Lemon Pupper — The pale 'lemon' (clear cream-yellow) | lemonpupr.com
The lemon coat is recessive: a puppy must inherit the e allele from both parents at the MC1R extension gene before dark pigment is switched off.
The MC1R extension gene works like a switch for dark coat pigment. A single dominant E copy is enough to turn that pigment on, which is why most dogs — including many that carry a hidden e — show dark coats.
A lemon coat appears only in the e/e state, when neither parent supplied a dominant E. With the switch off across the body, the coat clears to the pale cream-yellow that gives the colour its name.
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Carriers are the complication. An E/e dog looks fully pigmented, yet half of the alleles it passes on are e. Bred to a lemon (e/e), a carrier yields about 50% lemon puppies on average; bred to another carrier, a Punnett square puts about one in four puppies at e/e.
The one certain pairing is lemon × lemon. Two e/e parents have no E allele between them, so 100% of their puppies are lemon — and none can be dark-pigmented.
To predict any litter, write each parent's two alleles on the edges of a Punnett square and count the e/e boxes. That count, not the parents' appearance, is the honest forecast — a dark carrier's looks hide the e it may pass on. For which registries actually name the resulting colour, see the breeds page; for when the puppy's own pigment settles, see the timeline page.
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