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Color Inheritence in the Miniature Pinscher
T
he Min Pin comes in six colors. Four of those colors show a solid base color with tan points, and two are solid red in
appearance. The four base colors are black, chocolate (brown), blue, and fawn/isabella (lilac). The two other colors
are stag red (sable) and red (yellow). The terms in parentheses are those used by color geneticists when talking
about color, but for the purpose of this document I’ll use the common terms most Min Pin breeders and owners understand.
Because they underlie everything else, let’s first talk about the four solid base colors.
‘B’ = Black and ‘b’ = brown/chocolate. Black is dominant over chocolate. So all dogs who are black will have ‘B’ in their
genetic color code, and because ‘b’ is recessive to ‘B’, for a dog to be chocolate he must have two copies of the recessive chocolate gene, or ‘bb’
‘D’ = NOT Dilute and ‘d’ = dilute. Dilute colors are blue and fawn. You can apply the same principles as above to the D
series. Any dog with ‘D’ in its color genetics cannot be a dilute dog. Only when a dog inherits two copies of ‘d’ does it
show the color of either fawn (dilute of chocolate) or blue (dilute of black).
All Miniature Pinschers have these basic four colors. Think of it as the base coat on your house or car. However, there
are two other colors in the breed, and they can partially (in the case of Stag red) or wholly (in the case of clear red)
mask, or cover, the underlying coat color. Like putting a top coat of paint on your house. You may change the color,
but the base coat is still there.
Tanpoint. Along with the four base coats above, Min Pins, with the exception of those dominant for stag/sable, have
tan point. Tan pointing is AtAt.
The two solid red colors aren’t quite as similar as they appear.
Ay = Sable (stag red). Min Pins can be AyAy or AyAt. Dogs with Ay will be a russet red color (no visible points) with
intermingling hairs. The color of the intermingling hairs is determined by the base color from the B/D series. Most have
a base color of black (B), which leads to black whiskers, a black nose, and black intermingling hairs, often visible on the
side of the neck and the top of the back. However, if the dog is genetically a blue, chocolate, or fawn, the intermingling
hairs will correspond to those colors, and the nose and whiskers will also reflect that base color (grey nose for blue
dogs, chocolate nose for chocolate dogs, tan/beige nose for fawn dogs).
AyAy dogs are dominant for sable/stag and do not have tan points. AyAt dogs are stag/sable, but carry the gene for
tan point. These dogs are often a darker stag color because they are letting in more of the base coat.
E = NOT yellow and e = yellow. Min Pins carry the EE/ee series. This is a masking gene. As long as there is one ‘E’ in
the genetic makeup, the dog will not be clear red. But two copies of the gene, ‘ee’ will produce clear red and mask ALL
other color. These dogs will be solid for one color, including whiskers. In these dogs, the only way to know what the
base color was is to look at the nose and eyerim colors. This is the same gene which produces yellow labs.
Color Key
Black. BBDD, BBDd, BbDD, BbDd
Blue. BBdd, Bbdd
(all AtAt and EE or Ee)
(all AtAt and EE or Ee)
Chocolate. bbDD, bbDd
Fawn. bbdd
(all AtAt and EE or Ee)
(all AtAt and EE and Ee)
Stag Red. AyAy, AyAt and EE or Ee
Clear red. ee
(can be produced from any of the above colors,
base shown only in nose/eyerim color)
(intermingling hairs any of the colors above)
This information has come from several sources. I’d like to thank Jen from the Min Pin Talk list as well as Liisa Sarkontu
from Finland and rec.pets.dogs.breeds. The 4-color inheritance chart has been adapted from the color inheritance
chart on the DPCA web page at www.dpca.org, originally arranged by W. Donald Thompson.
