I think I understand this, but somebody PLEASE set me straight if I'm wrong.
Lucy is a sable, and both her parents are as well. In her litter there was at least one black and tan, which tells me that her parents are heterozygous for sable, because if even one was homozygous the only possibility would be sable. If one parent's other gene was for black and tan, and the other parent's other gene was for black, Lucy could either be genetically sable/sable, sable/black and tan, or sable/black.
So even though there have not been any black puppies from Lucy's parents, that doesn't tell me anything because it would never express itself with these two dogs, right?
It's enough to make your head spin a little.
Lucy is a sable, and both her parents are as well. In her litter there was at least one black and tan, which tells me that her parents are heterozygous for sable, because if even one was homozygous the only possibility would be sable. If one parent's other gene was for black and tan, and the other parent's other gene was for black, Lucy could either be genetically sable/sable, sable/black and tan, or sable/black.
So even though there have not been any black puppies from Lucy's parents, that doesn't tell me anything because it would never express itself with these two dogs, right?
It's enough to make your head spin a little.