Color genetics for our Belgians

The locus B (for Black)

All Belgian Shepherds are homozygous for the B-locus

The locus K (for Black) :

Most of our Groenendaels are K^B- .  Groenendael that produce fauve and black & tan belgians are heterzygote and have the genetic formula of K^Bk^y.  All our laekenois, malinois and tervueren are k^yk^y

The locus A (for Agouti)

For most of our Groenendaels we don't know what they carry on the A locus since the K locus masks the result.  Only for dogs that have produced tervueren, we can have an idea on what is at the A locus.  In a few cases 2 tervuerens have produced black dogs.  This recessive black is not due to the K locus but is a result of the most recessive form of the A locus.  Although Black & Tan Belgians exist, they are rare.  The large majority of our Belgians are A^y-.  The A^w is a locus that is not present in our breed.

The E locus (for extension)

Only E and E^m are found in our dogs.  In our fauve dogs it is relatively easy to to determine if a dog is carrier of the E allel since the dog lacks a mask.  In our groenendaels it is more difficult since we cannot see any mask due to the overall black color

The C Locus (for coloration)

Only our grey belgians carry the c^ch allel.  Our fauve dogs all carry the C allel.  Again, it is difficult to say for our groenendael due to overall black as a result of the K^B allel.

The locus D (for Dilution)

Recently there are dogs that carry the d gene resulting in a blue-ish mask and charbonnage.  For now, only our malinois show this trait.

The Locus S for white.

Only the S and sⁱ allel are present in our Belgians resulting in the white markings on the chest and toes in some dogs.

The Locus T for Ticking, The locus M for Merle and The Locus G (for grisonnement) are not present in our Belgian Shepherd