Reference

Resources

Genotype reference tables, DNA testing lab comparisons, a complete genetics glossary, and links to external research resources.

Poodle Color Loci Reference

All major loci affecting poodle coat color. Filter or sort by any column.

Symbol	Name	Gene	Alleles	Dominance	Phenotype Effect
E	Extension	MC1R	Em, Eg, E, e (allelic series)	Series per Honkanen 2024; e recessive, grizzle (Eg) recessive	Governs whether black-based (eumelanin) pigment can appear in the coat; ee produces red/apricot/cream (phaeomelanin) regardless of other loci
B	Brown	TYRP1	B, b (three key b variants)	B dominant over b	B = black eumelanin; two b copies = brown eumelanin — brown is the correct Poodle term; affects nose and eye rims
D	Dilution	MLPH	D, d	D dominant over d	dd dilutes eumelanin; black→blue, brown→lilac (isabella). Dilutes are born dilute, from day one — café-au-lait and silver beige are greying, not dilution
K	Dominant Black	CBD103	KB, kbr, ky	KB > kbr > ky	KB = solid eumelanin; kbr (brindle) arises from a duplication; ky allows the A locus pattern to show
A	Agouti	ASIP	DY, SY, AG, BS, BB (haplotypes)	DY > SY > AG > BS > BB for the ordinary case (Bannasch 2021); the two promoters act separately, so SY/BS clears and AG/BS is undocumented	ASIP haplotypes set the agouti pattern: DY dominant yellow/sable, AG agouti, BS black saddle (likely basis of creeping tan, unconfirmed in poodles), BB black back (phantom). Recessive black is a separate allele, a
M	Merle	PMEL	Mc → Mh (7-allele series)	Incompletely dominant; no carriers	PMEL SINE insertion (Langevin 2018) reported as base-pair lengths; two merle alleles cause double-merle health risks. Cryptic merles must be tested
S	Spotting	MITF	S, sp	Dosage-dependent / incomplete dominance	Piebald (sp/sp) produces parti; extent is dosage-dependent. Irish spotting is NOT caused by the MITF piebald variant
G	Greying	Not identified	G, g (inferred — no test)	Unknown	Progressive greying (black→silver/blue over time). The causative gene is not identified and no validated DNA test exists
R	Roan / Ticking	USH2A	Three haplotypes	See haplotype table	USH2A haplotypes add flecking/roaning in white areas. Ticking and roan are different alleles, not the same trait; only roan has a confirmed causal variant (Kawakami 2021), ticking is provisional, and neither is validated in poodles
I	Intensity	Polygenic (incl. KITLG, GPR22-linked)	Polygenic, no I/I or i/i	Additive	Modifies red/apricot/cream depth. Polygenic, so there is no single I-locus genotype

Common Poodle Color Phenotypes & Genotypes

Typical genotype combinations for each recognized poodle color. Note: these show typical patterns, many variations exist.

Color	Typical Genotype	Notes
Black	`E_ B_ D_ KB_ , no greying`	Solid eumelanin; most common poodle color
Brown	`E_ bb D_ KB_ , no greying`	Brown eumelanin; liver nose, amber eyes
Red / Apricot / Cream	`ee (any at other loci)`	ee forces phaeomelanin only; shade varies with intensity modifiers
Blue (cleared)	`E_ B_ D_ , greying G/g`	Born black, clears one step to blue-grey over 2–3 years. No validated greying test — observed, not predicted
Silver	`E_ B_ D_ , greying G/G`	Born black, clears two steps to silver; face and paws first. Dosage is what separates it from blue
True Blue (born dilute)	`E_ B_ dd`	Dilute from day one — never black at any point. A different dog from a cleared blue
Café-au-Lait	`E_ bb D_ , greying G/g`	Born dark brown, clears to café-au-lait. Greying on a brown base — not dilution. Nose stays brown
Silver Beige	`E_ bb D_ , greying G/G`	Born brown, clears two steps to warm beige. The brown counterpart of silver
Lilac (isabella)	`E_ bb dd`	Dilute brown, born pale. The only route is dilution. Not café-au-lait — that one is born dark and clears
Phantom (Tan Points)	`E_ B_ D_ ky ky , BB haplotype at A`	Needs ky/ky at K so the A-locus pattern can show. BB (black back) is phantom proper; BS (black saddle) is the likely basis of what breeders call creeping tan, not yet confirmed by haplotyping in poodles
Parti	`any color + sp/sp`	50%+ white patches; any underlying color possible
Merle	`E_ + one merle allele`	Mottled pattern; only visible with eumelanin in coat. Incompletely dominant, no carriers

DNA Testing Labs by Locus

Availability of each locus test across the three major canine DNA testing providers. Always verify current availability directly with the lab.

