Havanese Dogs Color Genetics

**Sonrisas Havanese**
Havanese Dogs Color Genetics

A and K loci
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The A series governs the phoemelenin or yellow colors in Havanese but the final color is controlled by the K series. Some say there is an a^s allele the gives a saddle like the dog on the right. Most of her puppies also have a similar saddle but not always black. There is also a^t which results in tan points.
a ^y - yields cream to red, fawn, and sable (black hairs intermingled). The first dog to the right is cream to red with black hairs intermingled. She may be a^y a^y and k^y k^y . At the end is another example of red in the Havanese. In some breeds red is a result of "ee" (see the next page). This may be true of this dog since there are no black tips or black hairs.
Here is a fawn sable a^y a^y and k^y k^y
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a^t results in tan and black or tan and brown. All dogs that are black and tan are k^y k^y. Many Havanese start as black and tan but sometimes the tan fades to a grayish white. This may be due to the "e" loci.
K locus
K - acts on black pigment in the hair and allows full expression of that color. Any dog that is K ^B would result in black hair which may or may not have white.
k^br - creates the brindle patterns that can only be easily seen when the Havanese puppies are very young. It has been proven to exist in the Havanese. This dog is k^br k^br or k^br k^y since the brindle is dominant over k^y
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k^y allows yellow or pheomelanin pigment to show. Where it shows depends on the alleles at the A locus. Dogs which have two recessive alleles (k^yk^y) can express a variety of phenotypes. All black-and-tan dogs or dogs with tan points are k^y k^y according to Dr. Schmutz on the U of Sask website and all fawn or sable dogs are k^y k^y.
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