The base form of eumelanin is black. The other pigment, phaeomelanin, ranges from pale cream through shades of yellow, tan and red to mahogany. A is seen in Black, Blue, Merle, Harlequin, and White Great Danes. Each hair is banded with eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Each hair is the phaeomelanin color with eumelanin only at the tip.
Modifiers can increase or reduce the amount of black tipping.
In Great Danes, we have selected for modifiers to reduce this tipping, although it is still often visible at the base of the tail and around the ears. As tanpoint above, but with far larger areas of phaeomelanin only. The E-series is poorly understood and very controversial. Other research indicates that one or both of these traits are at a different locus altogether. In any case, all Great Danes can produce black pigment.