Copy/Pasted from the website furrypaws.com for credit.
How can I interpret the Genotype of my dog?
FP already translates the genotype of your dog into a readable Phenotype based on the rules the genes follow. For example, the "Color" listed on your dog's page is determined by the first 13 gene pairs (loci or locus singular) on your dog's genotype. Each health rating (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor) is the phenotype for the 6 health gene pairs assigned to each area (Hips, Elbows, Eyes, Ears). However, if you wish to breed for certain traits, it is important to understand the genes not appearing in the phenotype name. These recessive genes are the ones that can surprise you, for good or for bad, if you are not paying attention.
Dominant? Recessive? How can I tell?
A Dominant trait is one that is expressed in the dog while a Recessive trait is one that is not expressed, but is carried and can be passed to future dogs through breeding. On FP, the dominant allele is always the first one listed on a locus (gene pair), except in the case of the stat gene pairs. The stat gene pairs are unique in that no stat is dominant over another. Some sets have multiple alleles in them, giving that locus multiple levels of dominance, the main two being the "Agouti" and "Color Intensity" (red) loci.
Allele? What's an allele?
An "allele" is one half of the gene pair. On Furry-Paws, an allele is represented by one to three letters. Some examples of single letter alleles include, but are not limited to: B and b (the black/brown set), D and d (full or diluted blacks), a (recessive blacks), and G and g (greyed or full color blacks). Some examples of two letter alleles include, but are not limited to: Sl and sl (solid white or not), Ay, at, and aw (agouti patterns), and si, sp, and sw (whiting levels). Some examples of three letter alleles include, but are not limited to: Kbr (brindle), asa (saddle marking), and agi, cha, int, spd, stm, and str (the stat genetics).
For a list of all the gene pairs and their alleles, see the Genetics Information page.
How come Brindle/Saddle/Roaning/etc aren't showing on my dog even though the genes are present?
Color genes have complex interactions with each other. Certain colors and markings can only be expressed when another (or multiple) gene pair(s) lines up in their favor. For example, the Agouti markings can only appear when "Kbr" or "k" are the most dominant alleles in the first locus and so long as the second locus is not "ee." Having a "K" in the first locus would automatically override the Agouti set, and having "ee" in the second would automatically remove all black pigment, making it impossible to Show Agouti markings. Similarly, some genes will only work on specific color regions. Dilution, Greying, and Merle can only be expressed on black-based areas of a dog. If your dog has no black (has "ee" for the second locus), then none of those can be displayed. Otherwise, those three will affect only the region of the dog that is black-based. Red areas do not express merle or get washed out by dilution or greying.
Solid White is a special case scenario caused by the "Silvering" gene (not to be confused with the color silver on the Color Intensity pair!). If Silvering (Sl) is present, then all other color and marking genes are ignored and the dog is white.
For more on Furry-Paws color genetics, see: FP Color Genetics.
How does breeding and genetics work?
Puppies' genetics are based on the genetics of the parents. When you breed two dogs, for every gene pair, the father contributes one allele and the mother contributes one allele. The possible results of any given gene pair can be determined using a Punnett Square. A Punnett square is a table, similar in style to a multiplication table, that uses the available alleles to determine outcomes. To use a Punnett square, you take the individual alleles of a gene pair of one dog and place them at the top of the table, and then do the same for that gene pair on the other dog, but placing the alleles at the side of the table. For example, if you were to breed two dogs together where both have a health gene of "Hh" lined up, your table would look like:
The four results cells indicate the possible outcomes as HH, Hh, Hh, and hh. In otherwords, this combination has a 25% chance of throwing HH, 50% chance of Hh, and 25% chance of hh.
How can I breed for specific traits?
To breed for specific traits, pair dogs that have the best chance at throwing the alleles you want to express as the most dominant allele in the pups! You can use Punnett squares to figure this out. For example, let's say you want to breed for the color Cream (ce) and you have a male dog with "cchce" for its gene pair, and the choice between three females which have "Ccw," "cchce," and "cecw." Your resulting Punnett squares would be:
According to the results of the possible pairings, all pairings result in at least a 50% chance of passing on the cream allele, though not necessarily having it displayed in color. You would have the best chance of visually achieving the color Cream out of the third pairing where it has a 50% chance of expressing rather than 25%.
Why is my Dog the color that it is?
Your dog is the color it is due to the string of 13 gene pairs that controls colors and markings! These gene pairs interact with each other to create different color combinations on your dogs. Like real life, not every breed is able to have access to all the alleles for each gene pair. So, some breeds ARE more colorful than others and provide a LOT of breeding options if your desire is to breed for colors.
