striped dogs

When I look at Penny's coat, I have trouble describing its color, but the vet recently called it 'brindle', so I've been describing it that way lately. The Online Etymological Dictionary says of this color:

brindled
"marked with streaks, streaked with a dark color," 1670s, from M.E. brended (early 15c.), from bren "brown color" (13c.), noun made from pp. of brennen "burn," perhaps meaning "marked as though by branding or burning."

Once I looked it up, I was surprised the vet would say Penny is striped because I think she's just light brown. Until I got a close look at her shaved leg in the sunshine yesterday, as she lay around 'helping' me to garden:






Definitely striped!