Colour Of Puppies

[teekay]

I have just been browsing the breeder listings on here. We will be thinking of getting another dog soon and I do have a soft spot for Labradors, although Aussie Shepherds are also on my list.

I noticed something that confused me, though. One breeder has listed a future litter of pups, saying they will be all black. The picture of the Sire and Dam show one is yellow and one looks like brown but may be black, not entirely sure. If one of the parents are yellow does this not mean some of the litter may be yellow? I know my last yellow lab came a black Mum and a yellow Dad.

Just curious as to how it works.

Edited January 29, 2010 by teekay

[WoofnHoof]

I think that the gene for yellow in labs needs two copies to be expressed (recessive) whereas the gene for black only needs one copy to be expressed (dominant) so if the breeder knows the black has two copies of the black gene each pup will get one copy of black and will show the black. It's possible to get yellow from black and yellow but only if the black is a carrier of the yellow gene. I'm sure a lab breeder will come along and let me know if I'm wrong though

[teekay]

Yeh, that makes sense, cheers