Colours questions, out of interest!

[september]

This is purely out of interest, I wonder if any breeders can help?!

Am I correct in understanding that you should only breed like colour with like colour, eg roan with roan, solid with solid?
and its acceptable to mix these colours up eg, red (gold) and black solid or blue and orange roan??

My main question is would you expect a black dog from a blue roan mum? Rest of litter is blue roan and orange roan...
Would this suggest that it hasn't been bred very well? Or is it 'normal'??!   Just wondering!

Thanks!

[vicster]

I think i am right in saying that solids should be breed with solids and particolours with other particolours.
I'm sure someone will correct me if i have my wires crossed.

Vicky

[Jane S]

What colour is the father supposed to be? A blue roan mother can produce solid pups & particolour pups if mated to a solid father which carries the particolour gene but two particolours can never produce a solid pup. If both parents here are particolours (roans), it would suggest that the solid pup comes from a different litter or another sire also mated the bitch.

Whilst it's not usual for show breeders in the UK to do mixed solid & particolour matings, it's far more common in working lines where there is not the same separation of colours as in show lines.

[Vivienne]

Another question I have a 16 week blue roan who is getting darker by the day. He has a white "splash" on his head and tip of his tail but all the "roan" bits are merging with the black. Hes handsome but will he stay dark?
Can you tell he is our first spaniel!! He had large white/ grey areas but he is almost all black now.
And huge furry feet! I need to get grooming book and see what I should be doing with his coat and he seems to suffer in the sunshine, he is so soft and WELL Fluffy.
I also note that he has selective deafness, good as gold starting a walk but beetles to the car when he has had enough... Is there a standard book we should be trying to get.
Funny story last night my son had his mates around and they sat up on the deck with wine, beer etc. Could not get Whistler out of his bed this morning, he obviously cant take a late night or red wine...

[september]

I'm not sure what colour the father is, they are working cockers though. I was told about the litter and shown a picture and I was wary because of the three different colours.  Another breeder that I previously spoken to, (very reputable, judges and shows at crufts!) had told me that like colour and like colour should only be mated and that I should look out for 'odd' colours which might suggest the breeding had not be very careful!

I guess if the dad is a roan too but has a solid gene then its possible to get the three different colours 'legitimately'!

I was just wondering, thanks for your help!

[Nicola]

Working cockers aren't bred for colour so it is fairly common to get mixed solid/parti matings and to get quite a variety of colours in the resulting litter. I recently saw a well bred litter with a mixture of solid black and solid livers and black and liver and whites out of a solid black mum. You don't get orange roan working cockers though, they're described as lemons and it's usually a paler, yellow-er colour than the 'orange' seen in show types.

[september]

Ah right, so if their workers then its fine!

They were prob more yellow (lemon then) now I think about it! only tiny on the picture, a kind of pale beige colour and white!

So I presume that show types should have the 'proper' colours then, without any random ones?!

There is so much to learn!! He He I'm glad I found all you guys, everytime I think of a question I just type it down and someone always has an answer!

Thanks!

[Jane S]

I guess if the dad is a roan too but has a solid gene then its possible to get the three different colours 'legitimately'!

No it's the opposite If Dad is a roan too, there should not be any solid puppies. Roans cannot carry the solid gene.

[september]

Ah! ok so the dad must have been solid then to get the colour variation! a solid can have a parti colour gene but a parti colour can't have a solid gene!

Solid is more dominant then!

Honestly its like being at school again!!

Is fun though, I'm becoming a mine of cocker information which i impart randomly onto my OH!

[Annette]

Another question I have a 16 week blue roan who is getting darker by the day. He has a white "splash" on his head and tip of his tail but all the "roan" bits are merging with the black. Hes handsome but will he stay dark?
Can you tell he is our first spaniel!! He had large white/ grey areas but he is almost all black now.
And huge furry feet! I need to get grooming book and see what I should be doing with his coat and he seems to suffer in the sunshine, he is so soft and WELL Fluffy.
I also note that he has selective deafness, good as gold starting a walk but beetles to the car when he has had enough... Is there a standard book we should be trying to get.
Funny story last night my son had his mates around and they sat up on the deck with wine, beer etc. Could not get Whistler out of his bed this morning, he obviously cant take a late night or red wine...

They do get darker as they mature you can end up with a light blue roan or a dark blue roan. But what might behappening is that your pup is turning into a fuzzball. Do you think that's the case? If so, then when you trim or handstrip you will get a lot of the lighter markings coming back. With Buddy it seemed that his black hair grows faster and longer than the white so the longer his coat the darker he appears.

[Vivienne]

Right so its stripping that we need. Its not hair he has currently its fuzz. With huge furry feet. We felt he was going through his punk stage of adolesence.

Is it easy to strip or get him done professionally?

Any advice welcome, our last dog was a smooth fox terrier type so a real novice with spaniels, but totally converted, whistler is a star.

Thanks  Viv

[Jane S]

You'll find lots of advice on grooming on the Grooming board so it's probably best if you start a new thread there if you're still stuck after doing a search through the threads

[Vivienne]

Many thanks for advice I have been to the grooming section and ordered a Spratts 76 and Coat King 26 blade, though he may be a bit young for hand stripping I may reduce his coat a little he is getting a bit hot.

Great site this one.

Viv