Bi Color

[daviddrena]

Will breeding solid black to black/tan almost guarantee at least one bi color?

[Amaruq]

Not necessarily. What colors are the four grandparents?

[gagsd]

Only if the blk/tan dog carries bi-color.
The black dog can not have anything except black. The black/tan dog coud carry another copy of the b/t, or black, or bi-color.

[littledmc17]

My Brady came from a Bi-color and and all black

[Doc]

Solid Black dog = BB or Bb
Blue dog = bb

Black and tan = BT or Bt ???

Bi-color and/or saddle is determined by a different gene and some say they are the same.

[Chris Wild]

Originally Posted By: DocSolid Black dog = BB or Bb
Blue dog = bb

Not quite. Blue is not a color. It is a dilution. A blue dog doesn't have one black gene and one blue gene. It has 2 black genes, then a separate set of recessive genes altogether that cause the black to be diluted to blue. The blue dilution can occur in any color and affects only black pigment. So there are sables that have blue instead of black, black/tans that have blue instead of black, bi-colors that have blue instead of black, blacks that have blue instead of black. Liver dilution works the same, diluting black pigment to brown (and this is the exact same dilution gene that causes chocolate Labs).

Extension of black pigment causing a black/tan (or sable for that matter) to be a "blanket" pattern or "saddle" pattern is a different gene from overall color.

Bi-color is undetermined. Some believe it to be a separate color (like black, black/tan, sable) some believe it to be a separate gene on the extension locus (same that determines saddle or blanket) yet different from the general genes that determine extension of black pigment causing saddles/blankets.

Personally, my experience leads me to fall into the 1st category of Bi-color being a separate color.

[Chris Wild]

To the original question, NO breeding a black/tan to a black will not guarantee a Bi-color. The genes don't work that way. IF the black/tan carries Bi as it's recessive, statistically some Bis should occur in the litter and the others will be black/tan. There will be no blacks.

IF the black/tan is homozygous black/tan, all pups will be black/tan. IF the black/tan carries black as it's recessive, statistically half the pups will be black and half will be black/tan.

Black/tans with black recessive often tend to be darker (blanket pattern) black/tans rather than lighter (saddle pattern) black/tans. And some dark black/tans can have such extensive black markings that they can look similar to a Bi, but they are not Bis, they are black/tan.

[daviddrena]

does anyone have any pics of a black/tan that looks similiar to a bi.

[pupresq]

Lucia's Falkor is a melanistic blanket black and tan and looks as close to a bicolor as any BT I've seen. Gorgeous!!! My dog Grace is an example of a more tan blanket black and tan.

Link to Falkor pics

More Falkor pics

And Grace:


She's still pretty dark but not as dark as he is. In his case, he's got a BT allele and a black allele because his mom is black. I don't know what Grace's genetics are.

[gagsd]

I think a good way to differentiate a bicolor adult is that they will have a black belly..... somebody correct me if wrong