Alleles? Genetics? What?
If you have not read some of the material in the Introduction to FP Genetics help article, I suggest you do so (click the article name to go read!). For a quick rundown, however, genetics is the study of genes and how they pass down information to the next generation. Genetics on Furry-Paws control a number of things, the focus of which is the colors of your dogs in this article. An allele is one-half of a gene pair and they come in dominant and recessive types. Dominant alleles are ones that, when present, Show up on the dog. Recessive ones are ones that are not visible on the appearance of your dog, but are carried and could be passed to the next generation to become visible. When breeding, each parent contributes one allele from a gene pair to the offspring. So, a puppy has a 50/50 chance at getting any one allele from the father, and a 50/50 chance at getting any one allele from the mother.
I have two dogs with the same "Color" listed on their page, but they look slightly different! Is this part of the genetics?
No, this one is actually not part of the color genetics. For every named color (black, red, fawn, blue, etc) a dog can have genetically, there are five random shades that are assigned to that color. The shade your dog gets is completely random and cannot be controlled genetically in any way.
For more information on the shades of colors, see: A Rainbow of Color Shades.
Okay...So what does what in the color genetics?
Each of the first 13 gene pairs controls a different piece of the dog-color puzzle. These genes interact with each other sometimes in complex ways to make your dog either all black shaded, all red shaded, or any other combination. Instead of going through each gene pair in order, they are grouped together here with the ones that interact the most with each other. If you would like a list of all the gene pairs in order and their alleles, this information can be found in the blue breed info book off the Atlas, or by clicking the "Help" icon next to the genes on your dog's "About" page (or, Click Here). Otherwise, on to the chaos!
Red? Black? Both? Help! D:
There are three gene pairs that determine if and how red and black based colors appear on your dog. These are the "Dominant Black/Brindle" (Pair #1), "Red Extension/Masking" (Pair #2), and "Agouti" (Pair #6) sets. The first pair controls whether or not the sixth pair is active, and whether or not the dog has the "Brindle" marking. The second pair controls whether or not black is allowed in the dog's coat, as well as if it can appear in the form of a Mask. The sixth pair controls the pattern of red and black your dog will display, and will only be active when the first pair says it can be.
Pair #1: There are three alleles in the first locus. "K" is the most dominant and causes your dog to be solid black based. In other words, "K" makes it impossible for the Agouti set to be expressed. "Kbr" is the second dominant allele, controlling the Brindle marking, which appears on red-based areas. Consequently having "Kbr" as the most dominant allele present allows the Agouti set to be expressed, but modifies the red areas to have a brindle-pattern overlay. Brindle itself is black based in color. Finally, the "k" allele is the least dominant in the locus. "kk" simply allows the Agouti set to be expressed.
Pair #2: There are three alleles in the second locus. "Em" is the most dominant. "Em" allows for black to exist in the dog's coat, but gives the dog a mask. However, the mask is black based and can only appear on top of a red-based area. Thus, the mask will only show up on a dog that is allowed to express Agouti (Kbr or K as most dominant in Pair #1). "E" is the second most dominant, allowing for black to exist in the dog's coat, but lacking a mask when red is also present in the coat. The "e" allele is the least dominant, but when present in Homozygous form ("ee"), overrides the first locus. An "ee" dog will be red based, and only red based, regardless of what appears in the first locus. There is absolutely no black in an "ee" dog, thus Agouti patterns will also be overridden.
Pair #6: There are five alleles in the sixth locus controlling in what way reds and blacks appear on a dog. However, Agouti can only appear if there is no "K" in the first locus and if the second locus is not "ee." The order of dominance for the sixth locus is Sable ("Ay"), Grizzle ("aw"), Points ("at"), Saddle ("asa"), and Recessive Solid Black ("a"). Some breeds may only have one pattern available to them, while others may have all available. Each pattern allows for both red and black to appear in the coat, except for recessive solid black, which will turn a dog black based. Recessive solid black then means that particular dog cannot be brindle or wear a mask. In essence, it is visually like having a dog with "K" in the first gene pair.
What about Chocolate, Blue, and Isabella?
Chocolate, blue, isabella, and other "Faded" colors are caused by genes that modify the black base color. There are three color changing genes on here that affect black based colors (and as such, black based markings), and one pattern gene that works only on black based areas. The black-modifying loci are the "Chocolate" (Pair #3), "Dilution" (Pair #4), "Greying" (Pair #12), and "Merle" (Pair #8) gene pairs. These four only come into play when there is black available on a dog's coat, and will only affect regions that are black based. A solid red ("ee") dog will NOT be affected by these.
