Color Codes/Genetics of the Pembroke on Showdog.com
How much do people care about the colors? There's a lot in Pems that isn't known. I'd prefer to just stick with sables, reds, black headed tris, and red headed tris, and ignore fawns, bluies and mismarks.
AKC registrations (last I looked at anyhow) had sable, red, tricolor, fawn as official colors. But breeders pretty much use the colors sables, reds, black headed tris, and red headed tris. Bluies are very uncommon and not showable (tho not a DQ). There's occasional mismarks (too much white on parts of the body where white shouldn't be) but solid colored corgis without white are just about non-existant nowadays).
Getting into fawns gets into a much more complex mess of genetics that aren't really known. And even sables aren't really figured out. It'd be nice to just stay simple and make assumptions of unknowns for SD. We're way more likely to get colors started if we keep it simple (like Jeff says).
4 Pembroke colors
Red
Red headed tricolor
Black headed tricolor
Sable
A locus
ay (red)
ay- ("weak" red gene)
atR (red headed tricolor)
atb (black headed tricolor)
ay and ay- dominant to atR and atb, atR dominant to atb; ay- allows a bit of tricolor atb to show thru.
Unfortunately the actual genetics of sabling aren't known, so some of this is just guesswork, best as one can do. There are RL sable dogs that don't have the tri gene which doesn't fit the below but they're rare. Do we really want to bother to get into mismarks and bluies (D locus) and fawns? If people want things more complex, feel free to go at it yourself. I don't have the time to deal with more.
ayay = red
ayay- = red
ay-ay- = red (possibly some sables?)
ayatR = red
ay-atR = light sable
ayatb = red
ay-atb = dark sable
atRatR = red headed tri
atRatb = red headed tri
atbatb = black headed tri
SOURCE: www.pembrokecorgi.org/art_color.html
(Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America, National club website)
C locus
CC - full color
Ccch - medium shade
cchcch - pale shade
It's best to call CC and Ccch both reds and cchcch fawns. Fawns are reds, so if there's a fawn combined with a tri, then it's still a tri. Never seen a fawn with sabling, so who knows, maybe the hypotheses on the PWCCA website re tris might be better than the C locus hypothesis. But OTOH nobody knows, and both sables and fawns are quite uncommon so the chances of getting a fawn sable is really really low. So, might as well stick with the easier C locus.
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
ay red (dominant to tris)
ay- weak red (lets a recessive tricolor gene be expressed a little thru the red)
atR red head tricolor (recessive to red, dominant to black headed tricolor)
atb black headed tricolor (recessive to red and red headed tricolor)
C red (in combo with cch mixes to medium red, called red)
cch fawn (in combo with C mixes to medium red, called red)
Sorted by color:
RED (68%)
ayay CC
ayay Ccch
ayay- CC
ayay- Ccch
ay-ay- CC
ay-ay- Ccch
ayatR CC
ayatR Ccch
ayatb CC
ayatb Ccch
FAWN (2%)
ayay cchcch
ayay- cchcch
ay-ay- cchcch
ayatR cchcch
ayatb cchcch
RED WITH SABLING (3%)
ay-atR CC
ay-atR Ccch
ay-atb CC
ay-atb Ccch
FAWN WITH SABLING (1%)
ay-atR cchcch
ay-atb cchcch
RED HEADED TRICOLOR (20%)
atRatR CC
atRatR Ccch
atRatR cchcch
atRatb CC
atRatb Ccch
atRatb cchcch
BLACK HEADED TRICOLOR (6%)
atbatb CC
atbatb Ccch
atbatb cchcch
IF YOU DID NOT GET IT THEN PLEASE READ ON:
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
ay red (dominant to tris)
ay- weak red (lets a recessive tricolor gene be expressed a little thru the red)
atR red head tricolor (recessive to red, dominant to black headed tricolor)
atb black headed tricolor (recessive to red and red headed tricolor)
C red (in combo with cch mixes to medium red, called red)
cch fawn (in combo with C mixes to medium red, called red)
Sorted by color:
RED (68%)
ayay CC
ayay Ccch
ayay- CC
ayay- Ccch
ay-ay- CC
ay-ay- Ccch
ayatR CC
ayatR Ccch
ayatb CC
ayatb Ccch
FAWN (2%)
ayay cchcch
ayay- cchcch
ay-ay- cchcch
ayatR cchcch
ayatb cchcch
RED WITH SABLING (3%)
ay-atR CC
ay-atR Ccch
ay-atb CC
ay-atb Ccch
FAWN WITH SABLING (1%)
ay-atR cchcch
ay-atb cchcch
RED HEADED TRICOLOR (20%)
atRatR CC
atRatR Ccch
atRatR cchcch
atRatb CC
atRatb Ccch
atRatb cchcch
BLACK HEADED TRICOLOR (6%)
atbatb CC
atbatb Ccch
atbatb cchcch
-----
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
So the basics are, red (ay) is dominant to tricolor (atR or atb), so if you have only one red gene the dog is red. Fawn is due to a different gene (C or cch) that modifies the red gene to be lighter (cch cch) or darker (CC or Ccch). It doesn't do anything to tricolors.
Then you have tricolors, red headed tricolor (atR) is always dominant to black headed tricolor (atb). You need 2 tricolor genes for a dog to be tricolor, and if one is atR then it'll be a red headed tricolor since that overrides the atb gene. You need 2 atb genes for a black headed tricolor. We lost the atb gene from modern generations so are currently bringing them back by breeding up from starter dogs (several of us are working on that).
Sable is simply a red gene (ay-) that's a "bit broken" and allows a bit of tricoloring to show thru if there is a tricolor gene. If there's no tricolor gene, only red can show thru red so it's red.
