Skip to content

Brindle Rottweiler: Meet the Rare Tiger Stripe Coat

Brindle Rottweiler

Rottweilers are purebred dogs that make loyal, loving, confident guardians as family members.

They are a large breed of dog with the most affection towards their family members that you can imagine, making them a perfect addition to your home and family.

The AKC and Brindle Rottweilers

The American Kennel Club (AKC) only recognizes specific colors and patterns on Rottweilers as purebred and registered.

The AKC’s explanation of the specific breed colors and markings is that a Rottweiler must have a black body and can have mahogany, tan, or rust markings.

The markings must be in specific areas, such as a spot over each eye that looks much like eyebrows and on each side of the muzzle on the cheeks that don’t touch the nose.

The lighter-colored markings should also appear on the throat and both sides of the chest in a uniform pattern, on all four legs and on the tail.

The tail is often docked by breeders, but the markings will still be present on the underside of the tail.

Brindle Rottweilers don’t follow this color and coat pattern, so the AKC doesn’t recognize them as registered dog breeds.

However, just because you can’t use this great pet for a show dog doesn’t mean that he can’t be the star of your family as a pet and four-legged family member.

The Brindle Coloration and Coat Patterns in Rottweilers

Brindle coats are quite stunning on any dog–but especially on larger breeds of dogs. The coats are often described as tiger-striped because they look quite like a tiger’s coat.

Brindle Rottweilers are usually light gold, brown, fawn, red or tan with dark stripes of black, dark brown, or even gray.

It’s a coat and color pattern that only some breeds of dogs inherit from their ancestors or from not being entirely purebred dogs. It doesn’t appear in all breeds of dogs, and many people seek a dog that is brindle for its beauty.

The brindle coat pattern is more common in breeds of dogs with short hair. Occasionally, you may see a long-haired dog with a brindle coat, but it’s hard to distinguish because of the long hair that distorts the pattern.

The brindle pattern looks different from one dog to another, even if they are in the same litter.

Some dogs may have so much brindling color that you can barely see that there is an underlying lighter color on them. Others have more like spots or irregular splotches instead of tiger stripes. Other dogs can have a few areas that display brindling, but not over their entire body.

A red brindle Rottweiler will have a brindling effect with a deep red color to the stripes, while a blue brindle has bluish-gray stripes for this brindling on the lighter background color.

There is also a non-traditional brindle color that may appear every so often on a Rottweiler.

It has brindling stripes so thick you can barely see the lighter color underneath or only in a few places. The dark color can also be so dark black that the dog appears to be a solid black rottweiler.

What Makes a Brindle Colored Rottweiler?

The amazing brindle coat color and pattern are caused by a recessive gene in the dog’s genetic code.

Each of the two-parent dog’s genes for the same trait mixes to form the puppy’s trait. The color gene in most traditional colored Rotties is black and dominant.

When two black dominant genes combine, the base coat of the puppy will be black. Also, if one parent carries the recessive black gene and one has the dominant black gene, the dominant black will still make the base coat of the puppies black.

If a litter of pups was to inherit two recessive black genes with one from each parent, the pups would be recessive for black and make the coat color lighter to be a brindle litter of puppies.

Other genes will control the size of the stripes and color, but these are not identified, so it’s impossible to know if brindle puppies from a litter will have thick or thin stripes or if they will cover only certain areas or most of the body.

Are Brindle Rottweilers Really Rare?

Brindle Rottweilers are rare because most breeders only breed this type of dog, so they can be registered with the AKC and participate in dog shows.

You will have to search far and wide to find a Rottweiler with this color and coat pattern, but they are a sight to behold when you find one.

Is There a Correlation Between Rottweilers and Mastiffs?

Yes, there is a correlation between Rottweilers and Mastiffs. The Rottweiler is a descendant of a Mastiff, a robust working breed dog in ancient Rome.

The Rottweiler is considered a type of Mastiff. You can find purebred brindle Mastiffs, but they are not very common, just as the brindle Rottweiler is not common.

Brindle Mastiffs will have the same markings as a Brindle Rottweiler with a darker nose and eyes, apricot-colored base coats, and a small patch of white fur on the chest.

The AKC recognizes a brindle Mastiff as a working-class dog and can be registered and shown as show dogs.

It’s important to note that the genetics of a particular dog or puppy can date back to 4 or 5 generations before their generation. You may find a brindle Rottweiler that takes after the Mastiff side of the family to be brindle in color. This would make the pooch a purebred Rottweiler that is brindle in color.

How Much Does a Brindle Rottweiler Cost?

Since brindle Rottweilers are rare, they are much more expensive than a traditionally colored and marked Rottie.

You can expect to pay anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 for an AKC Rottweiler with the standard colors.

Most breeders with rare brindle coat colors will charge more because they are a rare color. Depending on the breeder, a brindle Rottweiler puppy costs between $3,000 to $4,000.

Since these are very hard to come by, you may decide to get a Rottweiler mix of some sort that has brindle coloration on it.

When choosing a mixed breed, you can choose another breed that is about the same size and has the same temperament or a smaller breed of dog to scale down the size of the larger breed Rottie.

Brindle Rottweiler Health Issues

As with all breeds of dogs, whether a toy breed or a giant breed or anywhere in between these two sizes, specific breeds have genetic codes that predispose them to certain health issues and diseases handed down from their bloodlines.

Rottweilers can often have hip dysplasia, a condition where the bones don’t fit right in the hip joints, eye, and heart.

The good news is that if you get a puppy or dog from a reputable breeder, they will have screened both parent dogs before breeding them together to get your litter of pups.

Good breeders will only breed dogs without serious health problems and will give you paperwork from a vet showing the parents are disease-free.

You should also get a health guarantee on your new four-legged family member.

Rottweilers are a beautiful and elegant breed of dog, and if you can find one in a brindle coat color and pattern, you should add it to your family.

He will give you years of love and be a guardian for your entire family while being loving, loyal, and playful.