Pair #3: There are two alleles in the third locus. "B" is the most dominant, causing "Black" fur. "b" is the least dominant, causing a "Chocolate" coat when homozygous ("bb").
Pair #4: There are two alleles in the fourth locus, which modify the base color given in the third locus. "D" is the most dominant. When "D" is present, there are no alterations to the color as defined by the third pair. When homozygous "dd" is present, the colors in the third pair are diluted. "Black" turns to "Blue," and "Chocolate" turns to "Isabella."
Pair #12: There are two alleles in the twelfth locus, which modify the color defined by third and fourth pairs. "G" is the most dominant and is the cause of greying of black regions. Having "G" present will turn a "Black" coat "Steel Blue," a "Chocolate" coat "Faded Brown," a "Blue" coat "Faded Blue," and an "Isabella" coat "Faded Isabella." The recessive allele, "g," causes no modification of the black based colors. A homozygous "gg" dog will not be faded. Greying is unique in that is does NOT affect the color of the mask on a dog.
Pair #8: There are two alleles in the eighth locus, causing a pattern modifier to appear on black based regions. The "M" allele is dominant, causing the pattern to appear. In the case of a "Black" coat with this modifier active, the color name gets changed to "Blue Merle," however a "Blue" dog with this modifier will also be listed as "Blue Merle." You will have to check the Genotype to see which you have. The "m" allele is recessive, and an "mm" dog will have no merling present.
A Caution: A dog labeled as "Red Merle with Blue Sable" does NOT mean the red is merled. Instead, it means the Sable is merled. The default color naming code of the site always puts "Merle" after the first color name, even if that color is not the one that is merled. So, "Red Merle with Blue Sable" is actually "Red with Blue Merle Sable". The Sable itself may be either "Black" or "Blue" genetically as the merle modifier changes the base color name "Black" to "Blue." This goes the same for the Grizzle and Saddle Agouti markings.
How about all those shades of red?
The shades of red are controlled by the "Color Intensity" (Pair #11) locus. "C" is the most dominant, causing the color "Red." "cch" is the next most dominant, causing the color "Fawn" on dogs, or "Tan" when occurring in the "Points" marking. "ce" is the next dominant, causing the color "Cream," and "cw" is the most recessive, causing "Silver" only when homozygous ("cwcw"). Shades of red will only appear if the dog is "ee" in the second locus, or if the Agouti set is active (Kbr or k most dominant in the first pair).
What about Irish, Piebald, Extreme piebald?
These are white markings on your dog. The "White" (Pair #7) locus controls the appearance of white patterns. There are four alleles possible in this locus. The most dominant allele is "S" and causes a dog to have no white markings (self colored, in real life terms). "si" is the second most dominant in the set, causing "Irish" markings. "sp" is the third most dominant, creating a "Piebald" dog. Finally, "sw" is the least dominant allele, causing the "Extreme Piebald" whiting when appearing homozygously in a dog ("swsw"). Whiting levels appear alongside the colors and markings above.
Ticking? Roaning? Spots? When do they appear?
Ticking, roaning, and spotting can ONLY appear when the seventh locus does NOT start with "S." In other words, they only appear on whited areas.
Pair #9: There are two alleles in the ninth pair, controlling roaning. "R" is the most dominant, causing the roan pattern to appear on the whited areas of a dog. The "r" allele does no modification to the white areas.
Pair #10: There are three alleles in the tenth pair, controlling ticking and spotting. "T" is the most dominant, causing the "Ticking" pattern to appear on whited areas. Additionally, the presence of "T" overrides the presence of roaning. A dog cannot be both ticked and roaned. Instead, ticking will dominate over roaning. The "ts" allele is the next dominant and controls Dalmatian spots. This allele only occurs on Dalmatians and all Dalmatians are homozygous "tsts," thus this allele never encounters the other two in a genotype. The recessive "t" allele causes no modifications to the whited areas.
What about light undersides?
The "Light Undersides" (Pair #13) locus can occur alongside any of the previously mentioned colors and markings. There are two alleles possible in the thirteenth locus. "U" is the most dominant, causing dogs to have lightened (or white, as in Siberian Huskies) undersides. When homozygous, the recessive "u" allele does not lighten the undersides.
Silvering?
The "Silvering" (Pair #5) locus has the ability to override all color and marking genetics listed above. There are two alleles possible. The presence of "Sl" means a dog is solid white, and all other color genes are ignored. Homozygous "sl" means the dog's color is derived according to the above color and marking genetics.
