The breed can trace its history back to the Dobermannpinshcerherverein stud book of 1890. In 1899 only one color was recognized, the black and rust. In 1901 two other colors were allowed, these additional colors were; the brown and rust, and blue and rust. With the fawn (Isabella) being recognized in 1969, this brought the total to four allowed colors for the Doberman in the USA.

The fawn (Isabella) Doberman is a known recessive gene (dilution) of the reds; while the blue Doberman is a known recessive gene (dilution) of the black. This is a simple autosomal (either sex) recessive gene. Both parents have to “carry” this gene in order to produce the dilution, or depending on which genotype, all four colors a “rainbow” litter.

The blue and fawn Doberman ARE NOT rare (meaning they should NOT demand a higher price than a red or black); as you can readily see the mode of inheritance for the blue and fawn is a VERY well known simple genetic fact. Many within the Doberman community do a considerable amount of research when planning a breeding and breed accordingly, often times this will eliminate producing blues and fawns.

Combining the four allowed colors (phenotype) with the 9 possible genotypes will result in 81 possible combinations of breedings. In order for the serious Doberman breeder to understand the probability of the puppy phenotype, a color chart has been devised and each of the four colors (including their varied genotype expressions) have been assigned a number from 1 – 9.

NOTE: Below is a SMALL example of what is included in the color chart. This is NOT a complete listing of the 9 assigned numbers. B is the “black” factor, dominant over red. b is the “red” factor, recessive to black. D is the dominant “non-dilution” factor. d is the recessive “dilution” factor. A number 1 BBDD (black phenotype) will produce ONLY black. A number 2 BBDd (black phenotype) will produce only black and blue puppies unless bread to a #1 BBDD black, a #3 BbDD black or a #7 bbDD red. A number 3 BbDD (black phenotype) will produce red and blacks except when bred to a #1 BBDD black, a #2 BBDd black, or a #5 BBdd (blue phenotype) in which case only blacks will be produced. A number 4 BbDd (black phenotype) can produce all four colors when bred to another #4, a #8 bbDd (red phenotype), a 9 bbdd (fawn phenotype), or a #6 Bbdd (blue phenotype).