*BELOW IS RESEARCH AND NOT MY PERSONAL INFORMATION/BELIEFS* *Full Link Posted Above* Judge and breeder of Pembrokes, Stephanie S. Hedgepath (Jimanie), writes that she has seen a few creams in Pems all the way back into the 1980's and "it seems we are seeing the color pop up more lately. These Corgis may appear "white", with black leather and dark eyes, but the real color is cream, not chinchilla or silver or whatever someone decides to name it to make it sound more exotic and thus, perhaps, fetch a higher price." The key to understanding dog genetics is simply this: there are two types of pigment that create coat color in dogs (and most other mammals): eumelanin and phaeomelanin. All coat colors and patterns in dogs are created by these two pigments, which are both forms of melanin. Each of the pigments has a "default" color, and it can then be modified by various genes.
Black is the "default" eumelanin color for dogs. A dog that isn't homozygous for liver (bb) or for dilution (dd) will have black eumelanin. This means that it will have a black nose and, usually, brown eyes (eumelanin affects eye color too), and any eumelanin in its coat will be black.
Phaeomelanin produces the color "red", which is anything from deep Irish Setter red to light cream. It is only visible in the coat and doesn't affect the eyes, nose or pads of feet.
Until recently it was thought that the C locus was responsible for the intensity of phaeomelanin, causing the difference between rich Irish Setter red and the almost pure white seen on breeds such as the Samoyed and German Shepherd Dog. However, it has now been shown that ivory and white dogs do not have any mutations on the C locus. Sponenberg and Rothschild describe a gene they name I (for Intense) that dilutes only phaeomelanin: I=intense red, not diluted i=co-dominant, so i/i dogs are paler than I/i dogs However this gene has not yet been fully identified. The general idea is that this gene causes the phaeomelanin in the coat to lighten or darken. "Diluted" phaeomelanin colors are sometimes called cream, buff, apricot, lemon, etc. (Remember that eyes and nose color are not affected!)
Quoting Patti Gustafson: "Such a theory would better explain the many varying shades of red and tan in the Corgi and would also help explain why the now established pale colors are in the majority and seem so hard to get rid of. Remember that these paling factors also typify the color of the tan/red in both tricolors and the base color of sables. "Here, too, we can see that keeping an infusion of tricolor or dark red pigment in your line would be necessary in order to increase the number of dogs with the "good red" color. We can also see that if one did not conscientiously keep such an infusion in one's line that the odds of getting back to that rich red would be low."
Comment by Simon Parsons, breed judge and associate editor of Dog World: "I can't imagine that breeding to a tricolour is in itself a way to get richer colours. Surely it all depends on how rich the tan is on that particular tri!" The current AKC-standard for the Pembroke Welsh Corgi states: Color: The outer coat is to be of self-colors in red, sable, fawn, black and tan with or without white markings. White is acceptable on legs, chest, neck (either in part or as a collar), muzzle, underparts and as a narrow blaze on head. Very Serious Faults: Whitelies - Body color white, with red or dark markings. The color "cream" is not mentioned in the AKC standard for the Pembroke Corgi, but a dog of such a light color that it appears white, would probably be regarded as a "whitely" and a judge may well excuse it if it should show up in the show ring.
Stephanie S. Hedgepath has never seen a solid cream shown in an official AKC show. Neither has judge and breeder Anne Indergaard (Annwn) from Norway seen any creams when judging in Europe, Australia and the USA. They are not different in personality from Corgis with proper markings and make excellent pets.
Fawn Pembroke
"Fawn-Headed" Tricolor Pembroke
This cute pup still shows clear sable markings on the head and sabling on the back.
Gradually the savling disappeared and the lighy cream color blended wiyh the white markings gibing the appearence of a white dog. NOTE: The dark eyes and black nose.
The Two Cream puppies have some blacknon the ears and the cheeks and sabling on the head and back.
One of the two puppies as a youngster. The sabling has disappeared and you see a cream dog with white markings.
This phoyo shows the same dog at 2 years of age. The cream colornis now sonpale that the dog looks almost white. Again, note the darkbeyes and black nose.
Creams should not be mistaken for whities!
Whities
Whities
Understanding the Color Genetics.
The I Locus (Intensity) coat color test evaluates the MFSD12 gene to determine the I locus genotype for the dog. This Mutation has been associated with the extreme dilution of the light, yellow to red pigment (i.e., phaeomelanin) in many breeds, associated with an e/e genotype at the E locus. The phaeomelanin pigment can also be seen in dogs with a dark coat color that express their A locus (Agouti) genotype; for example, a dog with tan (phaeomelanin) points (ky/ky and at/at) or the light base color of hairs on sable/fawn (ky/ky and Ay/-) dogs. Dogs with I/I and I/i genotypes typically have an unmodified (yellow to red) phaeomelanin pigment. Dogs with an i/i genotype typically have a less intense, cream or white phaeomelanin pigment. However, there are other, unknown genes that influence the final shade of phaeomelanin; genes responsible for the red shade of phaeomelanin are still unknown. Dogs that carry at least one copy of the i Allele can produce light cream or white dogs if bred to another dog that is also light cream or white (i/i) or a Carrier of light cream or white (I/i). The color of the dog’s nose and footpads is still dependent on the B locus; there is no evidence that the I Locus impacts the nose and footpad color.
The I Locus (Intensity) coat color test reliably determines if a dog has one of the following genotypes at the I locus:
I/IThis dog does not carry a copy of the i mutation and has an I locus genotype of I/I which does not result in the lightening of the light, phaeomelanin pigments that produce the dog’s coat color in an e/e dog. This dog will pass one copy of I to 100% of its offspring and cannot produce i/i dogs. Interpretation: Normal Intensity
I/iThis dog carries one copy of the i mutation and has an I locus genotype of I/i which does not result in the lightening of the light, phaeomelanin pigments that produce the dog’s coat color in an e/e dog. This dog will pass one copy of I to 50% of its offspring and one copy of i to 50% of its offspring. This dog can produce i/i offspring if bred to a dog that is also a carrier of an i mutation (I/i or i/i). Interpretation: Normal Intensity (carrier) i/iThis dog carries two copies of the i mutation and has an I locus genotype of i/i which results in the extreme lightening of the light, phaeomelanin pigments that produce the dog’s coat color in e/e dogs. This dog will pass one copy of i to 100% of its offspring. This dog can produce i/i offspring if bred to a dog that is also a carrier of an i mutation (I/i or i/i). Interpretation: Reduced intensity, likely light shades or white
Below show more Examples of Cream/Fawn corgis. Birth/Young/Adults
Full disclosure: I do not own rights to all of the following photos on this page. Credit will be given below each dog for the owners or to where photos have been found.
Muddy Paws Battle of Shiloh
The above Photos are our very own girl Shiloh (on our page under females.) showing her growth. AKC Registered (Muddy Paws Corgis) -Brandy Samson (Owner & Breeder)
The Spirit of Enchanted Creek
Zero AkC Registered (outlaw Corgis Kennel) -Leslie Ferrucci (Owner/Enchanted Creek Corgis)