Smooth, hard and short, straight and lustrous, closely adhering to and uniformly covering the body.

Comments

The coats on a black/rust or a chocolate/rust are usually not as thick as on a red and should not be penalized. The Min Pin is usually trimmed for neatness around the ears, tuckup and breech area to give a smooth outline. Whisker removal is optional.

Color

Solid clear red. Stag red (red with intermingling of black hairs). Black with sharply defined rust-red markings on cheeks, lips, lower jaw, throat, twin spots above eyes and chest, lover half of forelegs, inside of hind legs and vent region, lower portion of hocks and feet. Black pencil stripes on toes. Chocolate with rust-red markings the same as specified for blacks, except with brown pencil stripes on toes. In the solid red and stag red a rich vibrant medium to dark shade is preferred.

Disqualifications-Any color other than listed. Thumb mark (patch of black hair surrounded by rust on the front of the foreleg between the foot and the wrist; on chocolates, the patch is chocolate hair).

White on any part of the dog which exceeds one-half inch in its longest dimension.
 

Comments

It is important here to remember that all colors should be judged equally. A lack of the pencil marks on the toes or a double rosette, butterfly or bow tie on the chest are minor faults and should not eliminate an otherwise excellent specimen from contention. Other color faults are very light faded straw-colored markings instead of deep rust and the more serious fault of melanism, or the almost total lack of rust markings. The dog appears to be almost solid black.

If there is a patch of black or brown hair SURROUNDED by the rust markings (an island) it is a thumb mark and must be disqualified. Examine the front legs carefully because if the black or brown hair is connected in anyway to the black or brown markings, the dog should not be disqualified. A scattering of white hair or "frost" may sometimes be seen on a dog and must be faulted for improper color but it is not a disqualification.