(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/cooltext136330387991348.png) (http://s1112.photobucket.com/user/CharlietheEskimo/media/cooltext136330387991348.png.html)
Sometimes we get bored of making and roleplaying wolf characters don't we? And what do we turn to to satisfy our need to something new and different? Why it's the loyal and diverse domestic dog.
I've seen quite a few dog characters around, and while I enjoy seeing them, they all look the same these 'K9' German shepherds and the pack of entirely black and white Siberian huskies.
Which is why, I've made this guide to show you that not all dogs have to look the same.
(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/cooltext136332860145932_1.png)(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09112015_191407466.png)
This is Byron, the German shepherd dog. A large breed of dog (but smaller than your average grey wolf) and one of the most intelligent, German shepherds are very popular here in the UK and play many roles in human society such as police and military dogs. Byron is a black and tan German shepherd, the most common GSD colouration seen in FH. However, German shepherds can also be solid black, white, red and black, bi-colour, sable, patterned sable, dark sable, black sable, faded black and tan, diluted liver, solid liver, diluted blue, solid blue, black and silver, maskless black and tan, and panda.
Here some examples of colour variations:
(http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/uploads/1/4/7/0/14702016/7593277_orig.jpg)Red and black (http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/uploads/1/4/7/0/14702016/7771838_orig.jpg)Dark sable (http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/uploads/1/4/7/0/14702016/3369383_orig.jpg)Diluted liver (http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/uploads/1/4/7/0/14702016/8791905_orig.jpg)Panda
A lot of people when making German shepherd characters often default to the black and tan or red and black colours with the default 'German shepherd' markings, which are fine but there's a simple way of mixing things up a bit.
The mask marking on the head can be changed to add a bit of variety, rather than constantly using the 'German shepherd' head marking all the time. You may notice that Byron's mask looks a bit different - he has the 'Mask' head marking, which has less coverage but still adds that splash of dark brown or black. The 'Spotted hyena' marking can also be used.
(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09112015_191754984.png)
For those of you who have the Aug 22 markings pack can use the extra German shepherd markings added by the pack which resemble those of the German shepherd characters in the Ginga anime series.
(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09112015_191857903.png)(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09112015_191913891.png)
http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/the-german-shepherd-dog.html (http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/the-german-shepherd-dog.html)(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/cooltext136338319518538.png)
(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09112015_192936032.png)
The Siberian husky, the ultimate puller of sleds and a favourite among wolf-lovers. They're medium-large sized dogs, smaller than the very similar Alaskan malamute. Rosie here is a red Siberian husky with blue eyes, not commonly seen in FH at all. Most husky characters are black or diluted black. Other colours include grey and white, red and white, copper and white, silver and white, agouti and white, solid white, sable, and piebald pattern. Eye colours include blue, brown or odd-eyed where the two eyes are different colours.
Most of these colours should be fairly easy to replicate.
Here are some examples of different coloured huskies:
(http://www.siberianhuskydla.com/ADULT%20DOGS/huskie204.jpg)Black and white (http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu263/wodey2004/100_2068.jpg)Red and white (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Siberian_Husky_agouti.jpg)Sable (http://www.huskycolors.com/images/piebald/piebaldgateway.jpg)Piebald
http://www.huskycolors.com/rescue.html (http://www.huskycolors.com/rescue.html)(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/cooltext137574454037695.png)
(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09122015_181227580.png)
Whenever someone brings up the word 'sheepdog' we nearly always picture a border collie. These highly intelligent herding dogs orginate from the border regions of England, Scotland and Wales. Depicted above is a black tri-colour border collie. Many FH border collies are black and white variety. However, these dogs can also be blue and white, red and white, chocolate and white, lilac and white, golden red and white, champagne and white, sable and white, seal and white, blue tri-colour, red tri-colour, chocolate tri-colour and lilac tri-colour. Some border collies have merle markings as well as. They also nearly always have white markings on the face, underbelly, legs and around the neck.
(http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/uploads/2/2/1/8/2218690/7265541.jpg)Blue and white (http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/uploads/2/2/1/8/2218690/4868751.jpg)Chocolate and white (http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/uploads/2/2/1/8/2218690/7176955.jpg)Red tri-colour (http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/uploads/2/2/1/8/2218690/2542046.jpg)Blue merle
http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/colours--markings.html (http://www.leebearbordercollies.co.uk/colours--markings.html)
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(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09122015_181529275.png)(http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k500/CharlietheEskimo/screenshot_09122015_181419388.png)
The doberman pinscher. He looks intimidating but can be soft as grease when trained properly. They are a large breed that resembles and tall, skinny rottweiler. Traditionally, dobermans had their tails docked and ears cropped (an operation that makes the ears stick up), but since dobermans began being kept as pets rather than working dogs, some keep their full tails and natural folded ears. Doberman colours and markings aren't too dissimilar to those of the rottweiler, perhaps because dobermans can trace back their ancestry to rottweilers, among other breeds. Therefore, the 'Rottweiler' markings provided by the Aug 22 markings pack can double up as Doberman markings.
We see a lot of black and tan dobermans, but they can also be red, fawn, blue, or completely white. Except for white ones, they always have tan markings on their face, shoulders and legs.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4c/22/98/4c2298df81b59fbffaa619ff224d6dd7.jpg)Red and tan w/ cropped ears (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a1/82/cd/a182cd98eaca9ebba3e3ae2d04dc817f.jpg)Black and tan w/ natural ears and tail (http://azworkingdogs.com/images/DobermanAlbino.jpg)White
http://dobermansden.com/doberman-colors/ (http://dobermansden.com/doberman-colors/)
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The Akita Inu is a large dog originating from Japan, originally bred for hunting bears. We've all heard of the Ginga anime series right? The main characters in both of those series were Akita Inus, Gin and Weed. Japanese Akitas can be red and white, fawn and white, or completely white. Some have brindle (stripy) markings. 'Akita Inu' markings found in Aug 22 markings pack or husky markings can suffice to the white face, legs and underbelly. And of course 'Brindle' markings can be used to make a brindle Akita.
It's important not to confuse the Japanese Akita Inu with the American Akita as they are two different breeds of dog with different builds, colours and markings.
(http://www.breedia.com/uploads/dogs/japanese-akita-inu/photos/japanese-akita-inu-59fa5571-a1b0-408e-a0b4-23dfd57afdcc.jpg)Fawn (http://www.japanese-akita.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/RSCN0575.jpg)White (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3e/e1/2a/3ee12a16da88b11c95a5e42721400a52.jpg)Silver brindle