetics that can lead to the Liver color within the Lakeland Terrier. It is currently not believed that the cocoa gene is seen within Lakeland Terriers however. This leads to any version of this color being down to the Brown gene which is recessive and seen in the B locus as b. Despite this variation of color having a large number of names it is officially referred to as Liver. It is often seen with Tan leading to the base color of the Lakeland to be that of a Tan dog and the saddle to be the Brown/Liver color.
Red Lakeland Terrier
Red is one of the more commonly seen colors for a Lakeland Terrier. It however can come in a wide variety of shades and it is not fully known as to what leads to the intensity of red showing through. The red coloring is caused by a dominant gene within the agouti locus. Whilst genetically this color is not difficult to breed it does often throw up a lot of variations. It can show itself as light as a pale yellow to a full on red.
Additionally to the Dominant red there is also a variation referred to as a recessive red. This relates to a gene which does not regularly interfere with the overall coat color of the Lakeland. The E gene known as the extension is most commonly known for determining if they will have a black mask or their regular coloring. There is however a recessive gene which inhibits the production of the Black fur, this is known as recessive red. This will lead to a completely red Lakeland, however this like the dominant version can still display in a variety of shades
Red Grizzle Lakeland Terrier
The Red Grizzle Lakeland is similar to that of the Grizzle Lakeland apart from it lacks the tan gene. This leads to a reddish hue to the base coat with both darker and lighter colors interwoven within. This effect is often more prominent on the upper half of the Lakeland.
Lakeland Terrier Unrecognised Colors
Due to the vast number of recognised colors and a large selection of genes there are a number of colors/patterns which aren’t officially recognised.
Isabella Lakeland Terrier/Lilac Lakeland Terrier
Isabella/Lilac are both very similar in color and are a variation of the Blue Lakeland. It is important to first note that Lilac isn’t a color that is know to be seen within Lakeland and this due to the Brown gene required in addition to that of Blue. There are two genes which display the Brown color being the Cocoa gene and the Brown gene. Cocoa with Blue is responsible for Lilac whilst Brown with Blue is Isabella.
Due to the rarity of both of these genes being present and their recessive nature it makes the chances of seeing an Isabella Lakeland very slim. If one was seen it would be highly sought after for breeding reasons due to the variety of puppies it could produce.
Tri-Color Lakeland Terrier
There is nothing officially referred to as Tri-Color with the Lakeland Terrier breed it is however notable that a number of colors do contain three of more shades. Due to the Black mask being seen on the Lakeland it would make any variation not including Black with two colors and this variation Tri-Color. Also the Grizzle effect contains numerous different shades within it’s coat.
Tri-Color dogs are usually only recognised however when they have a number of distinctive patches of different colors on their coat.