Sooo.... what color is this dog, then?
Yay! You've read through all of those descriptions up there! Now for some examples of the color gene strings to see what is what! First random gene string!
kk EE bb DD slsl atat spsp mm Rr TT CC gg uu
Let's take this in the same groupings as things were explained above, only in a different order. Let's start with the Silvering (Pair #5) set. In this case, the dog has "slsl" listed, so this one is not solid white. How about Pair #13, the Light Undersides set? This dog has "uu" so no light undersides here.
What about the Whiting (Pair #7) set? This one says "spsp." So, sp is the most dominant allele, which means this dog is piebald! Yay! Okay, what about Pairs #9 and #10, Roaning and Ticking? Well, this dog has "Rr," so that could mean it is roaned... but wait! It also has "TT!" Ticking overrides roaning, so this is a piebald dog with ticking.
Okay, now on to the more confusing things. Let's look at Pairs #1, #2, and #6. This dog has "kk" for Pair #1, which means Pair #6 will be active... if Pair #2 is not "ee." Looking at the second pair, it is "EE," so, yes, Pair #6 (Agouti) is active, and there is no mask! Pair #6 says "atat." Since "at" is the most dominant allele, that means this dog has the Points marking. So, now we know this dog is a piebald dog with points and ticking. What about the colors?
Let's look at all the black-based color/marking modifiers first. Those would be Pairs #3, #4, #12, and #8. The first three determine the type of black color while the last one is the merle marking. Let's check for the merle set first. Pair #8 says "mm," so that's no merle there. Pair #3 says "bb," so that means this dog is chocolate based. Pair #4 says "DD," so that chocolate is not diluted and Pair #12 says "gg" so that chocolate is not greyed. Hoorah! Now we know we have a chocolate dog with piebald whiting, points, and ticking. But what color are those points? For that, we turn to the Red Intensity pair.
Pair #11 is the Red Intensity set for the dog. In this case, we have "CC." So, this dog has red points. This means our dog is Chocolate and White (Piebald) with Red Points and Ticking!
Okay, let's try a harder one...
Kbrk EmE BB Dd slsl Ayasa sisp mm rr Tt cchce Gg uu
Going in the same order as the first example... The Silvering (Pair #5) gene says "slsl," so not white again. Pair #13, Light Undersides, says "uu" so again no light undersides.
Okay, now on to the Whiting (Pair #7) set. This one says "sisp." So, this is an irish whiting dog, BUT it also carries for piebald. This means you could use this dog to get piebald puppies if you found the right dog to breed to. How about the Roaning (Pair #9) and Ticking (Pair #10) sets? Roaning says "rr," so no roaning there. Ticking says "Tt." This dog has ticking, but carries for no ticking. You could breed for no ticking with the right dog if you wanted to. This dog here, though, is irish with ticking.
On to the red/black appearnce level factors! Those would be Pairs #1 (Dominant Black/Brindle), #2 (Red Extension/Masking), and #6 (Agouti). In this case, the first pair says "Kbrk." So, we have a brindled dog carrying for no brindle. This means that the Agouti set will be active, if the second pair is not "ee." Looking at the second pair, it is "EmE." So, not only is the agouti pair going to be active, but this dog has a Mask and carries for being maskless. Pair #6 (Agouti) says "Ayasa." Ay is the most dominant there. This means we have a sable marking on the dog, but this dog also carries for a saddle. So, you could breed for a saddle with the right dog. For now, we know this dog is irish with sable, ticking, brindle, and a mask. Now we just need to know the colors.
Time for the black color/marking modifiers, Pairs #3, #4, #12, and #8! Let's start with that Merle one again. Here, this dog is "mm." No merle. Okay, so let's move to the others. Pair #3 is "BB" so this dog has black colored fur so far. Pair #4 says "Dd." The black is not diluted, but this dog carries dilution so you could breed for it with the right dog. Pair #12 says "Gg." Ah, so with "G" being in there, this dog has greyed fur. With Black, that means this dog is Steel Blue. However, this color only applies to the Sable and Brindle portion of the dog, so we know there is Steel Blue Sable and Brindle on our Irish dog with ticking and a mask. The mask, oddly enough, will be Black. The greying gene does not affect the mask color, so the mask will be the color designated by gene pairs #3 and #4. Now we just need the red intensity!
Pair #11 on our dog says "cchce." Since "cch" is the most dominant, Fawn is the color of our dog! However, since "ce" is present, it could be possible to breed for a Cream colored dog in the next generation. For now, we know this particular dog is Brindled Fawn and White (Irish) with Steel Blue Sable, Mask, and Ticking!
