If a Chi’s fur goes through a color transition, this usually happens over the course of the first 18 months.
What Causes Fur to Change Color
Like many other breeds, all Chihuahuas are born with a ‘puppy coat’ which is soft, fine fur. As they mature, their puppy coat slowly transitions over to their adult coat. For some Chihuahuas, this change is barely noticeable; color may stay relativity the same and the fur will simply feel a bit denser. But, for others, the adult fur that grows will undergo a distinct color change.
What Type of Color Changes Can Occur?
Very drastic changes can be ruled out. For example, a red sable cannot change into a solid cream. A black and white puppy cannot mature into a brindled tan, etc.
However, there are lots of changes that can happen. Fur can lighten or darken, markings can diminish or grow larger, patterns (like sable or brindle) can fade or intensify.
In addition to this, as a Chihuahua ages, grey hairs can start appearing. Though you might assume this is something that would only happen to senior dogs in the double digits (age 10 and up), it can actually start much sooner.
Details and Examples of Color Changes with Chihuahuas
Sable Fades
Sable refers to dark tipped hairs over any color base. Chihuahua can be cream sables, red sables, tan sables, etc. Sable fading away is one of the most common color changes that happens to Chihuahua. When this occurs, the Chi will usually look lighter overall, since those dark hairs fall away, typically revealing a lighter base coat underneath.
Cute little Pablo here, is a great example of this. The first photo shows him at 3 months old; there is lots of sable in his coat. The second photo was just 11 months later at the age of 14 months; most of the sable is gone. He looks just as adorable, but clearly has a much different color coat.
Photos courtesy of Leone
Sable Intensifies
Much more infrequently, sable can become more prominent. When this happens, the early puppy coat will hold some amount of sable, even if it is barely noticeable and even if it appears in just a small patch. How much it increases will vary. However, one thing is constant: when sable grows in, a Chihuahua will look darker overall since the dark or black-tipped hairs will create a layer over the base color.
An excellent example of this is pretty Sophie. In the first photo, she is 4 months old. You can see some sable on her table and shoulders. The second photo, taken at about 6 months old, shows how dark her coat became. Taking a look at her back, you can see that lots of black tipped hairs (sable) grew in.
Photos courtesy of Shirley Williams
Brindle Can ChangeBrindle is a striped pattern of various colors. It can be light or dark and thin or thick. And, when the puppy coat changes over to the adult coat, the brindle can change as well. Like sable, if it fades, a Chihuahua will look lighter overall. And if it intensifies, a Chihuahua will look darker overall.
The transition can be very subtle like with adorable Dobby here, seen below. As a young pup, there was brindle all along the muzzle, up close against the nose. But, as a 4-year-old young adult Chihuahua, the brindle has faded down a bit and you can see more white fur in this area.
Photos courtesy of Sandra Schluter
White or Colored Markings on a Chihuahua Can ChangeThough brindle and sable are technically markings, there are also other types of markings that a Chihuahua can have including a mask (coloring around the eyes) and spotted markings (most often white over another base color) that can appear anywhere on the body.
There are kiss marks (spots on the cheeks), eyebrows can hold their own color, and white can run up between the eyes and up over the forehead (called a blaze with it holds the same width or a flare when it widens).
Any sort of spot can become smaller or larger as a Chihuahua’s coat changes. And, it can fade or intensify in color.
Full Coat Color ChangeAs we touched on earlier, some drastic types of color changes simply are not possible, such as a red Chihuahua turning into a white Chihuahua or a solid black transitioning into a tan with white spots. But there can definitely be other less extreme transformations.
A common change is a white coat turning into a cream coat, which can be a bit upsetting to those that spent more money for a supposed solid white Chihuahua. Aside from that, most full-body color changes with Chihuahuas tend to be from dark to light. So, it is also common for a red to fade down to an orange and a chocolate Chihuahua (which is based on nose color) with brown fur to slowly develop lighter tan fur.
A good example of a Chihuahua’s main color changing over time is beautiful Mia here, seen below.
As a young pup of just 3 months old, her coat was a very light cream and you can barely see her flare (line of white running between her eyes and up over her forehead) since it’s almost the same color as her main body.
Then, jump ahead to Mia at 2 years old. Her adult fur is now a nice fawn and that flare is much more noticeable now.
Photos courtesy of Mike and Lori
Gray Hairs Growing in on an Adult ChihuahuaAs we touched on earlier, dogs can develop gray hairs as they age, much like us humans do. However, the most notable difference is the age at which this happens. With the Chihuahua breed, gray hairs can grow in as early as the 5-year mark which is the age equivalent of 36 human years, though it most often occurs closer to the 8-year mark which is the equivalent of 48 human years, if it is indeed going to happen.
Gray fur can develop just about anywhere on the body; however, it normally happens around the face, on the head, and/or on the chest.
An excellent example of this sort of color change is handsome Chapito. As a younger Chihuahua, his black and tan coat had no gray at all (though he does have a small white spot on his chest). But, jump ahead to Chapito now at the age of 5 years old, and he is growing lots of gray on his muzzle. Don’t you think it makes him look very distinguished?
Photos courtesy of Anna
Ticking: Dark Spots Appearing on White FurTicking refers to dark spots over white areas of fur and it can only occur when the fur is white due to the S locus gene (the spotting gene). So, you usually won’t see this change happen on solid white Chihuahuas.
Some breeds (the Chihuahua is not one of them) can have ticking over their entire body, in which case it is referred to as roan); but with Chihuahuas ticking typically appears on the legs and/or muzzle.
A Chihuahua can be born with ticking, but in other instances, it can develop as the Chi grows. When it develops over time, this is one of the most interesting and rare color changes that can happen with Chihuahuas.
Note that a Chihuahua can carry the ticking gene (the T locus) but not have any white on their body, and therefore the dark spots will not show but that gene can be passed down.
A wonderful example of ticking color on a Chihuahua that grew in over time is little Booley (Boo). Seen here at 11 weeks old, he has no ticking at all (the white areas on his coat do not have any spots).
In this next photo Boo is 16 months old and is showing off the ticking on his front legs. There is also a bit of spotting on his rear saddle.
Photo courtesy of Betty Cooper