Guess the Genotype #24

Can you guess this dog's genotype? What about its breed?

Image is from Flickr.com under a creative commons license

This is Melody, who is described as a "Husky-Lab," and I do think that could be a plausible explanation (looking at the dog at a distance still makes me think so). However, I am unsure as to whether the "husky" would be Siberian husky or Alaskan husky. If it's Alaskan husky, that opens up a far wider range of color and morphology than in all but the mainly sledding lines of Siberians. This is due to the fact that "Alaskan husky" is a very loose definition that generally encompasses any dog purposely bred to pull a sled, no matter the background. Because of this, it is plausible that she could simply be an Alaskan husky. Meldoy is also the first blue-eyed dog that I have included in a GtG that is not a merle! In huskies, blue eyes are quite common and they are inherited independently of coat color. So, that is her genotype?

Since she is expressing both red and black, some agouti locus must be in effect. I believe that she is sable rather than agouti, and I also suspect that she is carrying tan point. If she is indeed half Labrador, and I have a theory that tan point is fixed (or nearly fixed) in Labradors, then that would be why she would carry it. That would make her Ayat sable carrying tan point.

If Melody is indeed half or other percentage Labrador, it is possible that she carries liver. Liver also occurs in huskies. The black in her coat in undiluted, so she cannot be homozygous for the recessive, but I am going to say she is a heterozygote: Bb non-liver carrying liver.

Though her muzzle is a touch dark, I don't think that she is masked. There is also a chance that she is carrying recessive red, which causes yellow in Labs and is what I suspect could cause a solid white husky, which do occur on occasion. Again, I am going to say that she is a carrier and thus Ee normal color carrying recessive red.

Clearly, Melody is a brindle. Brindle is a known mismark in Labradors and could potentially show up in Alaskan huskies. I suspect that she is kbrk brindle carrying non-brindle as I doubt that more than one parent carried the brindle gene if she is in fact a Lab/husky.

As for the white she has, I think that the minimal sort of Irish white she is expressing is caused by a combination of a gene for solid coloration and another for Irish white, possibly in combination with some sort of plus modifiers that cause the facial markings. Again, this is assuming that she is a Lab/husky. This would make her Ssi solid carrying Irish white.

The blue eyes are, again, caused by a separate gene which, as far as I know, has not been identified or theorized. 

So, that would be Ayat Bb Ee kbrk Ssi or blue-eyed brindle and minimal Irish white (carrying tan point, liver, recessive red, and non-brindle).