How can I interpret the Genotype of my dog?
FP already translates the genotype of your dog into a readable Phenotype based on the rules the genes follow. For example, the "Color" listed on your dog's page is determined by the first 13 gene pairs (loci or locus singular) on your dog's genotype. Each health rating (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor) is the phenotype for the 6 health gene pairs assigned to each area (Hips, Elbows, Eyes, Ears). However, if you wish to breed for certain traits, it is important to understand the genes not appearing in the phenotype name. These recessive genes are the ones that can surprise you, for good or for bad, if you are not paying attention.
Dominant? Recessive? How can I tell?
A Dominant trait is one that is expressed in the dog while a Recessive trait is one that is not expressed, but is carried and can be passed to future dogs through breeding. On FP, the dominant allele is always the first one listed on a locus (gene pair), except in the case of the stat gene pairs. The stat gene pairs are unique in that no stat is dominant over another. Some sets have multiple alleles in them, giving that locus multiple levels of dominance, the main two being the "Agouti" and "Color Intensity" (red) loci.
Allele? What's an allele?
An "allele" is one half of the gene pair. On Furry-Paws, an allele is represented by one to three letters. Some examples of single letter alleles include, but are not limited to: B and b (the black/brown set), D and d (full or diluted blacks), a (recessive blacks), and G and g (greyed or full color blacks). Some examples of two letter alleles include, but are not limited to: Sl and sl (solid white or not), Ay, at, and aw (agouti patterns), and si, sp, and sw (whiting levels). Some examples of three letter alleles include, but are not limited to: Kbr (brindle), asa (saddle marking), and agi, cha, int, spd, stm, and str (the stat genetics).
For a list of all the gene pairs and their alleles, see the Genetics Information page.
How come Brindle/Saddle/Roaning/etc aren't showing on my dog even though the genes are present?
Color genes have complex interactions with each other. Certain colors and markings can only be expressed when another (or multiple) gene pair(s) lines up in their favor. For example, the Agouti markings can only appear when "Kbr" or "k" are the most dominant alleles in the first locus and so long as the second locus is not "ee." Having a "K" in the first locus would automatically override the Agouti set, and having "ee" in the second would automatically remove all black pigment, making it impossible to Show Agouti markings. Similarly, some genes will only work on specific color regions. Dilution, Greying, and Merle can only be expressed on black-based areas of a dog. If your dog has no black (has "ee" for the second locus), then none of those can be displayed. Otherwise, those three will affect only the region of the dog that is black-based. Red areas do not express merle or get washed out by dilution or greying.
Solid White is a special case scenario caused by the "Silvering" gene (not to be confused with the color silver on the Color Intensity pair!). If Silvering (Sl) is present, then all other color and marking genes are ignored and the dog is white.
For more on Furry-Paws color genetics, see: FP Color Genetics.
How does breeding and genetics work?
Puppies' genetics are based on the genetics of the parents. When you breed two dogs, for every gene pair, the father contributes one allele and the mother contributes one allele. The possible results of any given gene pair can be determined using a Punnett Square. A Punnett square is a table, similar in style to a multiplication table, that uses the available alleles to determine outcomes. To use a Punnett square, you take the individual alleles of a gene pair of one dog and place them at the top of the table, and then do the same for that gene pair on the other dog, but placing the alleles at the side of the table. For example, if you were to breed two dogs together where both have a health gene of "Hh" lined up, your table would look like:
The four results cells indicate the possible outcomes as HH, Hh, Hh, and hh. In otherwords, this combination has a 25% chance of throwing HH, 50% chance of Hh, and 25% chance of hh.
How can I breed for specific traits?
To breed for specific traits, pair dogs that have the best chance at throwing the alleles you want to express as the most dominant allele in the pups! You can use Punnett squares to figure this out. For example, let's say you want to breed for the color Cream (ce) and you have a male dog with "cchce" for its gene pair, and the choice between three females which have "Ccw," "cchce," and "cecw." Your resulting Punnett squares would be:
According to the results of the possible pairings, all pairings result in at least a 50% chance of passing on the cream allele, though not necessarily having it displayed in color. You would have the best chance of visually achieving the color Cream out of the third pairing where it has a 50% chance of expressing rather than 25%.
Why is my Dog the color that it is?
Your dog is the color it is due to the string of 13 gene pairs that controls colors and markings! These gene pairs interact with each other to create different color combinations on your dogs. Like real life, not every breed is able to have access to all the alleles for each gene pair. So, some breeds ARE more colorful than others and provide a LOT of breeding options if your desire is to breed for colors.
