# Can American Eskimo Dogs Be Red? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565 "2008-04-01T19:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![utterlyuseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@utterlyuseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/utterlyuseless)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/1 "2008-04-01T19:08:17Z")
There is a dog that I always see walking around, (his owner takes him). Today I saw him tied up in front of a store. So I waited and asked the owner what kind of dog he was. She said she didn’t know and she got him from the pound. I looked on the Internet and found he looks JUST like an American Eskimo Dog, except he’s red, well not red but like a rust colored orange/red. But other than the color he looks just like the picture of an American Eskimo dog. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/2 "2008-04-01T19:14:13Z")
How big? Is he as fluffy as American Eskimo Dogs? Sounds like a Shiba Inu. ---
**Author:** ![utterlyuseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@utterlyuseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/utterlyuseless)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/3 "2008-04-01T19:24:53Z")
If you go to Google and do a search for American Eskimo Dog [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=american+eskimo+dog](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=american+eskimo+dog) You come up with pictures and the dog looks EXACTLY like that. he is VERY VERY Fluffy and very personable. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/4 "2008-04-01T19:32:45Z")
My first thought was the [Kleinspitz](http://www.spitze-baden.de/kleinspitz300.jpg), or German Spitz. Many of the little spitzen breeds look very, very similar. It could even be an oversized Pomeranian or mix. ETA: No, American Eskimo Dogs don’t come in any other color but white–it might be part or mostly American Eskimo, but if so, there’s something else in the mix somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/5 "2008-04-01T19:38:59Z")
Best guess might be an American Eskimo Dog or a Samoyed crossed with something else. The Samoyed looks pretty much like an AED, just larger. A sammy could have been bred to something smaller. If you look at the AED image links on the page you provided, there’s a dog picture page featuring an AED/Chow mix that’s rust red and fluffy: [http://dailypuppy.com/index.php?itemid=1165](http://dailypuppy.com/index.php?itemid=1165) ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/6 "2008-04-01T21:41:15Z")
It could be an oversized Pomeranian? ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/7 "2008-04-01T21:46:38Z")
I was going to say Shiba Inu as well: [Shiba Inu](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DBCA,DBCA:2006-42,DBCA:en&q=shiba+inu) ---
**Author:** ![utterlyuseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@utterlyuseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/utterlyuseless)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/8 "2008-04-03T02:38:43Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Best guess might be an American Eskimo Dog or a Samoyed crossed with something else. The Samoyed looks pretty much like an AED, just larger. A sammy could have been bred to something smaller. If you look at the AED image links on the page you provided, there’s a dog picture page featuring an AED/Chow mix that’s rust red and fluffy: > **[Cuteness: So much more than just pets.](https://www.cuteness.com/)** > > Cuteness is here to connect you with the content you need to be the best pet parent. [/QUOTE] OK if you look at the first picture that is pretty much the color of the dog but it is much bigger. It probably is between 50-75 pounds. It’s like the size of a good sized German Shepherd or Collie. But it is VERY fluffy so it looks even bigger. But if you pet him you can see he is mostly fur ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/9 "2008-04-03T02:59:21Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Best guess might be an American Eskimo Dog or a Samoyed crossed with something else. The Samoyed looks pretty much like an AED, just larger. A sammy could have been bred to something smaller. If you look at the AED image links on the page you provided, there’s a dog picture page featuring an AED/Chow mix that’s rust red and fluffy: > **[Cuteness: So much more than just pets.](https://www.cuteness.com/)** > > Cuteness is here to connect you with the content you need to be the best pet parent. [/QUOTE] I have a 100 lb Samoyed male and they don’t really come in darker colors in the U.S. That isn’t to say your idea isn’t right. I just don’t know any weird Samoyed crosses personally but I guess it could happen. What about a Chow (or Chow-Chow formally)? They come in red colors and look similar. A chow cross could definitely fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/10 "2008-04-03T03:10:46Z")
Sounds like a [Chow Chow](http://chowclub.org/ccci/component/option,com_easygallery/act,categories/cid,61/Itemid,131/) or a Chow Chow mix. They have black tongues. Their other common name is Chinese Lion dog ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/11 "2008-04-03T03:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I have a 100 lb Samoyed male and they don’t really come in darker colors in the U.S. That isn’t to say your idea isn’t right. I just don’t know any weird Samoyed crosses personally but I guess it could happen. What about a Chow (or Chow-Chow formally)? They come in red colors and look similar. A chow cross could definitely fit the bill. [/QUOTE] I don’t believe Samoyeds come in anything but white and various shades of off white (the AKC says “white”, “cream” or “biscuit”). I brought it up because they look darn near identical to the American Eskimo dog, except that they’re larger. If the OP is after a bigger dog, that makes a sammy mix more possible. A bit of poking around yields plenty of people with Samoyed mixes of various types. The first thing that crosses my mind is a sammy / golden retriever cross, and there seems to be plenty of those around. Of course, it could easily be a chow mix of some sort, too, or some other spitz breed. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/12 "2008-04-03T04:13:16Z")
[QUOTE=utterlyuseless] OK if you look at the first picture that is pretty much the color of the dog but it is much bigger. It probably is between 50-75 pounds. It’s like the size of a good sized German Shepherd or Collie. But it is VERY fluffy so it looks even bigger. But if you pet him you can see he is mostly fur [/QUOTE] Oh. Yeah, in that case, chow mix all the way. Especially having been a pound dog, chow mixes crop up with some regularity. When you asked about American Eskimos, I was picturing a little guy, like a Pomeranian. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/13 "2008-04-03T15:56:30Z")
A purebred American Eskimo will _always_ be white (or “biscuit cream”, which is dog-person language for off-white). I’ve had two, and both are whiter than copy paper. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-american-eskimo-dogs-be-red/443565/14 "2008-04-03T18:25:35Z")
Some of the research I did before getting my American Eskimo Dog told me that, previous to World War I, the breed was known as a White Spitz. A lot of things got Americanized names then. So, the dog could simply be a Spitz of a different color. Eskies have slightly turned-up mouth edges, giving a smiling look. The eyes are rimmed in black. There are two strains of face shape, the fox face and the fuller bear face. There are three sizes (standard, miniature, and toy,) but they are genetically the same. According to breeders I spoke to, a standard couple may produce mini or toy offspring.