Locus	UC Davis VGL	Embark	Wisdom Panel
E (Extension)	Yes	Yes	Yes
B (Brown)	Yes	Yes	Yes
D (Dilution)	Yes	Yes	Yes
K (Dominant Black)	Yes	Yes	Yes
A (Agouti)	Yes	Yes	Yes
M (Merle)	Yes (includes cryptic)	Yes (includes cryptic)	Yes
S (Spotting)	Yes	Yes	Yes
G (Greying)	No validated test	No validated test	No validated test
R (Roan/Ticking)	Limited	Yes	Limited

UC Davis VGL Embark Wisdom Panel

Downloadable Resources

Reference cards, built to the framework in the guides and sized to print and laminate for the whelping room. Free to download.

PDF · A4 · 24 pages

Reference Card Pack

Every PGL article reference card in one file — coat colour, patterns, merle length classes, lab notation and health panels. Built to print or keep on a phone.

PDF · A4

E & B Locus Quick Reference

Red, black and brown on one page — the B-locus cross table and the ee-hides-merle safety note.

PDF · A4

Merle Health Risk Chart

The seven length classes with base-pair ranges, double-merle risk, and the never-breed-merle-×-merle rule.

PDF · A4

Phantom Breeding Matrix

The A × K grid, with the two things breeders most often get wrong about phantom.

PDF · A4

Silver & Blue Prediction Guide

Greying dosage, the clearing timeline, and telling a cleared blue from a true blue.

PDF · A4

Parti Litter Planner

MITF dosage, the cross odds, and the untestable Irish-spotting extras.

PDF · A4

Red Intensity & Fading Reference

Why ee is one genotype with a whole shade range, the KITLG finding, and the two fade mechanisms breeders confuse.

PDF · A4

Full Loci Reference Card

All ten colour loci on one card, plus the four rules that prevent most mistakes.

PDF · A4 · 2 pages

Poodle Health Panel Worksheet

Two pages: the four line types, the notation, the evidence tiers and four questions on page one, a blank per-dog record grid on page two.

PDF · A4

Breeding & Population Health Reference

COI in plain terms, the real Standard Poodle autoimmune-risk data, and OFA vs. PennHIP for hip screening.

PDF · A4

Anatomy & Conformation Quick Reference

Twelve structural landmarks from stop to hock, plus what a judge actually checks — gait, cow-hocks, ewe neck and squarely built.

PDF · A4

Doodle Coat Genetics Reference

Which parent breed usually contributes what, and where a standard coat panel can miss brindle, grizzle or a mismatched lab notation.

Free

The Breeder’s Toolkit

Five deeper cards in one printable PDF: the complete colour naming chart (every colour shown as a poodle in its real coat), a DNA panel translator for reading any lab’s report, the full merle pairing matrix, ten worked pairings, and a breeding-pair worksheet. Built from the same engine as the calculator, so the set and the tool never disagree.

Download the Toolkit — Free

External Resources

Peer-reviewed research and reputable organizations for further study.

UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory

DNA Testing

The gold standard for canine color genetics testing in North America. Panel tests for E, B, D, K, A, M, S, R and more.

Embark Veterinary

DNA Testing

Comprehensive canine DNA testing including color genetics, health markers, and breed composition.

OFA, Orthopedic Foundation for Animals

Health Testing

Health testing database for hips, elbows, eyes (CAER), heart, and hearing (BAER), essential for health testing alongside color genetics. See our testing roadmap for what each poodle variety needs.

AKC Poodle Breed Standard

Breed Standard

Official AKC standard defining recognized colors, patterns, and conformation requirements for all three poodle varieties.

OMIA, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals

Research

Peer-reviewed catalog of Mendelian traits and genes in animals, including all canine coat color loci with citations.

DogGenetics.co.uk

Education

Excellent reference site for canine color genetics with extensive allele documentation and interactive resources.

Genetics Glossary

Key terms in poodle color genetics, from basic Mendelian concepts to locus-specific terminology.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Allele: One of two or more alternative forms of a gene that exist at the same chromosomal location (locus). For example, the B locus has alleles B and b.
Autosome: Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. Most coat color genes in dogs are on autosomes, meaning they are inherited independently of sex.

B

Base Pair (bp): The basic unit of DNA length: two complementary nucleotides bonded together. Some coat color variants, most notably merle, are reported by testing labs as a base-pair length rather than a simple positive or negative result.

