Friday, October 19, 2007

Corgi Color Genetics

Over the months of waiting for my puppy, I got curious about coat colors. Now the PWC comes generally in three coat colors: red and white, black headed tri, and red headed tri. Since I know the coloring of my puppy's parents, I took it upon myself to read up on coat color genetics to figure out what my options for looks might be. The puppy mamma is red and white and the puppy daddy is a gorgeous black headed tri. I ended up doing searches on the interwebs for my info, but today I found this resource, which I wish I had had months ago! It is a bit daunting to read, so let me sum it up for you.

If I understand it correctly, the three coat colors have three degrees of dominance. The red and white coat color is the most dominant, the red headed tri is recessive to red and white but dominant to the black headed tri, and the black headed tri is recessive completely. So if I have one red and white parent and one black headed tri parent, that would mean my puppy is going to be red and white unless the red and white parent carries the black headed tri recessive gene. I don't think she does since her last litter with the same puppy daddy came out all red and whites. It's possible, but highly unlikely. Also, if the red and white carries a red headed tri recessive gene, I could get a red headed tri.

I don't care about coloring, next to personality and temperament coloring is nothing. But I thought I'd share if anyone was interested. If coloring is important to you, I would ask about the coloring of past litters of the same parents (if applicable). It's a crap shoot either way, but such is life.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow never thought that high school genetics and those fruit flies would come back later in life! I personally am hoping for a red and white girl, but I agree that next to personality coloring is nothing. Oh, and I found out today that the dam is pregnant! No other details, like how many puppies or where I am on the waiting list, but I figure that's good news!! I hope you hear from your breeder soon too!

JuLo said...

Hey, that's great! Congratulations! What is the coloring of the parents? I think if it's red and white you want, you have a really good chance of getting one. :) I think litters are normally around 4-5 puppies. Hopefully you breeder will let you know how far down the list you are. Keep us posted!

And hey, you never know. My breeder's last litter was seven puppies! That's why she had some without owners lined up for them.

Hehe, yeah I never got past brown eyes vs. blue eyes. It's amazing how things that were boring in school become more interesting when you're, you know, actually interested. ;p

Jenna Z said...

Corgis also come in sable and fawn. With these parents it could also be possible to get sables, which are mentioned on the site your linked to and which I think are a striking color!

JuLo said...

True, true. I was keepin it simple. :) Actually, the last litter from the parents for my puppy had one puppy that was sable.

You know, sable puppies I think are just the cutest, but I'm not a huge fan of the end result. My favorite colorings are the black headed tri or the normal red and white (fawn is ok too). But really, as long as I get an adorable Corgi with a fun loving personality, who cares!? :)

Michell Anne said...

It is impossible to tell when a litter is born and long after 8 weeks whether a puppy will be sable, fawn, or red & white. The coat color changes as the puppy matures. Having bred PWC's for 15 years, I have finally relegated myself to never count on which puppy will end up what color! My Sire was Red/White and I bred to Redheaded tris, Fawns, and Sable bitches . . . I just enjoyed having healthy litters.