Investigation into the English Cocker Spaniel Genotype and Coat Colour.

[KellyS]

Interesting thread and an interesting investigation for you Craig hope you enjoy it and get on ok...i find it all fascinating... ..i'd also call Chocolates the old established term of Liver....an older breeder friend of mine tells me off if I use the term 'Chocolate' 

[Helen]

Interesting thread and an interesting investigation for you Craig hope you enjoy it and get on ok...i find it all fascinating... ..i'd also call Chocolates the old established term of Liver....an older breeder friend of mine tells me off if I use the term 'Chocolate' 

I know a certain Liver roan breeder would be absolutely livid 

[Ninasmum]

Its just that Chocolate sounds 'yummy'   Only guessing thats why some people prefer Chocolate as opposed to Liver. 

[Doggiecrazy]

Got a few more questions 

What do you get when you cross
1) Black x Red (homozygous black/red)
2) Black x Red (hetrozygous black/red)

and the same with Chocolate/liver & red/black

Why chocolate/liver and not just Brown? What shall I call it in my report?

Many thanks 
Craig

[Helen]

Why chocolate/liver and not just Brown? What shall I call it in my report?

    I agree, i have a brown dog 

It's up to you - you can go traditional or modern   

[Cob-Web]

Why chocolate/liver and not just Brown? What shall I call it in my report?

As it is for College, you might need to check with the tutor - chocolate is the "fashionable" term, but may not be accepted in an academic paper   

[MegandMolly]

Interesting thread and an interesting investigation for you Craig hope you enjoy it and get on ok...i find it all fascinating... ..i'd also call Chocolates the old established term of Liver....an older breeder friend of mine tells me off if I use the term 'Chocolate' 

What is used in the breed standard issued by KC?
Surely that is the correct term?

[Jane S]

What do you get when you cross
1) Black x Red (homozygous black/red)
2) Black x Red (hetrozygous black/red)

and the same with Chocolate/liver & red/black

What do you think the answer is Craig? If you've read up on all the links you've been given, you should be able to make a good stab at this yourself I always think it's best when doing a research study if you try and work things out first as it helps your understanding. If you're not sure if you've got it right, you can always ask later

[Helen]

Interesting thread and an interesting investigation for you Craig hope you enjoy it and get on ok...i find it all fascinating... ..i'd also call Chocolates the old established term of Liver....an older breeder friend of mine tells me off if I use the term 'Chocolate' 

What is used in the breed standard issued by KC?
Surely that is the correct term?

both    you can register as liver or chocolate...

[Doggiecrazy]

In the book that I read last year when I took breeding and genetics as a unit it was just refereed to as brown (bb) black (BB).

I think that I might call it brown and say that it can be refereed to as either chocolate or liver depending on the individual but either are acceptable within the breed.

[Jane S]

Interesting thread and an interesting investigation for you Craig hope you enjoy it and get on ok...i find it all fascinating... ..i'd also call Chocolates the old established term of Liver....an older breeder friend of mine tells me off if I use the term 'Chocolate' 

What is used in the breed standard issued by KC?
Surely that is the correct term?

both    you can register as liver or chocolate...

The breed standard doesn't actually list the colours but does refer to liver roan and liver & white in the section on eye colour. The KC will unfortunately register any colour you like including the silly ones that some breeders use like "apricot roan", "champagne" or "copper"

[Doggiecrazy]

You can even register fox red!

[KellyS]

A guy who lives near me recently bought two working, fox red lab pups..when he was telling me this I was thinking what? Whatever colour is that?? Just looks like a deeper red to me....in cockers I think we would just stick to red

[Doggiecrazy]

I have recieved a message from The Kennel Club about the amount of colours registered with them.

The most registered colour is Blue roan at 101608 followed by Black at 65697.

The amount registered as Chocolate is 8219 and liver is 4733. (These don't include chocolate/liver with a white chest)

This shows that more people refer to them as chocoalte. 

Craig

[Jane S]

This shows that more people refer to them as chocoalte. 

That's not surprising since those breeders who are producing this colour for the pet market know that "liver" is considered less appealing to the puppy buying public than the far cuter sounding "chocolate"