Alleles? Genetics? What?
If you have not read some of the material in the Introduction to FP Genetics help article, I suggest you do so (click the article name to go read!). For a quick rundown, however, genetics is the study of genes and how they pass down information to the next generation. Genetics on Furry-Paws control a number of things, the focus of which is the colors of your dogs in this article. An allele is one-half of a gene pair and they come in dominant and recessive types. Dominant alleles are ones that, when present, Show up on the dog. Recessive ones are ones that are not visible on the appearance of your dog, but are carried and could be passed to the next generation to become visible. When breeding, each parent contributes one allele from a gene pair to the offspring. So, a puppy has a 50/50 chance at getting any one allele from the father, and a 50/50 chance at getting any one allele from the mother.
I have two dogs with the same "Color" listed on their page, but they look slightly different! Is this part of the genetics?
No, this one is actually not part of the color genetics. For every named color (black, red, fawn, blue, etc) a dog can have genetically, there are five random shades that are assigned to that color. The shade your dog gets is completely random and cannot be controlled genetically in any way.
For more information on the shades of colors, see: A Rainbow of Color Shades.
Okay...So what does what in the color genetics?
Each of the first 13 gene pairs controls a different piece of the dog-color puzzle. These genes interact with each other sometimes in complex ways to make your dog either all black shaded, all red shaded, or any other combination. Instead of going through each gene pair in order, they are grouped together here with the ones that interact the most with each other. If you would like a list of all the gene pairs in order and their alleles, this information can be found in the blue breed info book off the Atlas, or by clicking the "Help" icon next to the genes on your dog's "About" page (or, Click Here). Otherwise, on to the chaos!
Red? Black? Both? Help! D:
There are three gene pairs that determine if and how red and black based colors appear on your dog. These are the "Dominant Black/Brindle" (Pair #1), "Red Extension/Masking" (Pair #2), and "Agouti" (Pair #6) sets. The first pair controls whether or not the sixth pair is active, and whether or not the dog has the "Brindle" marking. The second pair controls whether or not black is allowed in the dog's coat, as well as if it can appear in the form of a Mask. The sixth pair controls the pattern of red and black your dog will display, and will only be active when the first pair says it can be.
Pair #1: There are three alleles in the first locus. "K" is the most dominant and causes your dog to be solid black based. In other words, "K" makes it impossible for the Agouti set to be expressed. "Kbr" is the second dominant allele, controlling the Brindle marking, which appears on red-based areas. Consequently having "Kbr" as the most dominant allele present allows the Agouti set to be expressed, but modifies the red areas to have a brindle-pattern overlay. Brindle itself is black based in color. Finally, the "k" allele is the least dominant in the locus. "kk" simply allows the Agouti set to be expressed.
Pair #2: There are three alleles in the second locus. "Em" is the most dominant. "Em" allows for black to exist in the dog's coat, but gives the dog a mask. However, the mask is black based and can only appear on top of a red-based area. Thus, the mask will only show up on a dog that is allowed to express Agouti (Kbr or K as most dominant in Pair #1). "E" is the second most dominant, allowing for black to exist in the dog's coat, but lacking a mask when red is also present in the coat. The "e" allele is the least dominant, but when present in Homozygous form ("ee"), overrides the first locus. An "ee" dog will be red based, and only red based, regardless of what appears in the first locus. There is absolutely no black in an "ee" dog, thus Agouti patterns will also be overridden.
Pair #6: There are five alleles in the sixth locus controlling in what way reds and blacks appear on a dog. However, Agouti can only appear if there is no "K" in the first locus and if the second locus is not "ee." The order of dominance for the sixth locus is Sable ("Ay"), Grizzle ("aw"), Points ("at"), Saddle ("asa"), and Recessive Solid Black ("a"). Some breeds may only have one pattern available to them, while others may have all available. Each pattern allows for both red and black to appear in the coat, except for recessive solid black, which will turn a dog black based. Recessive solid black then means that particular dog cannot be brindle or wear a mask. In essence, it is visually like having a dog with "K" in the first gene pair.
What about Chocolate, Blue, and Isabella?
Chocolate, blue, isabella, and other "Faded" colors are caused by genes that modify the black base color. There are three color changing genes on here that affect black based colors (and as such, black based markings), and one pattern gene that works only on black based areas. The black-modifying loci are the "Chocolate" (Pair #3), "Dilution" (Pair #4), "Greying" (Pair #12), and "Merle" (Pair #8) gene pairs. These four only come into play when there is black available on a dog's coat, and will only affect regions that are black based. A solid red ("ee") dog will NOT be affected by these.
