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Leonca β Dog Coat and Eye Colors
Published: 2011-04-26 05:45:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 75455; Favourites: 998; Downloads: 2643
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Description
Examples of some possible shades of color that can be seen in dogs, an extension of my outline of genetic colors/patterns.Written explanation of theoretical genetics to accompany visual examples [link]
Black (dominant black, chocolate, blue, Isabella, progressive graying)
Dog Color Feature: Chocolate, Blue, Isabella, GrayThis is a supplement to my Theoretical Dog Genetics guide . I am using thumbnails from dA so that artists will get the credit that would be harder to give taking pictures from other online sources. The goal is to educate anyone who is curious, as well as to provide artists with references that will improve the realism of their work. I am still learning, and guessing the correct color can sometimes be difficult even with an ideal photo or the dog itself to examine. If you spot any mistakes let me know. If you see your picture here and don't want it to be let me know and I'll take it down. If you would like to contribute a picture for reference send me a link. Photographs need to be clear, in good lighting, and show enough of the dog to provide a good reference for markings. I will be going back and adding to this whenever I find new references. My personal goal is to improve the quality of my art and educate myself because I like to know more about the patients I me
Dog Color Feature: Masks, Grizzle, Recessive RedThis is a supplement to my Theoretical Dog Genetics guide . I am using thumbnails from dA so that artists will get the credit that would be harder to give taking pictures from other online sources. The goal is to educate anyone who is curious, as well as to provide artists with references that will improve the realism of their work. I am still learning, and guessing the correct color can sometimes be difficult even with an ideal photo or the dog itself to examine. If you spot any mistakes let me know. If you see your picture here and don't want it to be let me know and I'll take it down. If you would like to contribute a picture for reference send me a link. Photographs need to be clear, in good lighting, and show enough of the dog to provide a good reference for markings. I will be going back and adding to this whenever I find new references. My personal goal is to improve the quality of my art and educate myself because I like to know more about the patients I me
I Locus (Red, Fawn, Cream, Silver), Urajiro, Albinism, Leucism
Dog Color Feature: I Locus (Red), Urajiro, AlbinoThis is a supplement to my Theoretical Dog Genetics guide . I am using thumbnails from dA so that artists will get the credit that would be harder to give taking pictures from other online sources. The goal is to educate anyone who is curious, as well as to provide artists with references that will improve the realism of their work. I am still learning, and guessing the correct color can sometimes be difficult even with an ideal photo or the dog itself to examine. If you spot any mistakes let me know. If you see your picture here and don't want it to be let me know and I'll take it down. If you would like to contribute a picture for reference send me a link. Photographs need to be clear, in good lighting, and show enough of the dog to provide a good reference for markings. I will be going back and adding to this whenever I find new references. My personal goal is to improve the quality of my art and educate myself because I like to know more about the patients I me
Dog Color Feature: K Locus- Black, Brindle, AgoutiThis is a supplement to my Theoretical Dog Genetics guide . I am using thumbnails from dA so that artists will get the credit that would be harder to give taking pictures from other online sources. The goal is to educate anyone who is curious, as well as to provide artists with references that will improve the realism of their work. I am still learning, and guessing the correct color can sometimes be difficult even with an ideal photo or the dog itself to examine. If you spot any mistakes let me know. If you see your picture here and don't want it to be let me know and I'll take it down. If you would like to contribute a picture for reference send me a link. Photographs need to be clear, in good lighting, and show enough of the dog to provide a good reference for markings. I will be going back and adding to this whenever I find new references. My personal goal is to improve the quality of my art and educate myself because I like to know more about the patients I me
Merle
Agouti (sable, grizzle, tan points, recessive black)
White spotting (Irish, piebald, extreme piebald, ticking, roaning, Dalmatian spots)
:thumb203707087:
Addendum (husky pattern, grizzle/domino, white trim, Boxer white, split face, lozenge) [link]
References: [link] [link] [link] [link]
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Comments: 63
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What does G mean? Greying?
Thanks for this helpfull tutorial ^^
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Yes.
You're welcome.
