Pombrazen White & Wolf Pomeranians

White Pomeranian - Coat Genetics

A quality, true white pomeranian will have black points (nose, eye rims, lips and paw pads).

A white puppy will be born as such and with pink skin. A puppy that is genetically bright white (what some call "ice-white" ) is parti-factored and the spot or spots may or may not be visible on the puppy, depending on the location, size and shading of said spots.

However a puppy that is genetically e/e and not parti-factored (see below for details), will tend to have a creamier tint to it, if compared to another puppy that is rather white from being extreme piebald parti. The intensity gene (I) will come into play here (see below for details).

To summarize, there are 2 ways to get a white looking pomeranian, genetically speaking.

White Pomeranian

The MC1R gene (E or e)

A dog needs two alleles of the recessive (e) copy of this gene to appear anywhere from orange, to very light cream (creamy white). The presence of two copies of this recessive allele inhibits the expression of black pigment (eumelanin) in the coat.

The dominant version of MC1R (E) rather allows the expression of black pigmentation and than other genes come into play to create a whole rainbow of different colors. This means that a dog that tests as E/E or E/e will have a coat color that is impacted by other genes but will not be orange to light cream.

The intensity gene (I) is one gene that genetically differentiates an orange pomeranian from a creamy white pomeranian. However, other still unknown genes come into play in determining the degree of dilution. There is still a lot to discover about the dog genome....

White Pomeranian

The Piebald/Spotting gene (N or S)

The piebald gene is a complex one that is not fully understood yet and it expresses differently in different breeds as there are some alleles specific to certain breeds, that are not present in the pomeranian breed, such as Irish spotting.

A dog that tests as N/N doesn't carry a copy of the piebald gene and will not show any white spotting.

A dog that tests as N/S carries one copy of the piebald allele, which will cause the dog to express varying degrees of white spotting, possibly none.

A dog that tests as S/S will show white spotting, possibly differently than an N/S result, and most likely the cause of extreme piebald parti colored dogs. For example, a dog could have one tiny little light cream spot that can't be noticed, making the dog look completely white.

The Intensity gene (I or i)

The MFSD12 gene also known as Intensity gene, is one of many other unknown genes, that determines the shade of the orange/yellow pigment (phaeomelanin) in certain breeds, such as pomeranians.

A dog needs two alleles of the recessive (i) copy of this gene to appear anywhere from cream, to very light cream (creamy white) to white.

The dominant version of the Intensity gene (I) rather allows the expression of the orange coat, in it's non-diluted form. Other not yet discovered genes come into play in determining the intensity of the dilution in color of the dog however, whether it expresses as cream, light cream or white.

Is DNA testing necessary ?

Unless you are a breeder with very specific goals in your breeding program where genetics are concerned, it is not necessary to DNA test your white dog for color or require such a test from the breeder who is selling you a puppy.

If a puppy is born white, this will not change, at least not drastically.A puppy who is genetically creamy white (very very light), will usually darken as it grows. As an adult, the dog will usually be white, but with a cream shadow on his back and behind his ears. A puppy who is white from being extreme piebald parti factored will not develop this cream shadow. However the hidden or apparent pale cream patch or patches may darken a little as the adult coat comes in as well, IF there is such patching as sometimes, it really is just not visible, making the dog look completely ice white.

Now wolf sables are a completely different story !

Learn more about wolf sable genetics !