What DNA Do Brindle French Bulldogs Carry?

French bulldogs are amazing, fun little dogs that have a knack for working their way into your heart.  Frenchies are renowned for having unique and special physical features, and that’s the reason they are loved by almost everyone. Having a small body with bat-up ears makes them even more notable.  This breed comes in a variety of colors 

There are different kinds of brindle bulldogs, and today, we are going to discuss them based on their DNA and color traits. 

Let’s get nerdy and discuss some science stuff that goes deep into how these Brindle Frenchies get their unique coat variations.  

French Bulldog Color Genetics Explained


One of the most significant reasons for the popularity of this breed is its various color options. 

Although they are also known for their loving temperament and low maintenance, the color variations stand at the top of the list. 

How about we discuss the color genetics and color variations of this amazing bulldog? Well, there are plenty of variations, and we are going to discuss everyone in detail. 

K-Locus | Also Known As The Black Locus

 

Whether a dog is a brindle or not is mainly determined on the basis of K Locus. Two genes are placed at two certain locations, “Ky” and “Kbr.” 

“Kbr” gene is basically a brindle gene, and if we compare them with “Ky,” the former one is dominant. 

If the dog carries a single copy of the brindle, it will be shown as (kbr/ky) or two copies of (kbr/kbr) in the K-locus. 

The number of copies will determine whether the dog has a brindle coat or not. A single or a double copy will express as a brindle coat. 

The “Ky” gene is also known as allowing gene. And the reason for that is when two copies are present, it let A-Locus, B-Locus, and D-Locus determine dog coats. 

However, the “Kbr” brindle gene stands in the way of color expression of A, D, and B-locus to give a bridle-like look. 

A-Locus | Also Known As Solid Black, Tri-Color, Fawn, And Sable Locus Gene 

Although A-Locus is the most difficult to understand as far as genes are concerned, however, we are going to discuss it in a manner that can be understood by almost everyone. 

In the case of A-Locus, four genes are held at the location “Ay” for the fawn, “At” the tan, and tri-color gene. “a” is the solid black gene here, and “aw” is used for sable. 

When we compare “Ay” and “Aw” with “At” and “a” the former ones are dominant over the latter ones. This is because the tri-color gene “At” and solid black color gene “a” aren’t as noticeable in the dog as the other gene. 

However, “At” is dominant over “a.” So a dog with (At/a) Locus will show completely the same markings as a dog that’s (At/At). 

A dog with (Ay/At) (Aw/At) (Aw/a) or (Ay/a) will either be fawn or sable. There will be no traits of tan or solid black genes. 

For a dog to be fully black, there have to be two copies of gene “a” as (a/a). A dog will be brindled over the A location having brindle (kbr/kbr) (kbr/ky). 

The brindling will be expressed at the tan points when the dog is (At/At) or (At/a). For brindles to be expressed all over the dog, their dog coat has to be (Ay/At) (Aw/At) (Ay/a) or (Aw/a) with carrying 1 or 2 brindle genes. 

Dogs with (a/a) won’t have the expression of brindle if they carry one or even two brindle genes. This is because (a/a) is solid black, and the brindle will also be black. It will allow some fawns to come through and let through the brindle. 

If the dog is Ky/Ky with a single brindle gene, it will only allow all genes in the A location so that they can be expressed without any interference. 

D-Locus | Also Known As Blue French Bulldog

Blue is undoubtedly the unique color pattern, and that’s why blue locus is everyone’s favorite. 

Fun Fact: D-Locus is basically a dilute gene.

D-Locus is actually the results of dilution of K-locus and A-locus. A solid black dog with two blue dilutes will produce a solid blue bulldog. 

Fawn dogs with two blue dilute will produce a Blue Fawn with a champagne color. 

CO-Locus | Also Known As Cocoa Or French Chocolate Bulldog 

CO-Locus is much similar to D-Locus. Generally, it needs two copies of the Cocoa gene in each allele for the expression of Cocoa color. Just like the rest of the genes, Cocoa is also a testable gene. 

B-Locus | Also Known As The Testable Chocolate French Bulldog 

B-Locus is much similar to D-Locus and CO-Locus. Generally, B-Locus needs two copies of the testable chocolate gene for the testable color to produce. 

You can call a French bulldog Isabelle a French bulldog due to the presence of blue (d/d) and testable chocolate (b/b). 

You can also call a French bulldog Isabelle French bulldog if there is the presence of blue (d/d), Cocoa (co/co), and testable chocolate (b/b). 

A French bulldog is also known as a Lilac French bulldog if there is the presence of Blue (d/d), Cocoa (b/b) with one or no copies of Testable chocolate. 

E-Locus | Also Known As Cream French Bulldogs

E-Locus is actually the reverse of the yellow locus and is also known as Cream. 

The cream is undoubtedly the most dominant gene when two copies are available in the Locus e/e. 

It doesn’t matter what the color pattern of a dog is; the dog will show a complete cream color due to the presence of two copies of cream at the E-Locus (e/e). 

However, the dog will show a slight cream color on the dominant color coat due to the presence of one copy of cream at the E-Locus (E/e). 

Ok, let me explain it with the help of a specific example.

If a French Bulldog is Blue (d/d) and carries one copy of cream, the end results will be (d/d/E/e). As a result of it, the dig will appear at times a little lighter composed as compared to the dog that carries no cream. 

In the same way, if a dog carries two copies of cream on blue, so the end results will be (d/d) (e/e), and the dog will completely show a cream color. 

Brindle French Bulldog

Bottom Line – What DNA Do Brindle French Bulldogs Carry?

I am especially fond of Brindle French Bulldogs as my Frenchie Augie is a Brindle.  Brindle French bulldogs have a different color variations and it is a big reason for their popularity

We hope you enjoyed this short lesson in French Bulldog Genetics and how it creates different color traits of this awesome dog breed.

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