C

Carrier: A heterozygous individual who carries one copy of a recessive allele but does not express the associated phenotype. Example: a black Bb poodle is a carrier for brown. Merle is not a recessive trait and has no carrier state — see the Merle entry.
Co-dominance: A relationship between alleles in which both are expressed in a heterozygous individual, rather than one masking the other. Merle is often cited as an example, but it is a poor one: merle is length-dependent, an allelic series rather than a clean two-allele co-dominance.
Compound Heterozygote: A dog carrying two different variant alleles at the same locus, rather than one variant and one wild-type copy. The B locus has three distinct brown-causing variants, so two different b alleles paired together still produce a brown coat, the same as two copies of one.
Copy-Number Variant (CNV): A stretch of DNA present in a different number of copies than the reference genome, which can change how strongly a nearby gene is expressed. The coat-intensity modifier near KITLG is a copy-number variant: more copies are associated with deeper red, apricot, or cream shades.
Cryptic Merle: A dog whose merle allele is short enough to produce little or no visible mottling, yet is genetically merle and carries the same double-merle breeding risk as an obviously merle dog. Cryptic merles can only be identified by base-pair-length testing, not by eye.

D

Diploid: Having two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. Dogs are diploid organisms, so every locus has exactly two alleles (one per chromosome).
Dominant: An allele that produces its associated phenotype when present in just one copy (heterozygous). The dominant B allele produces black eumelanin; only one copy is needed.
Double Merle: The result of pairing two merle alleles, giving a dog two copies of the PMEL insertion. Double merles have sharply elevated rates of deafness and blindness, which is why merle-to-merle pairings are avoided regardless of how mild either parent's own pattern looks.

E

Epistasis: When one gene masks or overrides the expression of another gene at a different locus. The E locus is epistatic to the A, B, and K loci. An ee dog expresses none of those patterns, because it has no eumelanin for them to act on.
Eumelanin: The dark form of melanin, appearing black or brown in the coat, nose, and eye rims. Eumelanin expression in the hair shaft is controlled primarily by the E and K loci. Modified in color by B (black vs. brown) and D (dilution) loci.
Expressivity: The degree to which a phenotype is expressed among individuals who share the same genotype. Merle patterning illustrates it well: two dogs with the same allele length can still show visibly different amounts of mottling, because the SINE insertion's effect on pigment cells is partly stochastic.

F

Founder Population: The original, limited set of individuals from which a breed or line descends. A small founder population concentrates whichever alleles those founders happened to carry, which is part of why some inherited variants cluster in particular breeds or lines.

G

Genetic Diversity: The range of different alleles present across a population. Higher genetic diversity generally lowers the odds that a dog inherits two copies of the same harmful recessive variant, which is why breeders track it alongside pedigree.
Genetic Marker: A known DNA sequence with an identifiable location in the genome, used as a reference point to track inheritance. Commercial DNA panels test a defined set of genetic markers, which is part of why two labs testing the same locus can report results differently.
Genotype: The complete genetic makeup at one or more loci. A dog's genotype determines what alleles are present, while phenotype is what is expressed and visible.

H

Haplotype: A specific combination of closely linked variants on one chromosome that tend to be inherited together as a unit. The modern A locus system replaced the old single-allele model (Ay, aw, at, a) with haplotypes built from a ventral variant and a hair-cycle variant.
Heterozygous: Having two different alleles at a locus. For example, a Bb dog is heterozygous at the B locus: it carries one black allele and one brown allele.
Homozygous: Having two identical alleles at a locus. For example, a BB dog is homozygous dominant; a bb dog is homozygous recessive for brown.

I

Inbreeding Coefficient (COI): A calculated probability that two copies of a gene in the same dog are identical because they descend from a shared ancestor. A high COI raises the odds of pairing two copies of the same recessive variant, whether or not that variant has ever been tested for.
Is Merle Dominant or Recessive?: Neither, cleanly. One merle allele typically produces visible mottling and behaves as incompletely dominant, while two copies (double merle) sharply raise health risk — but the underlying variant is actually an allelic series of different insertion lengths, not a simple two-allele system.

L

Line Breeding: A breeding strategy that deliberately pairs relatives to concentrate a particular ancestor's traits. It raises the inbreeding coefficient by design, so it carries the same recessive-pairing tradeoffs as any other closely related pairing.
Locus: The specific location on a chromosome where a gene resides. Plural: loci. In poodle color genetics, key loci include E, B, D, K, A, M, S, G, R, and I.

