I am thinking about buying a springer golden retriever cross puppy, he is gorgeous the only thing is I am worried about the colours in the litter. My pup is solid black with a few white hairs on his chest, he looks just like a golden, the other pups are either solid black or a mix of black white and tan with tan eyebrows. Mum is a liver and white springer dad is a light colored golden retriever, are these colours possible or is it unlikely the retriever is dad. Please help if you understand genetics.
Yes, these colours are quite feasible from those parents. The Golden Ret is recessive yellow (E locus) and as this is one of the 'lowest' recessives. It can hide almost any colour, white being the exception. This particular dog would probably be genotype - at BB ee Kk and the Springer mother - at bb EE Kk B has dominance over b, that's why there are no liver pups. K (black) is dominant over k (non black), but both parents carry k so allowing at (tanpoint) to show. These are the pups with the tan marks. Often in Retriever cross litters, the whole litter will be solid black and this most often happens with Labradors which are almost exclusively KK but not so with Goldens. I've heard of other colours from G Ret crosses too. G Rets don't normally carry white, and no-white is dominant over white markings, but there is often variation in this so not that surprising to see white in this litter but I wouldn't expect there to be extensive white marking? E (extension of dark pigment) is dominant over e (recessive yellow), so no yellow pups in the litter. This is no guarantee that he is the father, only DNA parentage test will prove that, but going on the colours.... yes, he is
Thank you so much for this, the more I see my chosen pup the more I see a golden retriever. I am so looking forward to getting him home.
Springador, it's pretty clear that you're head over heels with him already, so my cheeky question is ...... does it matter? Snorri
Well I have had my little bundle for nearly 2 weeks and he is adorable, he has settled in fine with other dogs, sleeps well at night and is doing well with his toilet training. I cant post pictures yet because my card reader is not working.
Can I just ask, was this a planned litter or an accident? How did the bitch (springer ) whelp her pups, did she have a normal birth? My worry in this mating was, if it was planned , the breeder did not give much thought to the size of the Dam to the Sire, a Goldie is so much bigger than a springer, not good judgment on their part to use a sire twice the size of the Dam. Sorry dont mean to poor water on your fire, but it was something that just got me thinking, If people have to x breed dogs, at least they should get the basics right, and make sure the sire is the smaller of the two breeds. if it was `nt a planned litter, all well and good, you got your little baby, and I am sure he is adorable. pics as soon as!!
No this was not a planned litter, they have a springer bitch who came into season and they also own the golden retriever who got to the springer. The pups were born by C section, she had 11 in total. They were all gorgeous pups not sure how they will end up though, my boy is solid black very fluffy with springer ears and face, he has very big paws so may be a big dog although my other springer has big paws and he is tiny.
