Crooked Star Bulldog has made a significant financial investment in our Old English Bulldogge and French Bulldog operations.  Although the structure is always first and foremost, we receive a lot of questions regarding color and why certain colors are more expensive than other colors.

People often wonder why lilacs, blues, and chocolates are more expensive than others.  Simply answer – 1) genetics and 2) supply and demand.

In a nutshell, in order to obtain any of those color combinations, you need the help of “recessive” genes and you need them in “double doses”.  For a bulldog to “present” one of these colors, BOTH parents have to carry the recessive gene or genes AND BOTH parents have to pass that recessive gene(s) to the puppy.

The term “triple carrier” simply means the dog carries the Blue, Black, and Chocolate.  Lilac is NOT a color by itself, it is a product of a certain genetic sequence (formula).

A simple analogy is to explain that if you have a yellow crayon and a blue crayon in your crayon box, you can mix them together and make green. It does not mean that your crayon box has three crayons – you still only have two (yellow and blue) but the two mixed together can make green. If you were to sell your crayon box and imply that there are three crayons inside and not just two, it would be misleading.

Lilac

This color is a variation of “d” genes that dilute black to blue and in this case lilac, it is chocolate diluted to lilac. It is in combination with the “b” (brown) gene. Because lilac-colored bulldogs carry a double dose of “d” they are true dilutes.  Lilac color is noticeably different than your typical blue. The coat will usually have a purplish tint or champagne color. Lilac bulldogs are born and remain this color, unlike blue fawn pups that sometimes lose the blue overtones of their coat as they mature. Lilac bulldogs have a self-colored nose that often apprears lavender or dark purple.  In short, because the lilac color is based on chocolate AND chocolate dogs never have a black nose, a lilac dog will also NOT have a black nose.

Note: When these dogs are color DNA’d, you will see the double dose combination of dilute “dd” and most of the time “bb”. There are currently four different shades of Lilac from lighter to darker.

Lilac Tri

Lilac bulldogs that express the tan point gene are called lilac tris. They are fairly rare and highly sought after. The lilac color will be in combination with white and tan.

Blue

What most people call the “blue gene” is actually a “dilute gene”. As with the lilac color, this means that the gene dilutes the original color. Blue bulldogs are no more than a black dog that has been diluted in color. If you imagine mixing in a little bit of white paint into black paint, you will get a dark charcoal color. Mix a little more white & get the nice slate gray color that most people refer to as blue. In the Scientific Color Spectrum, this dilution can have hundreds of different shades from dark charcoal to white with a blue base. The nose, eyeliner, and pads should be self-colored (slate grey). Blue bulldogs can also tend to have lighter eye color than your standard colored bulldog. It’s not uncommon for a blue bulldog to have bright blue eyes that stay permanent with the dog past the puppy stage. Others can have tints of light green, hazel, amber, and many other beautiful colors.

Blue Tri

Blue and white with tan points and patterns. This is one of our favorite colors in bulldogs. Something about the way the white contrasts the blue and tan combination makes this color one of the most stunning that you will ever come across. The blue can vary from light slate blue to a dark blue, and every shade in between.

Blue and Tan

Blue and Tan bulldogs have a very similar look to the blue tri bulldogs. The only difference with blue and tan compared to blue tri is that there are less markings on the dog and usually only a small patch on the chest. Most often, blue and tan bulldogs have tan legs and their markings are very symmetrical, whereas blue tri the combination of white, blue, and tan can be mixed in very random patterns, creating some very striking markings. Not to say that blue and tan is not beautiful. Either way, the dogs are marked, blue and tan and blue tri bulldogs are some of the most sought after in the world.

Chocolate

Chocolate works the same way as blue. At the chocolate loci exist the two alleles “B” and “b”. Bulldogs can either be “B-B” (non-chocolate), “B-b” (chocolate-carriers), or “b-b” (chocolate). “B” is dominant to “b”; therefore,  only those dogs with a “b-b” genotype will express the chocolate color. Chocolate is similar to a dilution as it acts upon black pigment and hairs and can create such color patterns as solid chocolate, chocolate brindle, chocolate masked fawn, chocolate pied, chocolate with tan points, chocolate tri, etc.

Chocolate Tri

Chocolate and white with tan points and patterns. Just like the blue tri, the chocolate tri bulldog has a very head-turning appearance. Chocolate, Tan, and White are visually seen and can have variances in markings. The chocolate can range from dark chocolate to light chocolate, and every shade in between.

Chocolate and Tan

These dogs look very similar to the blue and tan bulldogs, only chocolate-colored instead of blue. Usually, the only place white will show up is a little on the chest. The nose and pads are always liver-colored. Eyes on chocolate and tan bulldogs tend to look very light and many times have a very yellow or gold appearance.