Doberman colour is controlled primarily by two gene locations: black vs red and dilution. In this litter, the dam is genotype #7 (red) and the sire is genotype #3 (black carrying red). Because red is a recessive trait, a puppy must inherit the red gene from both parents to be red. That pairing can produce a mix of red and black puppies. The red girls inherited a red gene from both parents, while their black littermates inherited only one red gene and therefore express black (