Pair #3: There are two alleles in the third locus. "B" is the most dominant, causing "Black" fur. "b" is the least dominant, causing a "Chocolate" coat when homozygous ("bb").
Pair #4: There are two alleles in the fourth locus, which modify the base color given in the third locus. "D" is the most dominant. When "D" is present, there are no alterations to the color as defined by the third pair. When homozygous "dd" is present, the colors in the third pair are diluted. "Black" turns to "Blue," and "Chocolate" turns to "Isabella."
Pair #12: There are two alleles in the twelfth locus, which modify the color defined by third and fourth pairs. "G" is the most dominant and is the cause of greying of black regions. Having "G" present will turn a "Black" coat "Steel Blue," a "Chocolate" coat "Faded Brown," a "Blue" coat "Faded Blue," and an "Isabella" coat "Faded Isabella." The recessive allele, "g," causes no modification of the black based colors. A homozygous "gg" dog will not be faded. Greying is unique in that is does NOT affect the color of the mask on a dog.
Pair #8: There are two alleles in the eighth locus, causing a pattern modifier to appear on black based regions. The "M" allele is dominant, causing the pattern to appear. In the case of a "Black" coat with this modifier active, the color name gets changed to "Blue Merle," however a "Blue" dog with this modifier will also be listed as "Blue Merle." You will have to check the Genotype to see which you have. The "m" allele is recessive, and an "mm" dog will have no merling present.
A Caution: A dog labeled as "Red Merle with Blue Sable" does NOT mean the red is merled. Instead, it means the Sable is merled. The default color naming code of the site always puts "Merle" after the first color name, even if that color is not the one that is merled. So, "Red Merle with Blue Sable" is actually "Red with Blue Merle Sable". The Sable itself may be either "Black" or "Blue" genetically as the merle modifier changes the base color name "Black" to "Blue." This goes the same for the Grizzle and Saddle Agouti markings.
How about all those shades of red?
The shades of red are controlled by the "Color Intensity" (Pair #11) locus. "C" is the most dominant, causing the color "Red." "cch" is the next most dominant, causing the color "Fawn" on dogs, or "Tan" when occurring in the "Points" marking. "ce" is the next dominant, causing the color "Cream," and "cw" is the most recessive, causing "Silver" only when homozygous ("cwcw"). Shades of red will only appear if the dog is "ee" in the second locus, or if the Agouti set is active (Kbr or k most dominant in the first pair).
What about Irish, Piebald, Extreme piebald?
These are white markings on your dog. The "White" (Pair #7) locus controls the appearance of white patterns. There are four alleles possible in this locus. The most dominant allele is "S" and causes a dog to have no white markings (self colored, in real life terms). "si" is the second most dominant in the set, causing "Irish" markings. "sp" is the third most dominant, creating a "Piebald" dog. Finally, "sw" is the least dominant allele, causing the "Extreme Piebald" whiting when appearing homozygously in a dog ("swsw"). Whiting levels appear alongside the colors and markings above.
Ticking? Roaning? Spots? When do they appear?
Ticking, roaning, and spotting can ONLY appear when the seventh locus does NOT start with "S." In other words, they only appear on whited areas.
Pair #9: There are two alleles in the ninth pair, controlling roaning. "R" is the most dominant, causing the roan pattern to appear on the whited areas of a dog. The "r" allele does no modification to the white areas.
Pair #10: There are three alleles in the tenth pair, controlling ticking and spotting. "T" is the most dominant, causing the "Ticking" pattern to appear on whited areas. Additionally, the presence of "T" overrides the presence of roaning. A dog cannot be both ticked and roaned. Instead, ticking will dominate over roaning. The "ts" allele is the next dominant and controls Dalmatian spots. This allele only occurs on Dalmatians and all Dalmatians are homozygous "tsts," thus this allele never encounters the other two in a genotype. The recessive "t" allele causes no modifications to the whited areas.
What about light undersides?
The "Light Undersides" (Pair #13) locus can occur alongside any of the previously mentioned colors and markings. There are two alleles possible in the thirteenth locus. "U" is the most dominant, causing dogs to have lightened (or white, as in Siberian Huskies) undersides. When homozygous, the recessive "u" allele does not lighten the undersides.
Silvering?
The "Silvering" (Pair #5) locus has the ability to override all color and marking genetics listed above. There are two alleles possible. The presence of "Sl" means a dog is solid white, and all other color genes are ignored. Homozygous "sl" means the dog's color is derived according to the above color and marking genetics.
Sooo.... what color is this dog, then?
