Inheritance of Color in the Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Coat color inheritance is not necessarily an important matter in breeding, but can be a curiosity. Pembrokes have several basic colors, some variations of others. Fawns are very light Reds, Tricolors come in Black Headed (BH) and Red Headed (RH). See Development of Red in Red and Black Headed Tricolors for differentiation of those two colors.

Sables (See Development of sables with age) are a variation of red midway between Reds and Tricolors, and the inheritance of this color is currently unknown. While most Sables appear to be Reds with a BH Trifactor, some Sables appear to be “Pure for Red” (unable to produce Tricolors). Some speculate that the Sable is a “weak” Red gene that allows the normally recessive Tricolor gene to be partially expressed.

Other color variations are cream markings in all the colors, with a lighter cream on the eyebrows and cheeks than the rest of the coat. Bluies, with a bluish cast to the coat, are a serious very fault in the Pembroke Standard (inheritance not discussed here). Bluies come in Tricolors and Reds.

Basically, Red is dominant to Tricolor factors, and the Red Headed Tricolor factor is dominant to the Black Headed factor. Sables

Red X Reds

Case 1. Red with no Trifactor x Red with no Trifactor
Offspring:
100% Red offspring with no Trifactoring

Case 2. Red with no Trifactor x Red with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% Red with no Trifactor
50% Red with BH Trifactor

Case 3. Red with no Trifactor x Red with RH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% Red with no Trifactor
50% Red with RH Trifactor

Case 4. Red with RH Trifactor x Red with RH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% Red with no Trifactor
50% Red with RH Trifactor
25% RH Tricolors

Case 5. Red with BH Trifactor x Red with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% Red with no Trifactor
50% Red with BH Trifactor
25% BH Tricolors

Case 6. Red with BH Trifactor x Red with RH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% Red with no Trifactor
25% Red with BH Trifactor
25% Red with RH Trifactor
25% RH Tricolors

Red X Tris

Case 7. Red with no Trifactor x RH Tri with no BH Trifactor.
Offspring:
100% Red with RH Trifactor

Case 8. Red with no Trifactor x RH Tri with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% Red with RH Trifactor
50% Red with BH Trifactor

Case 9. Red with no Trifactor x BH Tri
Offspring:
100% Red with BH Trifactor

Case 10. Red with RH Trifactor x RH Tri with no BH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% Red with RH Trifactor
50% RH Tris with no BH Trifactor

Case 11. Red with RH Trifactor x RH Tri with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% Red with RH Trifactor
25% Red with BH Trifactor
25% RH Tris with BH Trifactor
25% RH Tris with no BH Trifactor

Case 12. Red with RH Trifactor x BH Tri
Offspring:
50% Red with BH Trifactor
50% RH Tris with BH Trifactor

Case 13. Red with BH Trifactor x RH Tri with no BH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% Red with RH Trifactor
50% RH Tris with BH Trifactor

Case 14. Red with BH Trifactor x RH Tri with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% Red with RH Trifactor
25% Red with BH Trifactor
25% RH Tris with BH Trifactor
25% BH Tris

Case 15. Red with BH Trifactor x BH Tri
Offspring:
50% Red with BH Trifactor
50% BH Tris

Tris X Tris

Case 16. RH Tri with no BH Trifactor x RH Tri with no BH Trifactor
Offspring:
100% RH Tris with no BH Trifactor

Case 17. RH Tri with no BH Trifactor x RH Tri with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
50% RH Tris with no BH Trifactor
50% RH Tris with BH Trifactor

Case 18. RH Tri with BH Trifactor x RH Tri with BH Trifactor
Offspring:
25% RH Tris with no BH Trifactor
50% RH Tris with BH Trifactor
25% BH Tris

Case 19. RH Tri with no BH Trifactor x BH Tri
Offspring:
100% RH Tris with BH Trifactor

Case 20. RH Tri with BH Trifactor x BH Tri
Offspring:
50% RH Tris with BH Trifactor
50% BH Tris

Case 21. BH Tri x BH Tri
Offspring:
100% BH Tris

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