Another Colour Question (sorry)

[michelle123]

OK I apologise in advance for sounding a bit dumb 

Having drooled many times over the absolutely stunning orange roans that are on this site and having wanted one for ages I have a question about their colouring.

We have Blue, predictably a blue roan and when we first got him his markings were quite distinct, however, now they are nothing like what he looks like now - not that that bothers us in the slightest 

However, I was just wondering how you would go about choosing an orange roan, is it a case of looking at both parents to see how much orange they have, or is it a bit of 'pot luck' - obviously the temperment of the dog is first and foremost, but I would just be interested in the answer.

Thanks

BTW if anybody has a spare orange cutie, i.e. Colin, Luvly or Leisl I would be more than happy to take them off your hands 

[Jane S]

Not really sure what you mean Michelle Are you asking how you know if a litter will produce orange roan? Or are you asking how to choose an orange puppy from a litter of orange roans? If the latter, then most experienced breeders would not actually mate an orange to an orange (or they may only do it occasionally) so you should not find too many reputable breeders with totally orange litters from two orange parents. If you're asking about colour & markings, then oranges start out very pale (they look almost albino when born) and their colour develops slowly as time goes by. With any roan, markings will become less distinct over time as the hair grows but I don't think markings are at all important if you're just looking for a happy, healthy pet Cocker

[michelle123]

Jane, yes I agree, the health of the pup is absolutely paramount.  I have seen a litter of pups which were orange roan and like you say they were very white, thats really why I asked the question - they seemed very white with only very pale markings, unlike the adult dogs on here. 

But I hadnt actually realised that two orange roans should not be mated, thats if I have read your answer correctly   

Thanks for the reply

[Jane S]

Yes there's a huge difference in appearance between an adult orange roan and a very young pup of the same colour - orange pups can look very wishy washy for quite a few weeks until the colour deepens and the roan becomes more obvious.

I personally wouldn't mate two oranges together - this is something the old time breeders always advised against if you want to maintain good pigmentation in an orange. Some very experienced breeders will do the occasional orange x orange mating but will not repeat this endlessly. Of course BYBs and commercial breeders are not bothered with pigmentation so just breed to produce which colours they think will sell the easiest - they will do orange x orange if that's the colour they want to produce.