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ShockTherapyStables — Tutorial - Dilutes in Dogs
Published: 2013-04-21 19:22:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 30708; Favourites: 1275; Downloads: 250
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Description
A lot of people in our latest poll asked for tutorials about coloring and markings. We'll be addressing some of the more common coloring mistakes we see, and decided to start with a topic that a lot of people seem to have trouble with: dilutes. Dilutes are a simple mechanic once you know how they work, but if you don't know then they can appear very complex. We hope this tutorial is useful if you want to figure out how to incorporate dilutes into your DARPG art! Also a small section on Merles as well.(Of course, you do not ALWAYS have to follow this tutorial. If you're content with not paying any mind to genetics when you design dogs, that is entirely your choice and you're free to do as you like. But, it never hurts to know!)(
Next tutorial will be all about brindle
Enjoy! Please feel free to leave us any feedback or questions you might have.
Other STS Tutorials: Brindle
Art and Characters (Hera, Uno, Artemis, Whiteface, Castiel, Trinity) © *ShockTherapyStables
Characters (Daeymon, Kaisen) © ~MixedBagKennel and *samuRAI-same
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Comments: 195
Hay i have an question.Can Isabella color appear at German Shepard?(My friend found an Isabella colored puppy last month on street,i just want to find out what breed is he)
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Isabella can appear in German Shepherds, but it's very rare. If your friend found the dog on the street it's much more likely that it's a German Shepherd mix rather than a purebred. Here's some photos of Isabella German Shepherds: [link] [link] [link]
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You right Bruno looks more like a german shepard mix than like a purebred..
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Very interesting to read!
thanks for making it, must have been a lot of work!
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my auntie has a staffie with the 'blue' fur colour, hes a beauty
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You're totally welcome! <3
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I love how you make the dogs look like their actual breed.
Whenever I try to draw dogs like this (droopy lips) it ends up all weird >->
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Thanks! Yeah drawing the floppy-faced breeds can be pretty tricky sometimes
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Easily the best genetic tutorial I've ever read! 
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This was very interesting to read. Genetics are an interesting topic, and it's neat to see how they work for phenotype. Is it okay to assume that these rules would apply for other animals (primarily cats) as well?
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I know that in cats, dogs, and foxes the dilutes are very similar (in that black can be diluted to blue, liver, or both at once) but those are the only animals I know of and, aside from those, I'm pretty sure the rest of the genetics are different. I haven't done much research on other species admittedly.
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Thank you anyhow!
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Wow! Very informative and helpful, thank you!
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Oh my gosh this is so cool! Thank you, biology is much easier to understand when narrated by a canine
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I found this whole layout fun and entertaining. Also as someone who loves dachshunds, I liked learning about the liver coat. What you said about breeding two merles and the defects it can cause struck a chord with me too. Too many bad breeders do the same thing with double dapple coats in dachshunds. This has led to blindness or pups born without eyes. And death at times, as you mentioned.
People do need to breed responsibly and know what they are doing. Not just because it makes a pretty coat.
And I love how you gave the dogs such super lovely expressions.
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Dachshunds are beautiful examples of dilutes and merles! Unfortunately many breeders care only about making a quick buck and we end up with dogs that are deaf, blind, even born without eyes. It's sad, but hopefully as more research is done that practice will start to taper off.
Thank you!
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You're very welcome!
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this is really really cool, it's comprehensive, easy to understand and just... neato XD
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This is a seriously helpful tutorial :3 Genetics, be it for dogs or horses or cats, are confusing as heck to me normally XD I think its the cute doggie pictures here that amde it easier to sink in to my head.
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Haha that was the plan. Thank you!
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Its a brilliant plan
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i love the way you drew the dogs ^^ and this was interesting to read about the colors and markings!
good job on the tutorial! have a nice day!
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no problem <3
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Wow, this was really fascinating. I've always liked learning about gentics involving animals and I'll certainly keep this in mind when considering coloration for animal characters.
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This tutorial was very explanatory and simplistic for people wanting to learn about doggies and their coat pigments, your hard work is much appreciated ^_^
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I know about human genetics, but not animal genetics. Nice tut-
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wow this is an amazing tutorila o_o so well done and... professional. I love that Hera is the main character This really helps alot though, thank you for taking your time to make this for us!
This is just on this account! xD I had some more questions if thats ok? Ill try to make them simple!
Ok.. so if there is 2 liver or blue dogs.. like I don't know chocolate labs, and they have puppies, does that mean ALL their puppies will be chocolate, or only a few chocolate and mostly black and golden (carrying dilute) like a normal litter with a parent who carries dilute and one who doesn't?
Just confused! my bio class was when i first learned about chocolate labs and stuff but you know they dont specialize in dog markings and stuff, so i don't know for sure xD
Also, can a dog be red based, but really really dark brown, like almost liver, but they arent liver because their nose doesn't really get effected and can be black or pink, etc?
And last...sorry
can black dogs have variation in shades? like maybe a bit lighter parts? I mean im sure not ever black is pure black right? I have in mind the siberian husky, like blaack but you see variations in their coat, like my dog has a grey booty lol. Or could that be because their undercoat has white fur showing though? Also like merles i guess, if they dont have a dilution can their still be patches of lighter and darker black? redundant but i dont know how to explain xD
Sorry you dont have to answer these questions <33 the tutorial really helped me!!!
