Breeding for Color
in Siberian Huskies

Note: There are MANY genes which affect the final outward appearance of a Siberian's coat color.  There are countless variations in extension & restriction of guard hair color as well as undercoat colors will affect the overall appearance of a dog.  For example:  Grey siberians are, on a very BASIC level, actually black siberians that have additional factors influencing the extension or restriction of the Black gene to produce shades of grey.

Below is a VERY rough explanation of simple gene pairs for the understanding of color traits in Siberians.  

For ease of explanation I will list offspring as either being "Black" Phase (which includes dogs that may be Black, Grey, Wolf Grey, Agouti, Sable, White w/Black Nose or Piebald w/Black Nose) or the "Red" Phase (which includes dogs that may be Copper, Light Red, White w/Red Nose or Piebald w/Red Nose).  The easiest way to tell which basic color phase a dog belongs to is by looking at the dogs "points" (nose, lips, eye rims).

These examples involve the simple Black and Red genes in the mating of two Black Siberians and the likely offspring from their mating.  The likelihood of red offspring depends on both whether the dogs (a) have red ancestors and (b) if they have red ancestors, do they even carry the recessive red gene.

The pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their father as well as a dominant "B" from their mother.  Red Siberians result from a straight ("homozygous") pair of recessive "b's" for red.   All offspring will be Black (non-red carriers).

The pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their father.  Red Siberians result from a straight ("homozygous") pair of recessive "b's" for red.  In a large sampling, statistically 50% of the pups will be Black BB (non-red carriers like their father) and 50% will be Black Bb (red-carriers like their mother).  In any particular litter though, it is possible for all pups to be either BB or Bb.

The pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their father.  Red Siberians result from a straight ("homozygous") pair of recessive "b's" for red.  In a large sampling, statistically 50% of the pups will be Black BB (non-red carriers like their father) and 50% will be Black Bb (red-carriers like their mother).

The pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their mother.  Red Siberians result from a straight ("homozygous") pair of recessive "b's" for red.  In a large sampling, statistically 50% of the pups will be Black BB (non-red carriers like their mother) and 50% will be Black Bb (red-carriers like their father).

Half of the pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their mother. (25% + 25%)
Half of the pups will each inherit a dominant "B" for black from their father. (25% + 25%)
25% of the pups will be Black BB (non-red carriers)
50% of the pups will be Black Bb (red carriers like both of their parents)
25% of the pups will be Red bb (matched pair of recessive "b's" for red).

The percentages are representative of what should be expected over a very LARGE sample.  It is possible for the litter in Example Three to include NO red pups and NO red-carriers.  Unlikely, but possible.  Just as it is theoretically possible, but not at all likely, for the Example Three mating to include ONLY red pups (buy a lottery ticket on that day because you might just win the lotto too!)

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For additional sites related to Siberian Huskies, I suggest the links page of Barkarian Kennels and/or the Working Dog Web page.