© Robin Nuttall, 2007
Breeding Chart for the Four Basic Colors
All AtAt
EE or Ee
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
BBDD
BBDd
BbDD
BbDd
BBdd
Bbdd
bbDD
bbDd
bbdd
BBDD 100
BBDD 50
BBDd 50
BBDD 50
BbDD 50
BBDD 25
BBDd 25
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
BBDd 100
BBDd 50
BbDd 50
BbDD 100
BbDD 50
BbDd 50
BbDd 100
BBDD 50
BBDd 50
BBDD 25
BBDd 50
BBdd 25
BBDD 25
BBDd 25
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
BBDD 12.5
BBDd 25
BbDD 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 12.5
Bbdd 12.5
BBDd 50
BBdd 50
BBDd 25
BbDd 50
BBdd 25
Bbdd 25
BbDD 50
BbDd 50
BbDD 25
BbDd 50
Bbdd 25
BbDd 50
Bbdd 50
BBDD 50
BbDD 50
BBDD 25
BBDd 25
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
BBDD 25
BbDD 50
bbDD 25
BBDD 12.5
BBDd 12.5
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
bbDD 12.5
bbDd 12.5
BBDd 50
BbDd 50
BBDd 25
BbDd 50
bbDd 25
BbDD 50
bbDD 50
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
bbDd 25
bbDD 25
BbDd 50
bbDd 50
BBDD 25
BBDd 25
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
BBDD 12.5
BBDd 25
BbDD 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 12.5
Bbdd 12.5
BBDD 12.5
BBDd 12.5
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
bbDD 12.5
bbDd 12.5
BBDD 6.25
BBDd 12.5
BbDD 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 6.25
Bbdd 12.5
bbDD 6.25
bbDd 12.5
bbdd 6.25
BBDd 25
BbDd 25
BBdd 25
Bbdd 25
BBDd 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 12.5
Bbdd 25
bbDd 12.5
bbdd 12.5
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
bbDD 25
bbDd 25
BbDD 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 12.5
bbDD 12.5
bbDd 25
bbdd 12.5
BbDd 25
Bbdd 25
bbDd 25
bbdd 25
BBDd 100
BBDd 50
BBdd 50
BBDd 50
BbDd 50
BBDd 25
BbDd 25
BBdd 25
Bbdd 25
BBdd 100
BBdd 50
Bbdd 50
BbDd 100
BbDd 50
Bbdd 50
Bbdd 100
BBDd 50
BbDd 50
BBDd 25
BbDd 25
BBdd 25
Bbdd 25
BBDd 25
BbDd 50
bbDd 25
BBDd 12.5
BbDd 25
BBdd 12.5
Bbdd 25
bbDd 12.5
bbdd 12.5
BBdd 50
Bbdd 50
BBdd 25
Bbdd 50
bbdd 25
BbDd 50
bbDd 50
BbDd 25
Bbdd 25
bbDd 25
bbdd 25
Bbdd 50
bbdd 50
BbDD 100
BbDD 50
BbDd 50
BbDD 50
bbDD 50
BbDD 25
BbDd 25
bbDD 25
bbDd 25
BbDd 100
BbDd 50
bbDd 50
bbDD 100
bbDD 50
bbDd 50
bbDb 100
BbDD 50
BbDd 50
BbDD 25
BbDd 50
Bbdd 25
BbDD25
BbDd 25
bbDD 25
bbDd 25
BbDD 12.5
BbDd 25
Bbdd 12.5
bbDD 12.5
bbDd 25
bbdd 12.5
BbDd 50
Bbdd 50
BbDd 25
Bbdd 25
bbDd 25
bbdd 25
bbDD 50
bbDd 50
bbDD 25
bbDd 50
bbdd 25
bbDb 50
bbdd 50
BbDd 100
BbDd 50
Bbdd 50
BbDd 50
bbDd 50
BbDd 25
Bbdd 25
bbDd 25
bbdd 25
Bbdd 100
Bbdd 50
bbdd 50
bbDd 100
bbDd 50
bbdd 50
bbdd 100
BBDD
2
BBDd
3
BbDD
4
BbDd
5
BBdd
6
Bbdd
7
bbDD
8
bbDd
9
bbdd
Though the Min Pin comes in all four colors, it’s important to note that blue and fawn Min Pins are not an allowed
color in the United States. They can be registered, but cannot be shown. These two colors may be prone to a skin disease called Color Dilution Alopecia. When researching breeders, buyers should avoid any breeder who breeds specifically for color, or who refers to any color as “rare,” or “special.” Blue Min Pins are allowed in the UK.
© Robin Nuttall, 2007
Stag Red and Tanpoint
Stag red, which is a form of sabling using the genetic color code of Ay, will partially cover the base colors shown on the
previous page. Sabling means that the dog is a solid reddish brown but with an intermingling of darker hairs. Other
breeds with sabling include Collies, Pembroke Corgis, etc. The color of the overlaying contrasting hairs depends on the
base color shown on the chart on page two. Min Pins can either be AyAy, dominant for sable, or AyAt, sable expressed
but with a recessive for tan pointing. Those dogs who are AyAt are actually likely to appear as darker, richer stags because there will be more of the base color leaking through.
All EE or
Ee
1
1
2
3
AyAy
AyAt
AtAt
AyAy 100
AyAy 75
AyAt 25
AyAy 33
AyAt 33
AtAt 33
AyAy 75
AyAt 25
AyAy 33
AyAt 33
AtAt 33
AyAt 25
AtAt 75
AyAy 33
AyAt 33
AtAt 33
AyAt 25
AtAt 75
AtAt 100
AyAy
2
AyAt
3
AtAt
Clear Red
Clear Red is caused by a masking gene, ‘ee.’ Because clear red masks all underlying color, the only way to tell which
base color the dog is is through the skin color of the nose, eyerims, and footpads. Clear red dogs will be born a solid
color, with no black hairs and with self-colored whiskers. Since clear reds turn up from all color combinations in Min
Pins, it appears that the E/e series is present in all Min Pins.
All colors
affected
1
1
2
3
EE
Ee
ee
EE 100
EE 75
Ee 25
EE 33
Ee 33
ee 33
EE 75
Ee 25
EE 33
Ee 33
ee 33
Ee 25
ee 75
EE 33
Ee 33
ee 33
Ee 25
ee 25
ee 100
EE
2
Ee
3
ee
© Robin Nuttall, 2007