How inheritance takes place
     Lets take a chocolate and White Female knowing what the color of her parents are: her father is Chocolate and White and her mother is Chocolate, White and Tan. We breed her to a Tri colored, Black, White and Tan Male that has a chocolate parent. Using the visual colors above, I know that my Chocolate and White female carries these genes: (AatbbCCDDEEspspTt) she inherits one gene from each of her parents.  Her Chocolate and White father must be carrying the (A) gene because he does not have tan markings and similarly the mother was chocolate, white and tan and must be carrying the (at) gene in double dose. We know that the dog carries the (C) (D) and (E) gene because there are no other changes in the dogs coat appearance. We know that the (sp) gene is carried because the dogs have spots and patches of color. We also know that the female carries the (T) gene because she displays ticking on her coat. Ticking is only seen in the white areas of the coat.
     The male Tri colored dog carries these genes: (atatBbCCDDEEspsptt). We know he has to carry the (B) gene because his nose is black. He also has to have inherited the (b) gene because one of his parents was chocolate. We also know that he has to carry the (at) gene in double dose because he is a black, white and tan color. We know that the dog carries the (C) (D) and (E) gene because there are no other changes in the dogs coat appearance. We know that the (sp) gene is carried because the dogs have spots and patches of color. No ticking is apparent so we know that the dog carries the (t) gene.

We will demonstrate how these two formulas will combine to produce the following colors. Starting with:
The (A Series)

Female  Male

A at         at at       The females A gene combines with the males at gene = Pup #1 Aat
This produces a Black puppy because the dominant A gene doesn't allow the tan in the (at) gene to be seen.

A at       at at        The females at gene combines with the males at gene = Pup #2 atat
This produces a Black and Tan puppy

A at       at at        The males at gene combines with the females A gene = Pup #3  atA
This produces the same color as pup #1 (Black)

A at       at at       The males at gene combines with the females at gene = Pup #4  atat
This produces the same color as pup #2 (Black and Tan)

    At this point we have 2 black puppies and 2 black and tan puppies without the addition of the other genes. The affects of the following genes will serve to add to or modify the affects of the (A Series) genes.


The B Series
From the formula above we see that the dogs carry these B series genes. The arrows show how they combine.

Female   Male

b b           B b      The females b gene combines with the males b gene = Pup #1 bb
This combination produces a chocolate dog with a brown nose

b b          B b       The females b gene combines with the males b gene = Pup #2 bB
Because the B is dominate over the b this combination produces a dog with a black nose.

b b          B b        The males B gene combines with the females b gene = Pup #3 bb
This makes the same color as in pup #1

b b          B b        The males b gene combines with the females b gene = Pup #4 Bb
This combination makes the same color as in pup #2

     When these B genes combine with the A Series combinations above, (Aat) and (atat) they can change the appearance of the dog. The (Bb) gene gives the puppies that inherit it black noses but the (bb) gene turns the black areas of the puppies that inherit it chocolate, including the "nose". The  black dog will become  chocolate with the (bb) gene and the black and tan dog will become chocolate and tan with the (bb) gene. Because the diagram above only shows the inheritance of genes of four pups, only two Pups, # 1 and 3 will inherit the gene that turns them chocolate.

     With the A and B genes combined we now have a black puppy, a chocolate puppy, and a black and tan puppy.


The C Series
The C gene does not need to be combined because both dogs are carrying the same ones. All puppies produced will carry (CC).  The C gene allows full color to develop no matter what color the dog is. It will not affect the colors of the dogs shown above.

The D Series
(DD) controls the density of the color on the dog and will not change the color of any of the dogs we have produced in the sample. We do not need to combine the genes because both dogs are carrying the same and all puppies will carry (DD).

The E Series
The (EE) gene will also not change the colors of the dogs because it is another gene that allows the pigment to form to its fullest extent. Again, we do not need to combine the genes because both dogs are carrying the same gene and all puppies will be (EE) in formula.

The S Series
The S genes produce varying degrees of white patterns on the dogs coat.  Because the dogs in the example both carry the same gene we do not need to combine them. All puppies will carry (spsp). This gene produces the"piebald" pattern that appears as spots or patches of color. The effects that the (sp) gene can have on the pups is to leave them mostly white with a few spots or produce a blanket of color on their body.


The T Series

Female   Male

T t            t t      The females Tgene combines with the males t gene = Pup #1 Tt
Because the T is dominate over the t this combination produces a dog with ticking or commonly called "freckles". It does not change the color of the dog but produces small spots of color on the skin or coat seen only in the white areas. These spots are the same base color of the dog and are not commonly seen at birth but surface as the dog grows up.

T t             t t        The females t gene combines with the males t gene = Pup #2 tt
This combination produces a dog without ticking.

T t             t t        The males t gene combines with the females T gene = Pup #3 tT
This combination produces the same color and pattern dog as pup #1.

T t             t t        The males t gene combines with the females t gene = Pup #4 tt
This combination produces the same color and pattern dog as pup #2.


Now that all the genes have been combined lets see what colors of pups we have produced.
Pup 1. AatbbCCDDEEspspTt  Choc & White with patches of color (piebald) with ticking.
Pup 2. atatbBCCDDEEspsptt  Tri (Black, White and Tan) without ticking.
Pup 3. atAbbCCDDEEspsptT   Same as pup 1.
Pup 4. atatBbCCDDEEspsptt   Same as pup 2.

     These combinations were done for example purposes only. If this had been an actual mating, the chocolate color or the ticking could have occurred on the Tri puppies or the chocolate and white could have been black and white. Regardless, these are the actual colors that would be produced in this type of mating.
 

(A) Choc/Wht.
(at) Bk/Wht/Tan
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