GiGi and Rosie carry on for Rylees' Blonde Baby!

Blondy

Gigi and Rosie are offspring of our very own "Rylees'Blonde Baby". Blondie is in retirement but her two girls are carrying the tradition a step further for her. Rosie belongs to my friend, Billie Jo. Rosie and Gigi came into their second season at the very same time, they were bred to Eragon during the same week and they both whelped their puppies three days early. Early morning, on August 6, 2009. Rosie whelped four beauties and Gigi whelped three.

Gigi and Rosie are both true liver and Eragon is a true blue. All of the pups from both litters have tri-color coats. Very full and lush. They are all AKC.
Top left, to right. Eragon and  Of course, Blondy, Gigi and Rosie.

SHIH TZU COLOR: Livers and Blues

Blue and liver are about skin pigment, and not hair color, but they are on different genes. The dog is basically black or liver (the B series), and blue (the D series) modifies either one when present. In Blues, you have to look really close- they can produce VERY dark gunmetal- to the point that it looks black until you get them up against a true black or out in the sun. They don't explain that on the registration. When you see a lavender cast to the lips, it's a trigger to look very closely at the color of the nose and eye rims.
Normal Pigment, Livers & Blues in Shih Tzu
There is a lot of confusion regarding dogs of normal pigment, livers, and blues. For the purpose of this discussion, we are going to concentrate on two gene series- B and D. We are discussing skin pigment, not coat color. The genes in this discussion have minimal impact on coat color, though there definitely is some.
B Series
In Shih Tzu, the points (eye rims, nose, lips) are always first controlled by the B series gene. The B series has two color possibilities- Black (B) or no black (b- liver). BB (the homozygous state for black, homozygous meaning two of the same gene) is black points and can only produce black pointed offspring because B is dominant, and all offspring will carry a B (the other side of the gene pair will carry a gene from the other parent). Bb (the heterozygous state) will be black pointed, but can produce either black or liver pointed offspring. bb (again homozygous, but this time for liver) is always liver pointed. The offspring can be liver or black, but ALL will carry b (liver) and be able to produce it.
The skin of the bb, or liver, dog cannot support black pigment. This dog will have a liver nose, varying in intensity from red-tan to chocolate, and there will be no black on either the skin or coat.
D Series
The Maltese Dilute (D series) gene modifies the base color- black or liver- with a grayish blue like you see in Maltese and Russian Blue cats. The dominant side of the gene (D) is actually non-blue-dilute, and does not affect pigment. DD will not have blue-dilute pigment, nor will any of the offspring be blue-dilute. Dd does not affect pigment, but a blue-dilute offspring may be produced. dd is blue-dilute pigmented, and will always pass a blue-dilute gene to offspring, so they will either be blue-dilute or carry it.