Solid black with white patch on chest undesirable??

[RainbowClaire]

Hi everyone,

we are looking for a new family member and are looking at solid blacks - but we have noticed that there are quite a few around that aren't 'solid black' - they have a bit of white on their chest.  Is this o.k or undesirable.
We are just starting to get into dog showing finding it really fun so we would like a cocker who would do well. Would the white bit on the chest be a problem?

many thanks

[Jane S]

The Standard says no white is allowed on solids except on the chest but doesn't say how much white is permissible. If it's just a little bit of white on the chest, that's absolutely fine but you might find that a really big patch on the chest wouldn't go down well with judges so in practice you want as little white as possible.

[sharesy]

When I first went to see the litter we got Kalli from they all had white on them somewhere, but none of them have now it seemed to disappear.

[tracey]

If the puppies are of all solid breeding then any white on the chest usually gets lighter or even disappears completely, no guarantee though.  If there is particolour breeding in the pedigree then any white will usually stay.

If you are intending to show then you need to speak to breeders of dogs that you like the look of and who have had some success themselves as they will be able to advise you on the best puppy for show, you may need to wait a while though if you want he opportunity of purchasing a puppy with show potential.

Good luck

[DennyK]

Jane - how much is " a little bit" in your opinion?  Paddy has one cluster of white hair, about 5mm square, in the centre of his chest.  I actually cut the hair around it shorter to make it stand out: looks like a cute little tassel - but would that be "too much" for showing do you think?  Also - would the small amounts of white hair he has in his groin area rule him out on the "only on the chest" rule?

[Jane S]

Jane - how much is " a little bit" in your opinion?  Paddy has one cluster of white hair, about 5mm square, in the centre of his chest.

That would count as a little bit in my book I also wouldn't be too worried about the odd white hair elsewhere either, specially if they're in the groin area which presumably isn't visible unless he's lying on his back waving his legs in the air

[lolajays]

Maudie has about 10 white hairs in her groin area but she also has some on one of her toes! Fortunately for us we dont want to show her anyway! I think this is why her owners decided to get rid of her! Never mind its their loss and our gain!

[Coco]

When wherry was a pup she had a large white patch on her chest extending to her tummy and some white on the tips of her toes, now it has all but gone. In fact the second  picture below probably looks more white than there really is.





When we were looking, we origionally wanted solid black but found they were quite hard to come by. Id say 1:7 solids to white chested

[Jane S]

Wherry's a Working Cocker so the situation's a bit different. There isn't the separation between solid and particolour lines as there is in show Cockers and it's quite common to find mainly solid coloured working Cockers with varying degrees of white since breeders wanting a working dog are naturally not bothered about markings.

[Coco]

Yes, sorry, I should have pointed out that Wherry is working and we did just look at working. 
Really I just mean to point out that in Wherry's case the white chest really grew out an awful lot. I understand that in showing it's a whole different story due to regs etc but just to say it may grow out somewhat.
Good luck in the search!

[Tasha]

Ayla had a big white patch on her chest but as she's gotten older it has almost disappeared, I rather liked it meant she was easily visable