Mini scientist Poppy explains how to play the virtual breeding game in the Purr-fect pets issue of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine.
Experiment with breeding different dogs together and see what colour the puppies are! Each dog has two copies of the coat colour gene. The black coat gene (B) is dominant and the brown coat gene (b) is recessive. This means that only puppies with bb genes will be brown, and all those with one or two B genes will be black.
What you do:
- Cut out the cards on page 19
- Choose a male dog and a female dog for breeding and lay their cards out on a table with the names facing up (you should have four cards)
- Randomly choose one card for each dog and record the puppy’s genes and coat colour in the table below
- Each litter produces four puppies so return the cards to the table, mix them up and repeat step 3 until you have recorded the genes and coat colours of four puppies
- Keep choosing different dogs to breed to see what colour their puppies will be
You should find:
Even though Daisy and Max are black, they can still produce brown puppies together, but Buddy and Bella will never produce brown puppies, even if they’re bred with a brown dog. Only Molly with Rocky will produce all brown puppies. Brown puppies are rarer than black so they cost more. This is why pet breeders often breed closely related animals with rare features together.
To play this game, buy the Purr-fect Pets issue of Whizz Pop Bang magazine from our online shop for just £3.75 with free UK delivery.
