25 Beagle Coat Colors & Markings (With Pictures)
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Beagles are best known for three things: Snoopy, their big floppy ears, and their amazing sense of smell. They were originally used for chasing rabbits in Elizabethan England, and Beagles continued to prove their worth as hunters long after the arrival of firearms, sniffing out game birds that fell into deep brush.
Nowadays, Beagles are bomb sniffers, therapy dogs, and companions for families all over the world. If you’re looking to adopt a Beagle and want to know about the available coat colors, you’ve come to the right place.
The American Kennel Club recognizes 25 Beagle color combinations and six markings for a total of 150 possible coats. However, that’s probably not the exact number. Some combinations are rare, while each color is divided into multiple shades. All official colors are different combinations and markings of the following seven colors.
Beagle Coat Colors & Markings Overview
We could just say, “No two Beagles are alike,” and leave it at that. We want to help you get a sense of what to look for, though, so we’ll discuss the colors individually. While you read, remember that you’re likely to see these in a wide variety of combinations.
The 11 AKC Standard Beagle Color Combinations
The 11 AKC Standard Beagle Color CombinationsThese coats are the AKC’s official “breed standard,” describing what a perfect example of the breed should look like.
1. Black and Tan Beagle
A black and tan Beagle is almost entirely black, including on their back, body, sides, ears, tail, and across some of their face. Tan markings can appear on the tip of the tail, the edges of the ears, other parts of the face, and sometimes the chest, legs, and rear end.
2. Black, Red, and White (Tri-Colored) Beagle
A black, red, and white tri-color Beagle has a large “saddle” of black across their back, reaching as far as their sides, neck, and tail. “Red” isn’t bright scarlet but is similar to human red hair. Red appears on the head, ears, and around the eyes of these Beagles, plus their thighs, their butts, and undersides of their tails. Their paws, chests, muzzles, and the tips of their tails are white.
3. Black, Tan, and Bluetick Beagle
“Ticking” is a freckled pattern of small dots and patches along one color area of the Beagle’s coat. Bluetick is a faded shade of gray with scattered dots and patches of darker, near-black gray. In some light, it looks almost blue.
A black, tan, and bluetick tri-colored Beagle has patches of black on their head, face, ears, back, and the base of their tail. Bluetick surrounds the black patches, covering everything but the Beagle’s muzzle and paws, which are tan or copper brown.
4. Black, Tan, and White Beagle
The Black, tan, and white tricolor Beagle coat is probably the most recognizable coat. It makes you say, “Yep, that’s a Beagle.”
A big black patch starts on this Beagle’s back and curves around their belly, rising as far as halfway up their tail. Tan patches appear on their head, ears, and upper legs, with white on the Beagle’s neck, chest, muzzle, paws, and at the tip of their tail.
5. Black, White, and Tan Beagle
A black, white, and tan Beagle usually has a larger patch of black than a black, tan, and white Beagle, though they still have white on their chest, legs, and tail. Patches of tan are confined to their head, hindlegs, and shoulder.
6. Blue, Tan, and White Beagle
In contrast to a bluetick coat, which is gray flecked with spots, this tricolor coat has a solid gray that’s light and silvery enough to appear blue. Blue, tan, and white tricolor Beagles are close to black, tan, and white tricolors but express a gene for dilute color that turns their black patches into light blue-gray.
7. Brown and White Beagle
Brown and white Beagles have white coats with scattered patches of brown. These typically occur on the eyes, ears, upper back, and base of the tail. Some brown patches can get pretty big, but these bicolor Beagles usually have more white than brown.
Both breeders and owners of Beagles like to refer to a dark brown shade as “chocolate.” While chocolate is a common coat color, AKC doesn’t consider it different from brown, so we’ve decided not to list it separately.
8. Brown, White, and Tan Beagle
A brown, white, and tan Beagle has a large brown patch covering their entire back, reaching from their neck to their rear legs and partway up their tail. The tip of their tail and four legs are white, as are their chest and sometimes their muzzle.
