Chihuahuas come in almost every dog color. The AKC standard allows any color, solid, marked or splashed, with one exception: merle, which is a disqualification. The most common Chihuahua colors are fawn, cream, red, black, black and tan, and tri-color. Chocolate, blue, sable and white are less common, and brindle and lavender are rarer still. Color does not change temperament or health on its own, so we always tell families to choose the puppy first and the color last.
Chihuahua coat colors at a glance
This table covers the colors we get asked about most, how often you will find them and the details that matter when you are looking at a listing. "How common" reflects what you will typically see across US breeders, not a registry statistic.
| Color | What it looks like | How common | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fawn | Tan from pale gold to deep beige, black nose | Very common | Often with a black mask or white chest; shade shifts with age |
| Cream | Pale off-white to light buttermilk | Common | Often sold as "white"; ears and back are usually a shade darker |
| Red | Rich copper to deep red-brown | Common | Can deepen through the first year; black or self-colored nose |
| Black | Solid black, often with a white chest or toes | Common | May show a rusty tint after a lot of sun |
| Chocolate | Brown coat with a brown nose, lips and paw pads | Less common | A recessive gene, so both parents must carry it |
| Blue | Slate gray with a gray nose | Less common | A dilute of black; some lines prone to thinning coat (color dilution alopecia) |
| Black and tan | Black body with tan points on brows, cheeks, legs and under the tail | Common | Tan points stay; the black may fade slightly |
| Tri-color | Black, tan and white together | Common | Also seen as chocolate tri or blue tri |
| Sable | Fawn or red hairs tipped in black | Common, especially in long coats | Changes the most as the coat grows in; hard to predict at 8 weeks |
| Brindle | Dark tiger stripes over fawn or red | Uncommon | Accepted by the standard; stripes can be faint on long coats |
| White | Solid white with dark nose and eye rims | Uncommon | True white is rarer than pale cream; check pigment on the nose |
| Merle | Mottled patches of diluted color, often blue or chocolate based | Uncommon | Disqualified under the AKC standard; double merle health risks |
You may also see lavender, sometimes called isabella: a pale gray-brown dilute of chocolate. It needs two recessive genes, one for chocolate and one for dilution, and is often sold at a premium.
Chihuahua markings and patterns
Color is the base coat. Markings are what sit on top of it, and they are where two "fawn" puppies can look completely different.
- Solid: one color all over, sometimes with a few white hairs on the chest.
- White markings: a white chest blaze, toes or tail tip. The most common marking of all.
- Irish: a white collar, chest, legs and often a blaze up the face.
- Piebald or splashed: white body with patches of color. The standard calls this "splashed".
- Black mask: a dark muzzle, most often on fawn and red dogs.
- Points: tan or cream on the eyebrows, cheeks, chest, legs and under the tail, as on black and tans and tri-colors.
- Ticking: small flecks of color inside white areas, which often appear after a few weeks.
Ticking and points are a good example of why an 8 week photo can mislead. A puppy that looks plain white on the chest at birth can be freckled by 4 months.
Do Chihuahua puppies change color?
Yes, and more than most buyers expect. Sables change the most, often going from dark and smoky as newborns to a light fawn with black tipping, or the other way round. Creams can warm to fawn. Reds deepen. Long coats also look different once the adult coat and ear fringes come in at 10 to 18 months; our comparison of long coat vs smooth coat Chihuahuas covers that change. Registration papers list the color the breeder saw when registering, so a dog's papers and its adult coat do not always match.
The best way to guess a puppy's adult color is to look at both parents as adults. Ask us for photos of both parents behind any puppy you are considering.
The merle Chihuahua controversy
Merle is a gene that randomly dilutes patches of pigment, giving a marbled coat and sometimes blue or part-blue eyes. It is striking, and that is the problem: its popularity has outrun its risks.
Why the AKC disqualifies merle
In the late 2000s the AKC Chihuahua standard was revised to make merle a disqualification, after the parent breed club raised concerns about the health risks of merle breeding and about where the gene came from in the breed. A merle Chihuahua cannot be shown in AKC conformation.
Double merle health risks
When two merles are bred together, on average about one in four puppies inherits two copies of the gene. These double merle puppies are often mostly white and have a high rate of deafness, blindness and small or malformed eyes. Some breeders do this knowingly to get "rare" whites.
Cryptic merle
Some dogs carry merle but show little or no visible pattern. Bred to another merle, they can produce double merles by accident. A DNA test for the merle gene settles it. If you are offered a merle puppy, ask for that test on both parents and walk away if one parent is also merle.
Our opinion is simple: merle is not worth the risk in a breed this small, and we would not recommend buying one.
Does color change a Chihuahua's temperament?
No. We hear that reds are feistier and creams are sweeter, but there is no evidence for it. Temperament comes from the parents and from what happens in the first 12 weeks: handling, new sounds, gentle exposure to people and other pets. Two puppies from the same litter in different colors are more alike than two puppies of the same color from different breeders. If you want a calm Chihuahua, meet the mother in person.
Why some Chihuahua colors cost more
Price follows demand, not quality. Colors that need two recessive genes, such as chocolate, blue and lavender, show up less often, so some sellers charge more. Merle and solid white are marketed as rare. In many listings the gap is $500 to $1,500 for color alone. Our guide to how much a Chihuahua costs shows the full price picture.
Here is how we suggest choosing:
- Shortlist puppies by health, parents and temperament first.
- Decide on coat type: browse our long coat Chihuahua puppies or smooth coat Chihuahua puppies.
- Only then let color break the tie.
- If a seller charges much more for a color, ask why, and ask for the parents' DNA results if merle or dilute colors are involved.
You can see every color we have available on our Chihuahua puppies for sale by color page, and each puppy's coat and sex on our Chihuahua puppies for sale page. If you are hoping for a particular color, mention it on your application and we will tell you honestly whether an upcoming pairing is likely to produce it.