Coat Testings

Now I have begun the journey on coat testings as its easy enough done. 

I love genetics which I could bore you all to death with and is a small part of it of course but it nice to not have surprises of a fawn in your mantle x harli mating isn't it or even a blue mantle and you're scratching your head over it going how did that happen when I checked the pedigrees but it can pop up at any time in a litter if you haven't checked far enough back. 

If unsure of your dogs heritage in your mantles and harlequins or even if you notice an odd colour in the mix when looking up the heritage of your dog you would test for mainly dilute, dominant black, harlequin and piebald but can test for agouti and all variants if you wish.

MC1R - All Variants

Em/Em - 2 copies of mask - dog has mask

Em/E - 1 copy of mask and 1 copy of black - dog has mask and carries black

Em/e - 1 copy of mask and 1 copy of red/yellow - dog has mask and carries red/yellow/cream

E/E - 2 copies of black

E/e - 1 copy of black and 1 copy of red/yellow/cream

e/e - 2 copies of red/yellow are present. Dog is red/yellow/cream Em/Eg - 1 copy of mask and 1 copy of grizzle - dog has mask and carries grizzle

Eg/Eg - 2 copies of grizzle - dog is grizzle if Dominant black is N/N and agouti is at/a

Eg/E - 1 copy of grizzle and 1 copy of black - dog is grizzle if Dominant black is N/N and agouti is at/at

Eg/e - 1 copy of grizzle and 1 copy of red/yellow - dog is grizzle if Dominant black is N/N and agouti is at/at

DILUTE (MLPH)


D/D - Full color, no dilute gene present.


D/d - Full color, carries 1 copy of the dilute gene.

d/d - Dilute, 2 copies of the dilute gene.

DOMINANT BLACK - Black/ brindle or fawn


K/K - 2 copies of dominant black are present, no brindle or fawn offspring will be produced.


K/N - 1 copy of dominant black is present, brindle or fawn offspring can be produced, depending on the genotype of the mate. Note: with some breeds of dog this result is associated with the brindle pattern.

N/N - Dog does not have the dominant black mutation.

HARLEQUIN


N/N - No copies of Harlequin mutation are present.


N/H - 1 copy of the Harlequin mutation is present. If the dog has merle and is black pigmented, the Harlequin pattern is expressed. Breeding’s between N/H dogs are expected to result in 25% embryonic lethal offspring.

BROWN (TYRP1)


B/B - Does not carry brown - cannot have brown offspring.

B/b - 1 copy of brown present - carrier.


b/b - 2 copies of brown present - black pigment (if present) is diluted to brown, red/yellow dogs have brown noses and foot pads.

AGOUTI*


ay/ay - Homozygous for fawn/sable.


ay/aw - Dog has fawn and carries wild sable.


ay/at - Dog has fawn and carries black-and-tan

.
ay/a -Dog has fawn and carries recessive black


aw/aw - Homozygous for wild-sable.


aw/at - Dog has wild-sable and carries black-and-tan.


aw/a - Dog has wild-sable and carries recessive black.


at/at - Homozygous for black-and-tan.


at/a - Dog has black-and-tan and carries recessive black.


a/a - Homozygous for recessive black.


ay/ayt - Dog has a normal fawn allele and a recombinant fawn plus black-and-tan allele. The recombinant allele behaves as a normal fawn allele

.
ayt/at - Dog has a recombinant fawn plus black-and-tan allele and carries a black-and-tan allele. The recombinant allele behaves as a normal fawn allele.
*

Expression of agouti is dependent on complex interaction of other coat color genes such as MC1R and Dominant Black.

PIEBALD/WHITE SPOTTING**

S/S - Dog has 2 copies of piebald.


N/S - Dog has 1 copy of piebald.


N/N - Dog has no copies of piebald.

** Expression of white patterns varies from breed to breed and among individuals within a breed. This test is specific for the mutation in MITF known to be associated with piebald/white spotting.

Many genes are involved in production of coat color and fur type. The results above are specific for known variants in ASIP, MC1R, TYRP, MLPH, CBD103, KRT71, RSPO2, MITF and FGF5. The results do not completely describe the colour and fur type of a dog.

taken from UC Davis site 

Ideally you want from your mantles is no piebald or harlequin and from your harlequin no piebald. Yes, you will still get merle in your litters but if the average 8 in a litter you should in theory get 2-3 harlequins and 3-4 mantles 1 merle and 1 black so most of the litter is in fact hopefully show quality. This is in theory as it is still very much a lottery doing your colour litters but having the research there does help make better choices for a good outcome in a litter. Most breeders don't want whites. This is why if doing a spot to spot mating you would colour test them first. Most breeders now-a-days put harlequin to mantle to lesson the chances of whites in the litters as whites are not desirable as they come with major health problems. 

We still can't test for merle as of yet in the UK but no doubt this will change in the future. Canada have the patents for it and only US can access it so far. I shall keep looking to see if we can get the tests done here and hopefully one day we will. I shall keep you all informed of this too. Remember merle is the gene sight unseen hence wanting access to the gene testing for it in harlequins. 

If your dog comes back as a pie carrier it just means you look at your stock and decide who is the better match as in pie free or find others that have colour tested and see how they measure up with everything else that you have factored for.

It just means you are better informed on what is in your dog along with what you like about him or her.  Also what you want from the gene pool of your dog too. 

From a breeders point of view you may think this is being an elitist it isn't its to produce a nice pup that in turn will turn out to be a nicely put together dog for the future of the breed and if we produce more all the better for the pet owner or the fancier. This is after all making informed breeding choices.  I am looking to better the breed not worsen it. Yes, all dogs have faults but not to the point that the dog is not fit for function.

Wouldn't you want a healthy pup from a breeder that takes the time to look at everything not just coat testings but the overall picture of the dog and bitch.

I use UC Davis in California as they seem to be very good value for money and send the results via email, which is very handy.

I paid £67($100) for 4 tests in total. All it is a denture swab you can pick up from the chemist and swipe inside the cheek and off you go. I do 6-8 UC Davis ask for 6 usually.

When posting remember and let the post office know its DNA that you're sending as they can be a bit fickle over what we send these days.

There are others out there of course folks use which are 

optigen 

vetgen

The link below gives an in-depth account on colours on the harlequin and mantle family.

Happy reading now. 

                                                                 Chromadane