Variations in these constraints cause change in the frequencies of genes, and in the number of individuals with different genetic traits. The two most common types of Agouti present in border collies are sable (Ay) and tan point (at). A dog is either a Merle or a Non-Merle, but note that some will not visibly show, it could be a small patch of merle or hidden, so DNA testing is the only true way to know for those dogs. There are a few different genes that interact with each other to produce all the variety in border collies. We simply remove from breeding all individuals who either are the wrong color or ever produce puppies who are the wrong color. As was stated in the USBCC Spring Newsletter: Finding the Genes That Determine Canine Behavior. Change). Some Double Merle dogs are even born without eyes altogether. The key is in the concept of "random" breeding; every male in the population has an equal chance of mating with every female and vice versa; every mating is equally productive. There is ongoing new research and information on the Merle gene indicating that hidden Merles, bred with Classic Merles have no health issues related to that breeding. I have a brindle male and he is so beautiful. Black/Brown, or B, is the simplest gene to explain. In the case of the dogs, the dominant (black) is called. are all controlled by DNA and the environment and are present in a visible (or phenotypic) way. A dog that is D/D will not be dilute. If the dog is Kbr/Kbr or Kbr/ky, brindle will show up anywhere the dog has pheomelanin (light pigment) or has red from the agouti gene. The Agouti gene determines how pigment is distributed along the hair shaft and body by inhibiting dark pigment (black and brown) production. Every dog is unique and the combinations can be endless. (LogOut/ Before we begin I would like to point out that producing interesting colors is not the main goal of C2C Border Collies, nor should it be with any breeder. As always, we strive to put the health and temperament first in all the decisions we make when it comes to our puppies! The K-Locus, basically, determines what can be turned off or turned on in the Agouti (or A-Locus). A dog that is D/d (only one dilute gene present) will not be dilute, but could pass on one dilute gene to its offspring. It has a very specific standard, by which dogs without registration papers and pedigrees can be Registered on Merit if they can demonstrate their herding ability to satisfy this standard. This gene affects the eumelanin (dark pigment) of a dogs coat. The ky is the recessive gene in the group and if a dog is ky/ky it will be able to express whatever it has on the A locus (Agouti). The nose color can give a glimpse into what color the dog is underneath the gold, (meaning that a black nose could indicate the dog is either a black and white base or blue merle), but its impossible to know for sure unless you do a DNA test. A dog that has one or two copies of KB will not be sable, brindle, or have tan points. It has three variations: KB, Kbr, and ky. KB is the most dominant gene as it turns off the Agouti gene (see below). ee red will also cover up any other colors that the dog has and often is referred to as the Masking Gene. The possibilities are literally endless with how the DNA will combine at conception to produce your unique, one-of-a-kind puppy. Members of the same family tend to carry the same genes, so breeding among them is the quickest way to "concentrate" those alleles we want. And it is exactly the increase in homozygosity that is the problem with inbreeding. B is dominant and translates to black on the dogs coat. If a dog inherits two b genes (bb) from its parents, it will be brown. The E series helps to determinewhich areasof the dogs coat can (and do) produce eumelanin (black/blue) and which can (and do) produce phaeomelanin (red/yellow). A puppy will always inherit half its DNA from its mother, and half from its father. (LogOut/ In addition to producing a predictable appearance in your litters of puppies--if that is somehow a valuable thing--homozygosity does other things which are downright dangerous. We will NEVER breed two Classic Merle dogs together for the health and safety of our puppies. Whatever appearance standard is designed by the AKC and its chosen Breed Club (should it eventually designate one), it will not be the same standard to which the breed currently strives; it will therefore, by definition and unavoidably. The Merle gene can also modify eye color, nose and foot pads. Color does play a small part by helping us breeders know what to expect from a specific breeding pair. *Note that the Brindle (Kbr) gene location has yet to be located in DNA testing. (LogOut/ This condition of having identical alleles in a gene pair is called homozygosity. *Note that when discussing genetics, upper-case letters always indicate a dominant gene and lower-case will indicate a recessive gene. Where Are All These Red Dogs Coming From. Brown to lilac). Merle:Merle is dominant to all (except Extension, which can mask Merle and will be discussed in more detail under the