The Black & Tan Shiba (2024)

I want to preface this with these are my musings, findings, and observations. I am by no means an expert, just an enthusiast who is always learning and asking questions. My intent with this post was less about venting frustrations and more along the lines of observations and education. This post has been at least 6 months in the making, as I was trying my hardest to formulate my thoughts in a positive and constructive manner.

Black and tan Shiba have a special place in my heart – I mean just look, it is the only color I own. What drives me absolutely nuts is the overall discredit that the color gets in the conformation ring. Shiba are not a red only dog, they naturally come in 4 colors, 3 that are acceptable to show. There is no written preference for red over any of the other 2 acceptable colors (sesame and black & tan). To directly quote the AKC Shiba Inu standard “the three allowed colors given equal consideration.”

Hell, the 2014 NIPPO Grand National Prime Minister (Souridaijinsho) award winner was a black & tan male. For the 2022 NIPPO Grand National, the best male and best female Shiba were – surprise – black and tan! How is it that black and tans can and have done well in the top Japanese show (think the Super Bowl of dog shows) while in America they are practically invisible? Is it politics? Lack of good judge’s education? Or is it that red is the safe choice? I mean look at any big American show like the yearly National, regional specialties, and Royal Canin – a majority of the specials are red and most of the winners are red. Where are the black and tans? Where are the sesames?

Black and tan, as a color, does have a lot of little nuances that need to be followed. I’ve been repeatedly told that it is much easier to get a correctly colored red – bright flame orange, no black tipping, strong face color (color around eyes and to the nose), good urajiro (white markings a Shiba must have), and a bow tie pattern on the front. Side note: I have also have seen incorrectly colored reds get rewarded over nice black and tans. So I do dare say it is not a color thing but a lack of good education for the judges and possibly the judge making ‘safe’ choices.

Black and tan is not black and white. The dog still needs to have tan markings, in harmony with the pattern. The black in a black and tan is not pitch, shiny, blue black but a more matte black, and from my understanding, red tones in the coat. Black and tans should have eye dots, not eyebrows or glasses/googles of tan. Eye dots should be circular in shape, similar to if you stuck the tip of your thumb in ink and placed it on paper. To me, a lot of tan ruins the expression of the Shiba, which is a hallmark of the breed.

Astrid’s eye dot shape and color.

Delilah’s eye dot shape and face color. (Nekora x Zorro)

Tsubaki’s eye dot shape and face color. (Astrid x Zorro)

Nekora’s eye dot shape and face color.

Hanzo’s eye dot shape and face color. (Nekora x Taka)

A correct, overall coat of the black and tan is in my humble opinion, a thing of beauty. The black and tan Shiba has an undercoat of red, grey, and/or buff. It is striking when the sun hits the coat, and you see that indeed it is not just a pitch-black dog with tan points. This is probably the hardest thing to achieve in producing a correct black and tan. It seems to be more common to have this undercoat around the neck, hindquarters, and ears. It is harder to get the obvious, even distribution of this undercoat color throughout the entire coat.

Astrid’s coat color

Delilah’s coat color. Her coat lacks the undercoat color but she is not blue black. Her color faults is the amount of tan on her face, lack of undercoat color, and she is rather shiny.

Tsubaki’s coat color. She is a half sister to Delilah, they share the same sire. Tsubaki’s mother, Astrid is a half cousin to Nekora who is Delilah and Hanzo’s mother.

Nekora’s coat color

Hanzo’s coat color. Ironically Hanzo is from a black & tan to black & tan breeding, a taboo breeding as black & tan to black & tan is thought to produce pitch/solid black coats with tan points. My theory is black & tans with good coat color breed together will/should produce good color but in order to avoid incorrect color the following generation should be bred back to a red. In a perfect world I would love to see how many generations of great undercoat black & tan breedings it would take to produce a incorrect coat color.

Another added difficulty is the chest markings. All Shiba, regardless of color, should have bow tie pattern on their chest. It is harder to keep it a clear definite bow tie shape, and the little (for a lack of a better description) individual bars above the bow tie are not required on a black and tan (from my understanding) but seem to be preferred by Japanese fanciers. (bars similar to the first picture.)

Different chest markings on a black & tan. Top 3 have that extra white marking, while I was told is not required it seems to be preferred. Bottom 2 have no extra white markings.

From the AKC Shiba Inu standard. Parts about red or sesame only have been omitted due to the fact that this article is about Black and Tans.

Color

Coat color is as specified herein, with the three allowed colors given equal consideration. All colors are clear and intense. The undercoat is cream, buff or gray.

Urajiro (cream to white ventral color) is required in the following areas on all coat colors: on the sides of the muzzle, on the cheeks, inside the ears, on the underjaw and upper throat inside of legs, on the abdomen, around the vent and the ventral side of the tail… On blacks and sesames: commonly as a triangular mark on both sides of the forechest. White spots above the eyes permitted on all colors but not required.

Black with tan points and urajiro. Black hairs have a brownish cast, not blue. The undercoat is buff or gray. The borderline between black and tan areas is clearly defined. Tan points are located as follows: two oval spots over the eyes: on the sides of the muzzle between the black bridge of the muzzle and the white cheeks; on the outside of the forelegs from the carpus, or a little above, downward to the toes; on the outside of the hind legs down the front of the stifle broadening from hock joint to toes, but not completely eliminating black from rear of pasterns. Black penciling on toes permitted. Tan hairs may also be found on the inside of the ear and on the underside of the tail.

Instead of completely reinventing the wheel, these two resources are an excellent break down of information on judging the Shiba Inu including the nitty gritty of the black and tan color. Here is a link to the National Shiba Club of America’s judge’s education seminar. Slides 42 – 47 are about the Black and Tan color in Shiba. There is also the National Shiba Club of America’s judge study guide.

Below is a scan of an article from the Japanese Shiba Inu club of Great Britain written by Nobi Astumi. This was published in 2002. I feel this is excellent information to share, as I will not rewrite the article or claim it is my own.