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Hi Leonca, I have a question about the color called orange. Is it a shade of fawn or red, or maybe a completely different color?Β I think it's fawn as I've seen it also called lemon online, but I'm confused as in several photos the dogs have yellowy or golden eyes and reddish brown noses like I've seen in red Pit Bulls.
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That would probably be a combination of recessive red (the shades do indeed have a confusing variety of names), and the chocolate gene. This would give the dog lighter eye and nose colors without effecting fur color.
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OK, thanks for explaining it to me.
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Hi! I love his drawings and works. They are wonderful. I would like to get in touch with you. Well, I 'm investigating the appearance of blue eyes in dogs. And I like his drawings and research. It is not easy to find information . If you can , write me to lunalubna@hotmail.com Thank you
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Thank you. I have written about blue eyes in my guide to dog genetics
Theoretical Dog GeneticsWhen I was a kid I can remember being confused by the logic of dog genetics presented in cartoons. When two different looking dogs had puppies, the boy puppies looked like the dad and the girl puppies looked like the mom. I can only guess that this lack of originality was an attempt to cash in on the new character's resemblance to an older character that had already won people over, but where's the fun in that? Being the animal nerd that I am, I resolved to give myself a way to design a realistic guide to prevent such blandness.
How to use
Much of this has not yet been proven in studies with real dogs, so if you want to learn more about a real dog it is useful to research the specific breed or likely breeds that are in the dog's background.
Each locus is a spot which can hold two possible alleles out of any number present in the whole species. All together the alleles (genotype) give you the final appearance (phenotype). To decide the appearance of offspring of two characters, g
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What about green eyes? I had a Dalmatian/Lab mix when I a kid that was chocolate with white spots and his eyes were green. Also I've seen blue Doberman that have gray eyes.
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I have heard of hazel eyes in some chocolate dogs, but it probably isnβt very common.
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I understand the genetics, but underneath all the colors of coat and eyes, is that the hex code to color images? Just wondering.
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Yeah, for people who don't want to download it to get the colors. I don't use this one anymore because it's not as accurate.
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Oh, okay. I would download it though. At least the accuracy is close, right?
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It's OK- the colors just don't compliment each other as well as the shades in the newest one.
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Okay. Well, if it is still okay if I use it. The colors and shades do not have to be actuate anyway, iit will just give me an idea of the shades and such.
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That's fine. I'm just a bit of a perfectionist.
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It's okay. I know a lot of people are when it comes to their work, but the way it is shaded or looks, or whatever the owner of the work is worried about, doesn't matter to me at all.
Lol.
And thanks again.
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very nice but what about albino animals as well as cats and dogs?
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You just color it white with blue eyes.
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Albino cat and/or dogs can have very pale blue eyes, but there is also a chance that the eye color will also be pink and/or red.
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Thank you so much for this I used it here to help figure out the genetics in my borzoi: [link]
If I got something wrong feel free to let me know I'm a moron when it comes to genetics....
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This is highly useful, but I am still unsure how to formulate of put these codes together. I'm just starting out in this. My Pitbull, Daft Punk - [link] - is a red and white, but not recessive red. How would I put together his genetics?
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Clear sable is common in pit bulls. It can show up as a solid red, and is also the color of dogs that are red and express the mask gene. You can use this to assign a genome for color and pattern [link]
It isnβt 100% accurate since some genetic interactions are still unknown, but it at least gives you an idea of how it could work. In his case, he could be-
K locus: kyky (expressing agouti locus patterns)
A locus: ayc_ (clear sable, but able to carry any other agouti pattern since this is the most dominant agouti locus gene)
E locus: E_ (not carrying mask, but could be carrying recessive red)
These are just the easiest to be realistic with. You can get more in-depth if you want, assigning genes for white spotting amount and intensity of red.
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Okay, but how would I lay it out? Like horse genetics would be like EE/AA/nCr or something.
What do I do with these letters? What order would I put them in, I'm a tad thick:
KyKy/Ayc/E or how lol?
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I usually start with the K locus, since solid black vs. expressing agouti pattern is one of the biggest distinctions. I donβt know if there is really any one best way to organize it.
