I bought a 16 week old puppy a few days ago, which I thought was a black headed tri. After reading up on the corgi colors I found out that some black heads turn red.
She does have the black under her eyes (looks like a mask), and one website referred to the black triangle on the inside of the tip of the ears. But I only became a little more confused.
I have pictures of the puppy and her parents on my "Amy's Corgi" album.
Sooo, Being a high school biology teacher I decided to research the genetics.
My puppy's mom is a red headed tri and her dad is a black headed tri. I am assuming that the mom's genes are for red head tri (which is the dominant gene), and another for a black head tri (recessive). This pattern of genes would give her a red head. The father must have black headed tri and black headed tri genes since the trait is recessive, those are his only options. At best, my puppy should have a 50/50 chance of being a black tri. So the cross of these two animals would give a red/black or a black/black to any puppies. I am thinking my puppy is a Black/Black since she still has such a black mask, but I'm not sure.
I hope that someone can tell me if there Is a way to tell if the puppy will be a black tri or a red tri? And when do puppies usually start to fade to red? She is 16-17 weeks old and still has a very black face, but some of the hair on the back of her neck has some red hair mixed in. I have posted the pictures of the puppy and of the parents. Any advice from someone who is more experienced with color than I would be helpful. My only experience is with Schipperkes lately; I can tell you that they should only come in black :-)
If it will help, check the "Amy's Corgi" album on my page to see pics of the puppy and her parents.