Guess the Genotype #36

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

Image is from Flickr.com under a Creative Commons License

This is Skimo, and she is an Australian shepherd/Siberian husky mix, which is sometimes called an "Ausky." Now, what is her genotype?

Since you see both red and black in her coat, Skimo must be expressing genes on the Agouti locus. The question is, which genes? Since Australian shepherds are most often tan pointed and Siberian huskies can also come in the tan pointed color, I suspect that Skimo is atat tan pointed. Though there is not the clean differentiation usually seen in Aussies, she still displays the classic tan pointed appearance, and her tan distribution is not exceptional, as it can easily be seen when looking through various breeds (including the Siberian husky when you dilute the tan to near-white).

When it comes to the intensity of the red seen on Skimo, I suspect that the medium shade is quite expected from her ancestry. huskies usually have red diluted down to pale cream or white, while Aussies have that can be very intense, which is why it is often called "copper." I suspect that her genotype is Ccp medium red (bright red carrying near-white) due to this consideration, and the apparent incomplete dominance seen on the Colored locus.

Skimo is also an obvious merle. Due to her ancestry, and also her appearance, she must be Mm merle.

Lastly, she is expressing the Spotting locus, which has caused the white line down the center of her face, as well as white on her paws, chest, and end of her muzzle. The most likely genotype for this locus is sisi Irish white.

So, that's atat Ccp Mm sisi or tan pointed merle with Irish white (medium red intensity).