Another corgi color question

[LoveMySadie]

I'm assuming that red and white is the most common pembroke color, but how do the others rank? And what about cardigans? Are they more often black?

Still learning all I can about these amazing dogs!! :WINK:

Leslie

[Merlincorgi]

This is purely a guess on my part but from what I have seen for Pembrokes I would guess that the order for most common would be: red/white, red-headed tri, black-headed tri, sable, mismarked. Again though, that's pretty much a guess. I couldn't even begin to guess on the cardigans though. Will be interesting to hear from others what they think.

[Crazy Cardis]

I don't really have a clue, but what a neat question. I have definitely seen a lot of red/white Pems and a lot of black/white cardis. If I had to do Cardi colors based simply on what I have seen while looking, I'd say...black/white, tri, blue merle, brindle, reds...of course this is based on incredibly limited experiences.

[glencorgi]

In order of inheritance dominance -

Pembrokes - red is dominant over tris. Red headed tri is dominant over black headed tris. Bluies are an autosomal recessive dilute - both parents have to be carrying the gene for it to show up. Whitelies are the over expression of the Irish pattern (I believe) - the Irish pattern or spotting is what produces the white feet, collars and blazes. There is also another dilute that shows up - agouti or "chinchilla" which produces a very, very, very pale red.

Cardigans have two base coat colors, brown/red and black; all the other colors you see are the result of modifiers on those two colors.

Brindle is a dominant color pattern and can appear in all shades from an almost lemon yellow base to black.
Merle is an autosomal dominant dilute - only one copy is needed for the color to be expressed.
Red
Black & white with either brindle or tan points. Black is recessive to all other colors and a universal base color as it can be bred to ANY color.

In Cardigans there are a slew of modifiers which can produce a wide variety of "off" colors. The most common color of Cardigans is brindle.

Okay now for sable. Technically there is a theory that all reds of either breed are "genetic" sables which accounts for the black hairs found in the reds. Sable is also debated sometimes as either a color or a color pattern? For sable to be expressed, it needs black to act upon. A full out shaded sable will have a widow's peak/monk's cap on the head. Sable is like one took mascara and went over the coat or "penciled" the black in.

Debbie

PS: Bi-blacks do not appear in either corgi breed.

[Crazy Cardis]

Oh Goodness, Debbie! You are a wealth of knowledge, that is for sure, and my color guesses could not be further away from accurate. It is neat to see it all broken down the way you have.

[LaRositaMonita]

You're the best, Debbie! I felt proud of myself because I DID learn yesterday from Robin that black is the recessive gene and white is dominant (hence why she is a little wary about breeding Mac with his silly little white ear)! The other info is really, really neat as well.

....The merle is a variant on black, then?

[glencorgi]

What Mac has is an over expression of the Irish pattern/Irish spotting - his white didn't stick to just the blaze or collar area. His markings are perfectly acceptable in the show ring (and he is a nicely put together puppy <G>). What would give a breeder pause about the amount of white he carries in a breeding program is that it is possible for too much white on the head "can" cause hearing impairment sometimes.

A blue merle is a black & white dog (w/either color of points) with the merle modifier which is a dilute. Think of it as spilling bleach on a black t-shirt. :)

Debbie

[LaRositaMonita]

What Mac has is an over expression of the Irish pattern/Irish spotting - his white didn't stick to just the blaze or collar area. His markings are perfectly acceptable in the show ring (and he is a nicely put together puppy <G>). What would give a breeder pause about the amount of white he carries in a breeding program is that it is possible for too much white on the head "can" cause hearing impairment sometimes.

A blue merle is a black & white dog (w/either color of points) with the merle modifier which is a dilute. Think of it as spilling bleach on a black t-shirt. :)

Debbie

The merle color makes so much sense when you think about it that way! Robin also explained to us all about the possibility of deafness with dogs that have lots of white on them...and then she of course assured us that Mac would be a very, very lovely show dog anyway if all went well over the next few months and we just randomly decided to not neuter him ;) She was very sweet about it, no pressure...I just don't see how Colin and I could ever have the time or drive everyone at the show did with their dogs. I did, however, indicate that depending on how we do with Mac in puppy class, obedience or rally classes seem really, really neat...we got to see some dogs being titled in both of those and it was VERY fun to watch.

And you can't be surprised that Mac is turning out so well - how could he not with people like "Auntdebbiemom" and Robin bringing him into this world and helping him find his way?