I answered a color question on the general message forum as follows...I would love to hear your comments and opinions on the subject.

The AKC defines piebald or pied as:

Piebald: Covered with patches of two colors, especially black and white. Color definitions may vary by breed. Always check the breed standard for the definitive color description.

Pied: Patches of white and another color. Color definitions may vary by breed. Always check the breed standard for the definitive color description.

The Bulldog breed standard states:
Color of Coat
The color of coat should be uniform, pure of its kind and brilliant. The various colors found in the breed are to be preferred in the following order: (1) red brindle, (2) all other brindles, (3) solid white, (4) solid red, fawn or fallow, (5) piebald, (6) inferior qualities of all the foregoing. Note: A perfect piebald is preferable to a muddy brindle or defective solid color. Solid black is very undesirable, but not so objectionable if occurring to a moderate degree in piebald patches. The brindles to be perfect should have a fine, even and equal distribution of the composite colors. In brindles and solid colors a small white patch on the chest is not considered detrimental. In piebalds the color patches should be well defined, of pure color and symmetrically distributed.

These definitions help, but still leave it open to questions...

In my mind...if the predominant(greater than 50%) color is white, I call them piebald; if the predominant color is red, I call them red & white.

I hope that if the standard is updated, the definition of piebald will be one of the clarifications.



Cathy Miller
Mars Hill Bulldogs
www.marshillbulldogs.com
www.myspace.com/mars_hill_bulldogs