The genetics of coat color inheritance for an individual dog can be confusing, and for some breeds, determining the potential colors of your pups can be even more difficult. For those breeders that are concerned or simply curious about potential coat colors of their future litters, genetic testing of prospective parents can save a lot of time, money and heartache when it comes to predicting colors.
This color chart attempts to show how the various, known genes interact to produce certain colors. Some genes are dominant over other genes, while some alleles (specific copies of a gene) are dominant over other combinations of alleles at the same gene (or locus) or dominant over other genes in this pathway. By understanding how these genes interact, you will be able to better predict the outcomes in your breeding program.
So how can two light colored parents produce an all black litter? In some breeds, such as the Labrador retriever, it is not possible for two yellow parents to produce black or chocolate pups because the gene that controls whether a dog is yellow or black is the E locus. Yellow Labs are ee and black Labs are either Ee or EE ...