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Thank you very much!
If two chocolate labs breed, all the puppies will be chocolate as well. Offspring take one gene from each parent, so if both the mother and father are (bb), then all the puppies will be (bb) too. Now, two chocolate labs can have yellow puppies - the E genes control how much black a dog has. (EE) lets a dog have normal black, but (ee) means the dog will have no black pigment, making it a yellow lab. But, you can still tell if a yellow lab is (bb) by looking at its eyes and nose. For example this yellow lab has a black nose and brown eyes, so we know it's not (bb) [link] . But this yellow lab has a brown nose and light eyes, so even though you can't see any markings, we know its liver (bb) [link]
A red dog can be pretty dark sometimes, yes. Irish Setters, for instance, are Red and (ee) and have no liver dilute (BB) but can get very rich in their coloring [link] .
Black dogs can absolutely have variation in shades! A lot of black dogs will get lighter colored as they get older (my own dog was a black Border Collie mix, and even though she was pitch black as a puppy in her later years she almost looked completely brown). Huskies are a good example too, since they have the light undercoat patterns. Depending on how much spread their white undersides have, they can be almost solid [link] to very patterned [link] . Merles too - the color of the black spots will always be black (or blue, or liver, depending on what dilutions are present), but the rest of the dog can be very light in comparison. Both of these are black dogs with merle, but they have a lot of variation between them: [link] [link]
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ohhh ok!! that makes sense! thank you so so much for explaining that to me!!!!
I have a question, about the color of my dog, and i was wondering if you could help me with it. He's an Australian Shepherd and Golden Retriever mix. He is a really bright red-orange, but has a brown nose and brown skin, etc. basically i don't think there's anything on him that's truly black. But his coat seems to bright to be liver? As well as he has dark brown eyes, almost black. I'm starting to think that maybe he would have originally been a red dog with a black nose and skin, etc. And no black markings on his fur, that's why its so bright. But i'm not sure.
Here is a pic of him: [link]
Here is his face close up: [link]
Seriously i can't thank you enough for helping me, i love learning all this stuff XD Do you work with dogs alot in real life?
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Aw what a cute dog! I love collie mixes.
Just from looking at the photos, I would say he is a recessive red (ee), meaning no black on his coat. The pink nose he has is found in retrievers a lot and is called a "Dudley" or "Snow" nose, it can happen when the dog has a white muzzle. The fact that he has dark eyes means he is definitely not a liver, and I agree with you he doesn't have any black markings, hence the (ee). His orange color is really gorgeous, I would guess he is a red that carries fawn (Ccch) which can give that dark gold coloring. Lovely dog, he looks like a good cuddler x)
No problem, I'm glad it helped! I do work at animal shelter but that's more cleaning up poop than science, haha. Most of the research we do on our own time.
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Thank you!!!
Ohh ok! Ya see im kind of confused about the noses. I know theres something called rose nose where its spotted, but i read online that snow nose means it turns a pinker color in the winter. It confuses me sometimes lol. But ya i have noticed that pink noses are associated with white
Ya he is a good cuddler xD hes kind of like what people think of when they think of dogs. Hes loyal, a great guard dog, gentle (he rescued a bird out of the pool lol), he loves to swim, and seriously all he wants to do is just cuddle! he lays his head against your shoulder LOL
Ohh ok! Thats great that you help with there! I wouldn't be able to stand it, unless it was a rescue. I can't stand seeing the kitties and doggies die D: I mean im not one of those people who value dogs more then humans but it still is sad! Thats cool though, i bet you name all the colors and markings you see or something lol its good practice i guess! Do you want to become a vet or something? Or like a real breeder? Or both of you guys i guess
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Haha I am the same way, thankfully it is a no-kill shelter so the only time I have to say good-bye to the animals is when they get adopted ^^ I don't think either of us has any plans to work with animals in the future (aside from adopting a few pets) but I'd love to be able to run a rescue or something similar, one day in the far future maybe lol.
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Oh thats good!
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omgosh thank you so much!! I love learning things like this so that I can make my characters more realistic! thanks <33
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This is so fascinating! I don't draw/design dogs myself, but I do love dogs and have always wondered what the deal was with funky colourations/markings.
I do have a question, though. My parents own a labrador retriever whose mother was a chocolate and whose father was black. She is black herself, but in certain lights will show brown (on the paws and cheeks, mostly). Her nose is too dark to tell if it's chocolate/liver. Does the fact that we can see chocolate in her fur make her a chocolate? She is purebred, so I don't think it would be another breed's markings.
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Thanks!
Do you know the dog's eye color? Black dogs may sometimes have amber eyes, but all chocolate dogs always will - if she has light-colored eyes, she may just be a very dark chocolate. Or, there is always the possibility she's just a "faded" black. With black dogs, a lot of times if they are older or have spent lots of time outdoors, they will get hints of reddish-brown in their coats over time. My own dog was a black Border Collie mix, and in her later years she had turned almost entirely brown; it's a similar effect to a person's hair going grey over time. I would learn towards that, since most times when a lab is Chocolate it's pretty easy to tell.
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