You’ll find small tan markings where the white and brown intersect, as well as on the Beagle’s head and ears.
9. Lemon and White Beagle
When it comes to Beagle colors, “lemon” means a pale golden color that comes off as yellow in some light. Lemon and white Beagles have white on their paws, tails, and muzzles. Anywhere else is fair game for an unpredictable, piebald pattern of lemon patches.
10. Red and White Beagle
A red and white bicolor Beagle’s coloration is very similar to a lemon and white bicolor, but the pied patches are red instead of golden yellow. Just like with the red tricolor Beagles, the shade of red can be anywhere from pale to deep chestnut.
11. Tan and White Beagle
The tan and white coat, the last of the officially standard bicolor Beagles, can have light brown patches on their ears, lower tail, and anywhere on their back and sides. Occasionally, one might have just enough black fur to be visible, though not enough to be called a tricolor.
Non-Standard Beagle Colors & Combinations
Non-Standard Beagle Colors & CombinationsThe AKC recognizes the following Beagle colors, but for various reasons, they aren’t considered suitable coat colors for a “perfect” Beagle. Some are too rare to be part of the standard, while others create health risks or haven’t been reliably bred yet.
12. Black
Any Beagle of a solid color is rare. However, Beagles can be born entirely black or with so little of any other color that they’re nearly all-black.
13. Black and White Beagle
Did you know that Beagles change color throughout their lives? There are several black-and-white Beagle puppies, but they frequently “break” into new colors as they grow older, and breeders must change their registration color up to three times.
14. Black, Fawn, and White
Fawn is a dilute red. You’ll also see it called a “cream,” “ivory,” or “isabella” color. A black, fawn, and white Beagle is a red tricolor (see #2) that strongly expresses the gene that dilutes and fades color.
15. Black, Tan, and Redtick Beagle
Just like a black, tan, and bluetick Beagle (see #3), but with a ticked pattern of red fur instead of blue. The redtick coat commonly consists of darker red flecks on a paler background.
16. Blue Beagle
The blue coat is black with the dilute gene. Like solid blacks, solid blues are rare.
17. Blue and White
You’re probably seeing the pattern now: this is a dilute black and white Beagle. Many puppies are born with this color, only to change out of it as they grow.
18. Brown
Like the blue and black coats, a completely brown Beagle is rare.
19. Lemon
A lemon Beagle’s entire coat is a diluted gold. Like all the solid colors, you won’t see many lemon coats, but they sure are cute.
20. Red Beagle
A red Beagle comes with an entirely red coat. Again, this red comes in plenty of shades.
21. Red and Black
A bicolor red and black Beagle has red as their base coat color, with black marks or patches on top. They’re more common than the solid colors, but not by much.
22. Red, Black, and White
A tricolor Beagle has a red base color with black and white patches or markings.
23. Tan Beagle Color
A tan Beagle has a solid tan or copper coat.
24. White Beagle
A white Beagle is technically different from a full albino, which hasn’t yet been proven possible for Beagles. White dogs are controversial since the lack of pigment around their eyes can make them extremely sensitive to light. Ethical breeders will do everything they can to avoid producing a white litter and won’t mate the dogs if they are born.
25. White, Black, and Tan
A white, black, and tan Beagle has a white base coat with black and tan patches and markings.
Wrap Up
Wrap UpWhile you may have an aesthetic preference, you might also wonder if the coat color matters. Regarding their health and comfort, the answer is almost certainly no. Unless you have a pure white Beagle, no coat color requires special considerations or is extra vulnerable to ailments.
Outside of your personal preference, color only matters if you plan to enter your Beagle into dog shows. In that case, you’ll want to find a Beagle with one of the 11 standard colors listed above.
- See also: 3 Types of Beagles and Their Differences
Featured Image Credit: Sava312, Shutterstock
