I just have a query for you! My aunts sister in law has a lovely golden cocker bitch from a golden sire and golden and white dam. She is approaching 3 this spring and has enjoyed success in the show ring here. She is a lovely girl and this lady is planning on using a stud to get a pup from her girl for herself. She has had all the relevant health checks etc and is perfect. My question is in relation to colour. I'm a golden fan and would keep the stud that colour if she were mine but my aunts sister in law loves this blue roan dog and an orange roan she has seen at shows and knows the owners. Just wondering would she get a litter of rainbow coloured pups? It would be good to know as she wants to show the pup she keeps so obviously good colour is important. So if she chose either of the above dogs, what would she end up with?

This site might help. Googling 'cocker spaniel colour inheritance' turns up quite a lot of useful information.

> Just wondering would she get a litter of rainbow coloured pups? It would be good to know as she wants to show the pup she keeps so obviously good colour is important. So if she chose either of the above dogs, what would she end up with?

It's impossible to say really as it depends on what colours each respective parent carries. If she mates the gold bitch to a blue roan dog and the blue roan does not carry the gene for gold/orange, then all the pups will be solid black or blue roan (gold is a recessive colour and cannot come through unless both parents carry the gene). If she chose the orange roan dog, then probably all the puppies would be solid gold or orange roan (unless other recessive colours like liver are also carried by both parents)

There are so many variables when it comes to coat colour in Cockers so really your aunt's SIL needs to study up on the pedigrees of any stud dog she is considering using & also research her own dog's pedigree but even then it's not always possible to identify which coat colours are definitely carried as recessives. However colour shouldn't really be a top priority for any breeder - it's more important to look for the most suitable stud dog in terms of temperament, type, health test results etc. I'd also be looking for what I wanted to improve on in my bitch and then choosing a dog excelling in that area & if he also produced the colour I liked, that would be an added bonus

There's alot more to it than I thought. Or that she thinks I suspect. I never knew golden was a recessive colour. Her bitch comes from 4 generations of golden so I dont think there's any black there. She'll love the research bit anyway. Any excuse to look up cocker genes and she'll be busy for months!

It would depend on what is meant by golden and white, if the dog has gold patches on a white coat then it's a particolour, however if it is gold with a bit of white on its nose then it would be classed as a mismarked solid.

> Her bitch comes from 4 generations of golden so I dont think there's any black there.

It wouldn't matter if there was no black close up in her pedigree - if she's mated to a blue roan dog that does not carry gold/orange, the puppies will be black or blue roan because black is dominant over gold (blue roan is a black particolour). You're right there is a lot to think about - Cocker colour inheritance can be very complicated due to the sheer number of different possibilities.

Does she mind what colour she gets? If she's happy to get blacks / blue roans etc, go with the blue roan. If she'd rather have reds or orange roans, go with the other one. If she doesn't care, go with whichever dog's physical attributes and pedigree complement her bitch's best.