Hopefully this makes sense! It's easier to read if you initially go thru it a couple times 1st ignoring all the gene symbols.
AKC registrations (last I looked at anyhow) had sable, red, tricolor, fawn as official colors. But breeders pretty much use the colors sables, reds, black headed tris, and red headed tris. Bluies are very uncommon and not showable (tho not a DQ). There's occasional mismarks (too much white on parts of the body where white shouldn't be) but solid colored corgis without white are just about non-existant nowadays).
Getting into fawns gets into a much more complex mess of genetics that aren't really known. And even sables aren't really figured out. It'd be nice to just stay simple and make assumptions of unknowns for SD. We're way more likely to get colors started if we keep it simple (like Jeff says).
4 Pembroke colors
Red
Red headed tricolor
Black headed tricolor
Sable
A locus
ay (red)
ay- ("weak" red gene)
atR (red headed tricolor)
atb (black headed tricolor)
ay and ay- dominant to atR and atb, atR dominant to atb; ay- allows a bit of tricolor atb to show thru.
Unfortunately the actual genetics of sabling aren't known, so some of this is just guesswork, best as one can do. There are RL sable dogs that don't have the tri gene which doesn't fit the below but they're rare. Do we really want to bother to get into mismarks and bluies (D locus) and fawns? If people want things more complex, feel free to go at it yourself. I don't have the time to deal with more.
ayay = red
ayay- = red
ay-ay- = red (possibly some sables?)
ayatR = red
ay-atR = light sable
ayatb = red
ay-atb = dark sable
atRatR = red headed tri
atRatb = red headed tri
atbatb = black headed tri
SOURCE: www.pembrokecorgi.org/art_color.html
(Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America, National club website)
C locus
CC - full color
Ccch - medium shade
cchcch - pale shade
It's best to call CC and Ccch both reds and cchcch fawns. Fawns are reds, so if there's a fawn combined with a tri, then it's still a tri. Never seen a fawn with sabling, so who knows, maybe the hypotheses on the PWCCA website re tris might be better than the C locus hypothesis. But OTOH nobody knows, and both sables and fawns are quite uncommon so the chances of getting a fawn sable is really really low. So, might as well stick with the easier C locus.
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
ay red (dominant to tris)
ay- weak red (lets a recessive tricolor gene be expressed a little thru the red)
atR red head tricolor (recessive to red, dominant to black headed tricolor)
atb black headed tricolor (recessive to red and red headed tricolor)
C red (in combo with cch mixes to medium red, called red)
cch fawn (in combo with C mixes to medium red, called red)
Sorted by color:
RED (68%)
ayay CC
ayay Ccch
ayay- CC
ayay- Ccch
ay-ay- CC
ay-ay- Ccch
ayatR CC
ayatR Ccch
ayatb CC
ayatb Ccch
FAWN (2%)
ayay cchcch
ayay- cchcch
ay-ay- cchcch
ayatR cchcch
ayatb cchcch
RED WITH SABLING (3%)
ay-atR CC
ay-atR Ccch
ay-atb CC
ay-atb Ccch
FAWN WITH SABLING (1%)
ay-atR cchcch
ay-atb cchcch
RED HEADED TRICOLOR (20%)
atRatR CC
atRatR Ccch
atRatR cchcch
atRatb CC
atRatb Ccch
atRatb cchcch
BLACK HEADED TRICOLOR (6%)
atbatb CC
atbatb Ccch
atbatb cchcch
IF YOU DID NOT GET IT THEN PLEASE READ ON:
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
ay red (dominant to tris)
ay- weak red (lets a recessive tricolor gene be expressed a little thru the red)
atR red head tricolor (recessive to red, dominant to black headed tricolor)
atb black headed tricolor (recessive to red and red headed tricolor)
C red (in combo with cch mixes to medium red, called red)
cch fawn (in combo with C mixes to medium red, called red)
Sorted by color:
RED (68%)
ayay CC
ayay Ccch
ayay- CC
ayay- Ccch
ay-ay- CC
ay-ay- Ccch
ayatR CC
ayatR Ccch
ayatb CC
ayatb Ccch
FAWN (2%)
ayay cchcch
ayay- cchcch
ay-ay- cchcch
ayatR cchcch
ayatb cchcch
RED WITH SABLING (3%)
ay-atR CC
ay-atR Ccch
ay-atb CC
ay-atb Ccch
FAWN WITH SABLING (1%)
ay-atR cchcch
ay-atb cchcch
RED HEADED TRICOLOR (20%)
atRatR CC
atRatR Ccch
atRatR cchcch
atRatb CC
atRatb Ccch
atRatb cchcch
BLACK HEADED TRICOLOR (6%)
atbatb CC
atbatb Ccch
atbatb cchcch
-----
A locus, genes: ay ay- atR atb
C locus, genes: C cch
So the basics are, red (ay) is dominant to tricolor (atR or atb), so if you have only one red gene the dog is red. Fawn is due to a different gene (C or cch) that modifies the red gene to be lighter (cch cch) or darker (CC or Ccch). It doesn't do anything to tricolors.
Then you have tricolors, red headed tricolor (atR) is always dominant to black headed tricolor (atb). You need 2 tricolor genes for a dog to be tricolor, and if one is atR then it'll be a red headed tricolor since that overrides the atb gene. You need 2 atb genes for a black headed tricolor. We lost the atb gene from modern generations so are currently bringing them back by breeding up from starter dogs (several of us are working on that).
Sable is simply a red gene (ay-) that's a "bit broken" and allows a bit of tricoloring to show thru if there is a tricolor gene. If there's no tricolor gene, only red can show thru red so it's red.
Hopefully this makes sense! It's easier to read if you initially go thru it a couple times 1st ignoring all the gene symbols.
