Bull Terrier colours and markings
Bull Terriers come in white and in colour, and the difference is more than cosmetic: there is a well-documented association between white coats and congenital deafness. This covers what the breed standard recognises and what the research actually found.
- The standard splits the breed in two: White, and Coloured. For Coloured dogs, brindle is preferred, with black brindle, red, fawn and tricolour also acceptable.
- White does not mean albino. Head markings and skin pigmentation on a white dog are explicitly not penalised.
- The deafness link is real and specific. In a study of 1,060 puppies, 96.29% of the deaf ones had a white coat, and 19.29% of white-coated puppies were deaf in at least one ear.
- Colour is not a guarantee either way. Deafness is heritable in this breed beyond coat colour alone, so coloured dogs can be deaf too.
- BAER testing is the only way to know, and it should be done before a puppy leaves the breeder.
What the breed standard recognises
The Royal Kennel Club breed standard treats the two varieties separately. Quoting the colour section in full, because paraphrasing it is how misinformation starts:
"For White, pure white coat. Skin pigmentation and markings on head not to be penalised. For Coloured, colour predominates; all other things being equal, brindle preferable. Black brindle, red, fawn and tricolour acceptable. Tick markings in white coat undesirable. Blue and liver highly undesirable. Any other colour or combination of colours unacceptable."
| Colour | Standing in the standard |
|---|---|
| White (with or without head markings) | Recognised. Skin pigmentation and head markings not penalised |
| Brindle | Recognised, and preferred among the coloured dogs |
| Black brindle | Recognised |
| Red | Recognised |
| Fawn | Recognised |
| Tricolour | Recognised |
| Ticking in a white coat | Undesirable |
| Blue, liver | Highly undesirable |
| Anything else | Unacceptable |
Two things worth drawing out. A white Bull Terrier with a coloured patch over one eye is still a white dog by the standard, not a coloured one. And "blue" or "liver" dogs, sometimes marketed as rare and priced accordingly, are explicitly outside what the standard wants; treat a breeder advertising them as a flag rather than a find.
White coats and deafness: what the research found
This is the part that actually matters when you are choosing a puppy, and it deserves real numbers rather than vague warnings.
The largest relevant study tested 1,060 English Bull Terrier puppies in England by brainstem auditory evoked response, at 30 to 78 days old (De Risio, Freeman and Lewis, BMC Veterinary Research, 2016). What it found:
| Finding | Figure |
|---|---|
| Puppies deaf in at least one ear | 10.19% |
| Deaf in one ear only | 8.21% |
| Deaf in both ears | 1.98% |
| Puppies with a white coat, with or without a patch | 50.85% |
| Of the deaf puppies, how many were white | 96.29% |
| Of the white puppies, how many were deaf | 19.29% |
| Heritability of hearing status | 0.15 to 0.16 |
Read those two middle rows together, because they say different things. Almost all deafness in the study occurred in white dogs. But being white did not make a dog likely to be deaf: roughly four in five white puppies heard normally in both ears.
The study also found deafness to be heritable independently of coat colour, with a genetic correlation of about -0.36 between hearing status and pigmentation. In plain terms: colour is a strong marker, not the whole mechanism, and a coloured dog is not guaranteed to hear.
What this means when choosing a puppy
- Ask for BAER results for the whole litter, not a verbal assurance. Testing can be done from around five weeks, and a breeder who tests should have paperwork.
- Do not rule out a white puppy on colour alone. Four in five white puppies in the study heard normally, and a BAER-tested white dog is a known quantity.
- Do not assume a coloured puppy hears. Most deaf puppies were white, but deafness is heritable beyond colour.
- Unilateral deafness is the one that gets missed. A dog deaf in one ear responds to sound and seems fine, so it is normally found by testing rather than by observation. It matters for recall and for road safety.
- A deaf dog is not a write-off. Plenty live excellent lives on hand signals and vibration cues. It changes how you train, not whether you can.
Full detail on testing and on living with a deaf dog is in deafness and BAER testing.
Does colour affect anything else?
Two honest answers and one non-answer.
Skin. This breed's thin, sparse coat gives the skin little barrier protection regardless of colour, and atopic skin disease is common across the breed. White dogs show redness and irritation more visibly, which is not the same as having more of it, although unpigmented skin does sunburn more easily. See allergies and skin problems.
Sun. A white dog with pink skin needs more care in strong sun, particularly on the nose and ear tips. Shade and timing do more than anything else.
Temperament. There is no good evidence that coat colour predicts behaviour in this breed, and anyone telling you brindles are calmer or whites are madder is describing their own dogs rather than the breed.
Frequently asked questions
What colours do Bull Terriers come in?
The Kennel Club standard recognises two varieties. White, with head markings and skin pigmentation not penalised. And Coloured, where colour should predominate: brindle is preferred, with black brindle, red, fawn and tricolour also acceptable. Ticking in a white coat is undesirable, blue and liver are highly undesirable, and any other colour is unacceptable.
Are white Bull Terriers more likely to be deaf?
Yes, and the numbers are specific. In a study of 1,060 English Bull Terrier puppies BAER tested in England, 10.19% were deaf in at least one ear, and 96.29% of those deaf puppies had a white coat. Looked at the other way, 19.29% of white-coated puppies were deaf in at least one ear, which means roughly four in five white puppies heard normally.
Can a coloured Bull Terrier be deaf?
Yes. Most deafness in the breed occurs in white dogs, but the same study found hearing status to be heritable independently of coat colour, with a heritability of 0.15 to 0.16. Colour is a strong marker rather than the whole explanation, so a coloured puppy should still be BAER tested.
Are blue or liver Bull Terriers rare?
They are outside the breed standard rather than a prized rarity. The Kennel Club standard describes blue and liver as highly undesirable. A breeder marketing them as rare and pricing accordingly is worth treating with caution, and it is worth asking what health testing has been done before anything else.
Is a white Bull Terrier an albino?
No. A white Bull Terrier has normal eye and skin pigment; the breed standard explicitly says skin pigmentation and head markings are not to be penalised. The white coat comes from the piebald pattern rather than from albinism, which is why many white dogs have a coloured patch, dark eyes and a black nose.
Sources
- The Royal Kennel Club. Bull Terrier breed standard. www.royalkennelclub.com
- De Risio L, Freeman J, Lewis T. "Prevalence, heritability and genetic correlations of congenital sensorineural deafness and coat pigmentation phenotype in the English bull terrier." BMC Veterinary Research. 2016;12:146. bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com
This is general information, not veterinary advice. It cannot account for your individual dog, and nothing here replaces an examination by a vet who can see him. Anything that looks urgent needs a vet now rather than a web page.
Related guides
- Deafness and BAER testing
- The complete owner's guide
- Finding a responsible breeder
- Miniature Bull Terriers
Keep a record worth having
Most Bull Terrier problems are pattern problems, and patterns only appear if something is written down. Log it as it happens and take real data to your vet rather than a recollection.
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