I find the discussion quite interesting.  Zeke is ticked with liver spots.  He has a liver head and ears.  His head and ears are very soft, almost like velvet.  The ticking is coarse, but I find the liver patches the most interesting.  On the spot that crests over his shoulder, it is coarse on the top but it changes to a mush softer consistency just off his back.  In a certain light, there looks to be a color difference between the coarse and soft liver, but I think it's an effect of the texture.

The head withstanding as the breed has finer hair in this area and not to get too scientific but liver hair and white hair are actually different on a microscopic level. The white being much more coarse and nearly appears to have barbs on it. Also, a liver dog is actually one big patch and I have found most are "softer" than their white, ticked or roan peers.