M

Merle: A coat pattern caused by a SINE insertion in the PMEL gene (Langevin 2018), producing mottled patches of diluted and full-pigmented areas. Merle is not a simple dominant or recessive; it forms an allelic series reported as base-pair lengths, so there are no simple merle "carriers." Two merle alleles together cause high rates of deafness and blindness. Only visible on eumelanin-containing coats.
Modifier Gene: A gene that alters the phenotype produced by another gene, without being the primary gene responsible for the trait. The I locus's polygenic modifiers work this way, adjusting how deep or pale a red, apricot, or cream coat appears without changing the underlying ee genotype.

O

Outcrossing: A breeding strategy that pairs unrelated or distantly related dogs, the opposite of line breeding. It tends to lower the inbreeding coefficient and can introduce alleles not already present in a line.

P

Pedigree: A recorded chart of a dog's ancestors, typically going back several generations. Pedigrees are the basis for calculating an inbreeding coefficient and for tracing where a given allele likely entered a line.
Penetrance: The proportion of dogs with a given genotype who actually go on to show the associated phenotype. Penetrance can be incomplete, as with the SOD1 variant linked to degenerative myelopathy, where two copies raise risk without guaranteeing the dog ever develops signs.
Phenotype: The observable physical characteristics of an organism, what you can see. A poodle's coat color, nose color, eye color, and pattern are all phenotypic traits.
Phaeomelanin: The warm, yellow-to-red form of melanin. Phaeomelanin produces red, apricot, and cream coloration. When the E locus is ee, only phaeomelanin is produced in the hair shaft.
Piebald: Irregular patches of white caused by failure of melanocytes to fully migrate during embryonic development. In dogs controlled by the S locus (MITF gene). The spsp genotype produces the parti pattern in poodles.
Polygenic: A trait controlled by multiple genes with additive effects. The exact shade of red vs. apricot vs. cream in poodles is polygenic, as are many variations in spotting extent in parti poodles.
Punnett Square: A simple grid used to predict the possible genotype combinations, and their ratios, from a cross between two known parent genotypes at one locus. It's the standard way to work out, for example, the odds of a Bb x Bb pairing producing a brown puppy.

R

Recessive: An allele that is only expressed when present in two copies (homozygous). The b allele for brown requires two copies (bb) to produce a brown coat. One copy is hidden by the dominant B allele.

S

SINE (Short Interspersed Nuclear Element): A type of mobile DNA sequence that can insert itself into a gene and disrupt its function. The merle variant is a SINE insertion in the PMEL gene, and the length of that insertion determines a dog's position in the merle allelic series.
SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism): A variation at a single position in the DNA sequence, the smallest unit of genetic difference a lab can test for. Many of the variants behind poodle coat color and health panels, though not merle, are SNPs.

T

Ticking: Small colored flecks that appear in white areas of a dog's coat, associated with the R locus (USH2A). Ticking and roan are governed by different alleles at this locus, not the same trait. Only visible in areas that are white due to the S locus; puppies are typically born clear and develop it as the coat matures.

V

Variant: A general term for any sequence difference from the reference genome at a given position, whether it's a single base change, an insertion, or a duplication. "Allele" refers to the resulting form of the gene; "variant" refers to the underlying DNA change that produces it.

W

What Does Carrier Mean in Dog DNA Testing?: A carrier has one copy of a recessive variant, shows no sign of it, and can pass that copy to roughly half its puppies. The term fits a straightforward recessive trait like brown (Bb) well, but it breaks down for loci like merle, which has no simple carrier state — see the Merle entry.
What Is a Locus?: A locus is the fixed physical location of a gene on a chromosome; plural loci. Poodle coat color is built from around ten key loci (E, B, D, K, A, M, S, G, R, and I), each contributing its own piece of the final phenotype.
What Is the Difference Between Dominant and Recessive?: A dominant allele produces its phenotype with just one copy; a recessive allele needs two copies to show. B (black) is dominant over b (brown), so a Bb dog looks black, and only a bb dog looks brown.
What's the Difference Between Genotype and Phenotype?: Genotype is the actual DNA a dog carries at a locus; phenotype is what that DNA produces that you can actually see. Two dogs can share a genotype and look different while greying is still in progress, and two dogs can look alike with different genotypes, such as a true blue (dd) and a fully cleared blue.
Wildtype: The allele or haplotype that is most common in wild populations, the "original" or "default" form. At the A locus (ASIP), the agouti haplotype AG in the Bannasch (2021) framework produces the banded, wolf-grey pattern.

Put This Knowledge to Work

Use the free calculator to model any breeding combination across all loci simultaneously.

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