Albinism causes a congenital lack of pigment in most parts of the body This guide explains what albinism in dogs is, how it works, and how to identify it. What Is Albinism? Albinism is a rare genetic disorder that prevents pigmentation. The pigment cells of an albino dog are switched off at the enzyme level. ... Read more

Some agouti dogs don’t show the usual wolf-gray banding all over their upper body. Instead, they have extended tan markings that only leave room for a smaller banded saddle on the back. This is what we call saddle agouti. A mainly yellow dog with a saddle of banded hairs. This phenotype is common in German ... Read more

Agouti is the wild-type base pattern in dogs. The agouti pattern causes banded dorsal hairs with solid tan markings on the lower body and wolf-like face markings. But some agouti dogs get so dark on top that they look almost black & tan. That’s dark agouti. What’s Actually Happening Agouti dogs are E/- ky/ky aw/-. ... Read more

Agouti is the wild-type pattern in dogs. It causes banded dorsal hairs and clear ventral tan markings. The transition from dorsal to ventral coat causes distinct agouti markings. This is an image guide to make you better at recognizing agouti. The placement of banded hair on the face is one of the distinguishing features that ... Read more

The domino trait partially inhibits eumelanin synthesis. This creates a washed-out version of agouti with less dark banding and reduced tan markings. Some breeds call it “gray & white” or “agouti grizzle“. This creates an overall lighter, washed‑out version of the agouti pattern. Agouti domino dogs commonly have a pale undercoat, reduced eumelanin banding in ... Read more

A summary of all the traits that affect coat colors. Quick Reference Table Locus Gene Alleles Function BLACK PIGMENT B (brown) TYRP1 B > b loss-of-function (b/b) modifies black→brown D (dilute) MLPH D > d loss-of-function (d/d) dilutes black→blue and brown→lilac via melanosome clumping Co (cocoa) HPS3 N > co loss-of-function (co/co) modifies black→cocoa via ... Read more

What do pigment cells do? This article will give you a basic understanding of pigment cell function. This is necessary if you want to really explain how exactly different mutations can cause a variation in coat colors. The Pigment Cell A pigment cell is the type of cell that makes melanin. We also call them ... Read more

Where do pigment cells come from? Neural Crest Dogs have pigment cells in their skin and hair follicles. These melanocytes start their journey very early during puppy development. They originate from a temporary structure in the embryo called the neural crest. This is a population of migratory stem cells in the area that will eventually ... Read more

How two black dogs can have brown puppies. Labradors are one of the best breeds for understanding how coat color genetics actually work. See, Labs only have a small set of well-defined colors that everyone can recognize. And their genetics are just complicated enough to be genuinely interesting without being overwhelming. How Inheritance Works Before ... Read more

Let’s talk about how traits get passed from parent to puppy. Between Generations Every body cell has pairs of homologous chromosomes. The chromosomes in each pair share the same genes. This means each cell has two copies of each gene. One on each chromosome in a pair. For each gene, a dog can have two identical alleles. ... Read more