Yay! You've read through all of those descriptions up there! Now for some examples of the color gene strings to see what is what! First random gene string!
kk EE bb DD slsl atat spsp mm Rr TT CC gg uu
Let's take this in the same groupings as things were explained above, only in a different order. Let's start with the Silvering (Pair #5) set. In this case, the dog has "slsl" listed, so this one is not solid white. How about Pair #13, the Light Undersides set? This dog has "uu" so no light undersides here.
What about the Whiting (Pair #7) set? This one says "spsp." So, sp is the most dominant allele, which means this dog is piebald! Yay! Okay, what about Pairs #9 and #10, Roaning and Ticking? Well, this dog has "Rr," so that could mean it is roaned... but wait! It also has "TT!" Ticking overrides roaning, so this is a piebald dog with ticking.
Okay, now on to the more confusing things. Let's look at Pairs #1, #2, and #6. This dog has "kk" for Pair #1, which means Pair #6 will be active... if Pair #2 is not "ee." Looking at the second pair, it is "EE," so, yes, Pair #6 (Agouti) is active, and there is no mask! Pair #6 says "atat." Since "at" is the most dominant allele, that means this dog has the Points marking. So, now we know this dog is a piebald dog with points and ticking. What about the colors?
Let's look at all the black-based color/marking modifiers first. Those would be Pairs #3, #4, #12, and #8. The first three determine the type of black color while the last one is the merle marking. Let's check for the merle set first. Pair #8 says "mm," so that's no merle there. Pair #3 says "bb," so that means this dog is chocolate based. Pair #4 says "DD," so that chocolate is not diluted and Pair #12 says "gg" so that chocolate is not greyed. Hoorah! Now we know we have a chocolate dog with piebald whiting, points, and ticking. But what color are those points? For that, we turn to the Red Intensity pair.
Pair #11 is the Red Intensity set for the dog. In this case, we have "CC." So, this dog has red points. This means our dog is Chocolate and White (Piebald) with Red Points and Ticking!
Okay, let's try a harder one...
Kbrk EmE BB Dd slsl Ayasa sisp mm rr Tt cchce Gg uu
Going in the same order as the first example... The Silvering (Pair #5) gene says "slsl," so not white again. Pair #13, Light Undersides, says "uu" so again no light undersides.
Okay, now on to the Whiting (Pair #7) set. This one says "sisp." So, this is an irish whiting dog, BUT it also carries for piebald. This means you could use this dog to get piebald puppies if you found the right dog to breed to. How about the Roaning (Pair #9) and Ticking (Pair #10) sets? Roaning says "rr," so no roaning there. Ticking says "Tt." This dog has ticking, but carries for no ticking. You could breed for no ticking with the right dog if you wanted to. This dog here, though, is irish with ticking.
On to the red/black appearnce level factors! Those would be Pairs #1 (Dominant Black/Brindle), #2 (Red Extension/Masking), and #6 (Agouti). In this case, the first pair says "Kbrk." So, we have a brindled dog carrying for no brindle. This means that the Agouti set will be active, if the second pair is not "ee." Looking at the second pair, it is "EmE." So, not only is the agouti pair going to be active, but this dog has a Mask and carries for being maskless. Pair #6 (Agouti) says "Ayasa." Ay is the most dominant there. This means we have a sable marking on the dog, but this dog also carries for a saddle. So, you could breed for a saddle with the right dog. For now, we know this dog is irish with sable, ticking, brindle, and a mask. Now we just need to know the colors.
Time for the black color/marking modifiers, Pairs #3, #4, #12, and #8! Let's start with that Merle one again. Here, this dog is "mm." No merle. Okay, so let's move to the others. Pair #3 is "BB" so this dog has black colored fur so far. Pair #4 says "Dd." The black is not diluted, but this dog carries dilution so you could breed for it with the right dog. Pair #12 says "Gg." Ah, so with "G" being in there, this dog has greyed fur. With Black, that means this dog is Steel Blue. However, this color only applies to the Sable and Brindle portion of the dog, so we know there is Steel Blue Sable and Brindle on our Irish dog with ticking and a mask. The mask, oddly enough, will be Black. The greying gene does not affect the mask color, so the mask will be the color designated by gene pairs #3 and #4. Now we just need the red intensity!
Pair #11 on our dog says "cchce." Since "cch" is the most dominant, Fawn is the color of our dog! However, since "ce" is present, it could be possible to breed for a Cream colored dog in the next generation. For now, we know this particular dog is Brindled Fawn and White (Irish) with Steel Blue Sable, Mask, and Ticking!
