In dogs merle color (spotted) is incompletely dominant to solid colors like red, brown, or black. The gene for a white patch of fur on the chest or face is completely dominant to no white patch
of fur. Looking at the litter of puppies above, which statement best explains why some of the puppies
have inherited both the white patch and the merle gene, some have inherited only one of the two traits, and others are neither merle nor do they have a white patch?
A. The law of dominance states that dominant traits are inherited separately while
incompletely dominant traits are inherited together
B. The law of segregation states that each offspring inherits traits separately and that multiple traits will never be inherited from the same parent
C. The law of independent assortment states that the allele for each trait is inherited
separately from one another so the offspring can express any combination of traits.
D. The law of incomplete dominance states that when one gene is incompletely dominant it is always inherited by the offspring if the offspring inherits another completely dominant
trait

Option C, The law of independent assortment states that the allele for each trait is inherited

separately from one another so the offspring can express any combination of traits.

Explanation:

As per the law of independent assortment, the alleles in an allele pair assort independently in each parent. During crossing over, both the parents give their gametes which can combine in several ways thereby producing offspring with varied phenotypes.  

Here, let the allele for spotted trait be “S” and the allele for solid color be “s” but these are incompletely dominant which means when Ss are together a different trait will be expressed instead of defined allele traits of parent gene. The same applies for fur patch alleles.

While assorting independently, these allele can pair up in several manner  to produce varied traits

Option C is correct

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