While coat colour should not be the sole basis of breeding in the Siberian Husky, knowing the genetics behind how the colours come about is quite fascinating and gives a basis into understanding the genetics behind more important traits related to health. This knowledge is imperative when embarking on a breeding program.

Different colours of the Siberian Husky

The following section on the different husky colours was sourced from information on the following Website - Colours of the Siberian Husky - please visit this website for more information.

There are two colour genes which determine the coat colour of the Siberian Husky - Black & Brown/Copper. All the Siberian Husky colours are made up of different shades of these two basic colours. The following diagram demonstrates the colour gene which contributes to the coat colour.

BLACK						Other: Wolf Grey; Silver Grey; Sable
	BLACK	GREY	AGOUTI	ISABELLA WHITE	WHITE*
BROWN (Copper)
	CHOCOLATE COPPER	COPPER	WHITE*

* Please note - white is NOT a colour but a variation of coat markings (or lack of markings if you prefer).

A quick indication of the colour gene in the dog regardless of coat colour is to look at the 'points' - nose, lips, eye rims etc. Liver denotes the brown/copper colour gene & black denotes the black colour gene.

From the diagram above, it can seen that the black colour gene can produce a varying amount of colours in the Siberian Husky - this is because these variation in coat colours are not caused by a colour gene but rather in the depth in colour (see Colours of the Siberian Husky for a detailed explanation on the genes that are associated with this). Basically, the colour depth on each strand of hair determines the colour of the dog. The deeper the depth of colour, the darker the dog. The under coat also plays a part in this, eg. the Agouti coat has a cream under coat as opposed to white. 

Mendel's Theory of Dominant & Recessive Inheritance

PARENT
	DR		DR
PROGENY
*	DD	RD	DR	RR
*Each parent passes on one gene to each offspring The 'progeny' row demonstrates the possible gene combinations from the given 'parent' genes
KEY	Dominant Trait		D = Dominant
	Recessive Trait		R = Recessive

Mendel's Theory applied to the Siberian Husky coat colours

The following scenarios ignore all other genes except colour.

Key:
B = Black
C = Brown/Copper

Scenario 1 

PARENT
	BB		BB
PROGENY
	BB	BB	BB	BB

PARENT
	CC		CC
PROGENY
	CC	CC	CC	CC

This scenario is pretty straight forward, two parents with the same colour gene will ONLY ever produce progeny of that same colour.

Scenario 2

PARENT
	BB		BC
PROGENY
	BB	BB	BB	BC

Although the brown/copper gene here is present, as it is a recessive gene it will not come through in the coat colour. Black is the dominate gene, & as each progeny carries the black gene, the coat colour will always be black.

Scenario 3a

PARENT
	BC		BC
PROGENY
	BB	CC	BB	CC

Scenario 3b

PARENT
	BC		CC
PROGENY
	BC	CC	BC	CC

Only when two brown/copper genes are passed from the Sire & Dam does the brown/copper  colour come through in the coat. There is sometimes a misconception that the brown/copper gene is dominant as the brown/copper coat colour can come through from two black  parents – this is incorrect – brown/copper is recessive – this is why two brown/copper dogs can ONLY produce brown/copper progeny. A brown/copper dog only carries brown/copper genes (see scenario 1), whereas a black dog can carry both.

Scenario 4

PARENT
	BB		CC
PROGENY
	BC	BC	BC	BC

The above scenario demonstrates again that unless the recessive (in this case brown/copper) gene is present in both parents, the progeny will only carry the recessive trait.