# Apricot or Light Red?



## rikkia (Nov 5, 2011)

Hard to tell without knowing the parent colours, what genes they carry and the age of the pup etc.

I haven't owned a red or apricot but as I understand it the colour and fading genes are similar to blacks, blues and silvers. A black dog is one that has no fading gene. A blue is a black that inherited one fading gene from either parent. A silver is a black that inherited the fading gene from both parents.

If both parents are reds then its likely a red, however depending on how many fading genes it was able to pick up will change that colour. One from each parent will result in a dog who will fade to a greater degree than if it only picked up one fading gene. Whether that is distinctive in reds and apricots, as it is with blues and silvers, I have no idea. 

Hopefully someone with more knowledge on reds and apricots can correct anything I may have got wrong.


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

It might be either one, but this is a really cute puppy !


----------



## Coldbrew (Jun 17, 2015)

reds and creams (and apricots) are all genetically recessive red dogs. The lighter the dog, the lower the 'intensity', and it's also possible for a darker dog to fade with age, like Rikkis has said. The fading gene that causes silvers/blues does affect the phaemelanin of red dogs, but not to the same extent. That makes it hard to tell how much or little a red dog will fade, unless the red dog has solid red, non-lightening parents. 

If your puppy has dark red parents, Id call it a red. If both parents are cream, I'd call it a cream (as in, it'll be cream as an adult). If one parent is red and one is cream, it's a wait-and-see situation. (and then there's the possibilities that both parents weren't red based, which makes the possibilities different). 

Whatever color, the pup is adorable!


----------