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Okay, I'll see if I can figure it out. Thank you for your patience. Since my boy is Red n White, for the base red, would it read something on the lines of: Kk aa | Ee ??
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Youβre welcome. K locus would need to be kk, since Kk with Ee means a black dog.
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Hi Leonca,
These are just terrific--are they available anywhere for purchase? I stumbled on them doing research into color, agouti wild in particular. I breed AKC Border Collies and have a nearly week old litter, a Christmas surprise, that appears to be entirely agouti wild base color, with classic BC irish spotting. They range from light grey to dark grey, with darker heads and backs, etc., overlaid with a veil of darker tips. If this is their color, the odds of it turning up in this pedigree are incredible, even more so that they are all the same color, the odds of which has me wondering if there is some dominance at work. Btw, sire and dam are B&W. Sire carries and has produced d, e. Dam by pedigree may carry tri and b through her sire. Dam of dam was DNA tested for d, e in her pedigree and found to carry neither. Sire of dam has produced both tri and b, but no known dilutes over several litters to various bitches. Some litter mates of dam show a shadow of tricolor points--brown hairs intermingled that ar obvious in bright light, but none have been DNA tested for color. It's been a bit of a mystery.
Thanks for your work!
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I donβt know how to sell things as prints, so Iβve never enabled that option.
Glad you have found this useful.
Is agouti wild another term for sable in Border Collies? I have heard of sable in them, but not the pattern I usually associate with agouti.
Black is dominant to agouti locus patterns (unless one parent is recessive black, not sure if Border Collies carry that), so it is just a coincidence if two black and white dogs have a litter all expressing agouti locus patterns. The sable and agouti patters are dominant to tricolor (tan points), so it looks like maybe one parent was carrying it and never had a chance to have pups expressing agouti locus patterns.
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Thanks for the response. In the intervening weeks, the BC community has come forward with one other litter that resembles mine, whelped @ 5 years ago in the UK, that was dubbed the "chinchilla" litter, and many breeders are now assuming that my puppies' coloration is due, at least in part, to ch. The other litter apparently "went black" by adulthood, becoming barely discernible from a truly black and white Border Collie. I have seen just a few photos. Sable (what is traditionally thought of as sable such as is seen in Shelties, etc) is increasingly common in BCs as certain breeders are breeding for both that, and saddleback (breeding a BC for color is generally frowned upon). You are correct that agouti wild is unheard of in BCs for the most part, though some have speculated that my puppies might be both aw and ch which presumably cleared out the tan to silver. At any rate, they are exceptional and have caused quite a stir. I am awaiting vetgen results for k, b, d, ay, at, a, e. They don't offer testing for either aw or ch for BCs.
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Interesting. I have heard of saddles in rare cases in the breed, but I didnβt know any color was considered less desirable.
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It's not so much that specific color, as the idea that the Border Collie should be bred for working ability, not cosmetics. There is the adage that no good dog is a bad color. Under the AKC standard, all colors are acceptable, except white should note predominate. That being said, there is a strong preference, even among a lot of stockmen, for a black and white dog.
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Oops, I misread that as breeding for that pattern was looked down on.
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I read all your dog guides and I really like them! I love learning about animal genes and seeing all the colors they come in. Might you ever do one for cats? xD
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Thanks. 
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She has some amazing guides for humans too 
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hmmm that's odd, I have a dog who's fur is gold(fades out to white on belly/front- and hindlegs/tail) has golden eyes and a light brown mask with a VERY light brown nose....... how's that possible?? *is confused*
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A gold (red) dog can still be affected by the chocolate gene, giving it a chocolate mask and amber eyes. Noses on red dogs can also become lighter with age.
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funny. I must have a messed up dog, she's white but she's got brown eyes.
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Oh my god. Please marry me. I love this. ;_;
You saved me from a hell of researching.
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Hmm, so I guess red really doesn't exist? I was being told my merles have black noses and therefore that person was trying to convince me they were blue merles, which they are obviously not... But meh. They do have brown noses its just rather hard to see.
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Some red (chocolate) merles can be dark enough to look like they are blues (black).
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