Thursday, October 13, 2011

Guess the Genotype #27

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

 
Images are copyright to Danial Webb and are used with permission



This little fellow's name is Alwyn and he is what appears to me to be some form of Jack Russel terrier-type, either pure or mix. His body type is very much in that vein, though the upright ears may throw some people off. However, it is not uncommon for prick-ears to occur. The inwardly-bend forelegs are also rather common in any breed with shorter-than-average legs and is sometimes called "fiddle-front." As with almost all Jack Russels, his coloring is due to a form of piebald. The biggest question is: what is hiding under all of the white?

If you look carefully at certain areas on this dog, namely the corner of his left eye and in some spots along his back, he does have what appear to be black hairs. The spots on his ears also clearly show red coloring. Due to this, some form the agouti locus must be in action. The question is, which? The spots on the back of his ears would be black if he was tan pointed, but both sable and saddle markings are both possible. Since there is so little color on this dog, it is nearly impossible to determine this. However, I suspect that he is sable due to the fact that the saddle pattern does not appear to be very common in Jack Russels. In addition, since tan point is really quite common in the breed, I am going to assume he carries that coloration, making him Ayat sable carrying tan point.

The only other gene that is clearly affecting this dog's phenotype is the white spotting locus. The only possible genotype he could be to cause so little color on him would be swsw extreme white piebald.

So, that would be Ayat swsw or extreme white piebald sable (carrying tan point).

5 comments:

  1. We had Alwyn DNA tested recently. The results came shortly after you posted this. They found nothing but Jack Russell, which surprised us. We thought there might have been a bit of Bull Terrier in there too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, really?

    I honestly am not overly surprised by this. Jack Russells vary greatly in size and type, and, though a bit unusual, Alwyn is within that variation. I've personally seen Jack Russels with short legs and long legs, wire hair and smooth, lots of color or mostly white, eight to twenty-five pounds in size, and three different ear sets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have guessed there was a Corgi in the mix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True, that would make sense. However, it is quite possible to find Jacks with prick ears and/or short legs.

      Delete
  4. poor goofy looking guy. i thought he was, bull terrier and dachshund

    ReplyDelete