Extension section). More importantly, color testing can play a bigger part in providing the knowledge needed to identify color genetics that could produce, Phantom or Cryptic Merles (Merles that are hard to identify as Merles), the White Factor (which can cause hearing and vision loss), the Dominant Blacks (KB/KB that doesnt allow certain expressions in the Agouti Locus) and identifying the double recessive e/e gene or Masking Genes (that can mask or hide the true color of a dog). Concentration is a poor word, although it is the one usually used here; we can never have more than two copies of the same allele--a gene pair--so we cannot concentrate any further than that. When the number of available dogs for breeding becomes very small (as, for instance, those dogs who fit both a performance standard and an appearance standard), the result will be, unavoidably, an increase in inbreeding. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). Dilute works on whatever base color the dog has (Black to grey or blue. Border Collies come in many different colors and with good DNA testing and responsible breeding, we can keep them healthy AND colorful! Some of the DNA that the puppy will inherit controls how it will look. The Merle gene is not carried. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. This means a dog that is genetically B/B or B/b will appear black. Search and Rescue -A Puppys Test ofConfidence. Kbr is the second most dominant gene in the set and it expresses brindle coat coloring. Dominant Black, or K is a slightly more complicated gene. In order to fully understand all of the wonderful colors present in border collies, you have to know a little bit about genetics. *It is, however, important to note that if two Classic Merle dogs are bred together, they can produce puppies that have two Merle genes (M/M) which can cause severe vision and hearing defects in the affected dog. Gold can also have breeding implications because it can mask a merle. Furthermore, the best, and indeed the only way to fix a set of alleles within a breed is through inbreeding. A dominant gene will cover up a recessive gene, so it looks like the dog does not have one of the recessive genes. The Extension or E series is responsible for almost all (except agouti) related eumelanin and phaeomelanin patterning in dogs. The Extension (E gene) is inherited the same as Dilution, meaning that a dog again needs two recessive copies of the gene to express it. There is a mathematical formula called the Hardy-Weinberg law which predicts that in a random-breeding situation the frequencies of different alleles will remain constant. What we can do is get more and more genes to be present in identical pairs, in other words, "fixed" within the breed. A gold dog should never be bred to a merle unless a DNA test is done first to ensure that the gold dog is not also merle and thus, no Double Merle puppies are produced. A dog only needs to inherit one Merle gene (called an incomplete dominant) to have a Merle coat, meaning the dog will be genetically M/m. The existing Border Collie is not a breed without a standard. The ee red, also known as Gold, Australian Red or True Red, results in a dog with a yellow coat. We are lucky that border collies can also be smart, driven, AND BEAUTIFUL! Behavior traits which make up the Border Collie: Genetic combinations are said to be "fixed" within a breed if every member of the breed has exactly the same combination of alleles at a particular locus. The simplest way to describe how genes work is that they can be dominant or recessive. The basic ones are Dominant Black (K), Agouti (A), Black/Brown (B), Dilute (D), Merle (M), and Extension (E). The red Border Collie, like the chestnut horse, is the result of a recessive gene pair. If a dog has tan points, it will have brindle points instead of tan, and if the dog is genetically sable it will be brindle throughout. Great explanation about the colors. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Tan points require two copies of the gene at and no copies of KB to be present in order for the dog to have tan points. A dog that is d/d will be dilute. In the Belgian Sheepdog, for example, the black color gene has been "fixed"; no other alleles of the E gene are present within the breed. Size, ear shape, coat color, etc. Agouti is also a somewhat more complicated gene because of its interaction with the K locus (which can turn Agouti on or off). Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. A single gene of this sort is easy to fix. It is also possible to make progress toward fixing the normal allele of a gene which causes a genetic disease by such selective methods. A dogs phenotype depends on how the genes it inherited from its parents combine. Sable is dominant over tan point so if a dog has one sable gene, and does not have any copies of KB (dominant black), it will be sable (or brindle if a Kbr is present). Remember, with border collies its really NOT just black and white! Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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