Animation Source Forums

I ask myself this question, too. There really is not a way to decide, it depends on what name each person slaps onto a colour. For example, if I look at a shot of Niju, he is black-brown, but because of his grey markings I say he's black (or dark grey, if that's what you like). But somebody else may see the same colour as me, but still call it brown.

Though, if I look at a shot of him next to Yak (the fleabag who looks like a runtier verson of Niju), Yak looks distinctly black while Niju has a brown tint.

According to the animators of the Balto sequels, there is no difference between gray or brown. They seem to alternate colors throughout the movie.

They change his colour depending on the lighting used in the scene.. i'd say he was more of a darkgray/ black most of the time anyway.