Recessive red (and cream)

Dogs with ee on their E-locus are unable to produce eumelanin in the fur. This makes their coat a solid red (or golden, or cream). They cannot have a single black (or liver, blue or isabella) hair in their coat. Their nose and eyes can, however, be any of these pigment types. These dogs are known as recessive red. In border collies, this colour is often called australian red. Other variations on this colour (different shades) include buff, apricot, golden, cream, stag, deer, lemon, biscuit, chestnut, orange, rust, tan...

Recessive reds can also appear in any pattern on the A-locus, but due to their one-coloured coat, the pattern will not be visible on the dog. Instead, the breeder may realize, once the dog is bred, that it had a pattern such as for instance tan-point, under that red coat.

In recessive red dogs, it is not unusual with dudley noses. You can read more about them on the Nose Colours page.

Intensity

Clearly, not all recessive reds are actually red. Their shade can vary from a deep chestnut red to off-white. It is not known exactly what gene/s cause this variation in shade. Traditionally, many have pointed at the C gene, which is known to lighten phaeomelanin in other species, but this does not seem to agree well with canine DNA research. Rather, some now point at a gene dubbed Intensity, which could account for varying shades of red in dogs. I would affect phaeomelanin while leaving eumelanin alone.
Some dog breeds can cover all shades of red within their breed, some only come in a few and others may only have one present.

Silver-white

I am here referring to this colour as silver-white due to it being referred to as 'silver' in black and silver miniature schnauzers and as white in some other breeds. It is a colour found in many breeds, and refers to the palest of cream dogs. To the untrained eye, they may very well look like a white dog, but they can also have cream shading to different amounts, often most visible on the ears though it can sometimes also be seen on f.ex. the upper body. White shepherds originate from puppies of this colour born in german shepherd dog litters. It also occasionally pops up in litters of for instance shiba inus and finnish lapphunds. The genetics causing this pattern is not yet known, but research suggests that such dogs tend to have ee at their E-locus, which would put them under the recessive red category. The question remains what gene/s is reponsible for bleaching it to such a light shade!

Irish setters are a deep chestnut red

Two medium red golden retrievers, with ligher colour on the more longhaired areas. This intermediate colour is often called golden

A pale labrador retriever - this shade is normally called cream

A black and silver-white miniature schnauzer. Genetically this dog is black and tan, with the tan bleached to a whiteish colour, while not affecting the black areas.