fundamental

THE FUNDAMENTAL BODY COLORS

OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD

The Australian Shepherd comes in one of four fundamental body colors: black, blue merle, red, and red merle. All blacks and blue merles have black noses and eye rims, and all red and red merles have liver (brown) noses and eye rims. The following discusses the body color of Australian Shepherds without regard to the presence or absence of white or copper trim.

Black - solid. This dog is primarily black with no merling or dilution spots (patches of gray or faded black).

Blue Merle - genetically a black dog carrying and expressing a merling gene. Merling breaks up the black color into a pattern of black and gray or silver patches.

Red - solid. This dog is primarily red, varying from a light cinnamon red to a dark liver red, with no merling or dilution spots.

Red Merle - genetically a red dog carrying and expressing a merling gene. Merling breaks up the red color into a pattern of red and beige patches. The beige shade may range from a light ivory to a dark tan.

In the genetic descriptions that follow, black refers to both solid blacks and blue merles and red refers to both solid red and red merles.

One basic rule of genetics is: gene pairs determine color characteristics. One gene of a gene pair comes from each parent. With color, the dominant gene is the trait you see. The recessive gene is the trait you do not see unless it is paired with another of the same recessive gene. Remember, each parent will give only one gene to each puppy.

The rule for Australian Shepherd color inheritance is constant and simple. BLACK IS DOMIANT OVER RED - ALWAYS

Rule #1: A dog with two black genes is BLACK/BLACK and appears BLACK

Rule #2: A dog with one black gene and one red gene is BLACK/RED and appears BLACK

Rule #3: A dog with two red genes is RED/RED and appears RED

All properly colored Australian Shepherd are one of these three gene combinations. Remember: black refers to solid black and blue merle. Red refers to solid red and red merle.

Scenario 1

If a parent is BLACK/BLACK, all the pups will be black. They may be red carriers if the other parent contributed a red gene.

Scenario 2

If a parent has BLACK/RED genes, the pups will be black or red. If the black gene is passed on all the pups will be black. If the other parent matches the black gene with a red gene the resulting black pups are "red carriers" or "red factored." If the red gene is passed on and paired with another red gene from the other parent, all the pups will be red.

Scenario 3

If a parent has RED/RED genes and is bred to another red all the pups will be red. Two reds will produce 100 percent reds since there is no black gene to dominate. If a red is bred to a BLACK/BLACK all the pups will be black but the will also all be red carriers. Bred to a BLACK/RED both black and red pups may result.

The only real uncertainty arises because BLACK/BLACK and BLACK/RED, both of which are black dogs, look exactly alike. If a black dog has a red parent he is certainly carrying a red gene. However, if he is from two black parents only test breeding to a red will tell if he is a BLACK/BLACK or a BLACK/RED.

The color of the grandparents or ancestors of red dogs play no part in the colors they will produce. Red genes are all the ancestors have to pass on. A red dog from two black parents has the same genetic make up as a red dog from two red parents. Occasionally a red will show up from a long line of black ancestry. This happens when a line of BLACK/REDs exist and two BLACK/REDs are bred producing a RED/RED dog.

There are also undesirable, non-recognized colors. These colors are disqualifying faults in the Australian Shepherd Club of America standard. These include sable, brown merles, brindle, gray/slate, diluted red, pinto, and blond. If these colors exist in a properly colored dog's ancestry they may be produced.

The American Kennel Club standard does not fault coat color except for excessive white trim and white body splashes.

Breeding Australian Shepherds requires coat color considerations. The beautiful merle colors have a lethal side. The homozygous merle puppy bred from a merle to merle mating may be deaf and/or have eye problems ranging from slight to complete blindness. These puppies are readily identifiable at birth and must be culled. Breeding a solid black to a red or blue merle will usually produce a variety of merle and solid colored puppies. Typically there are no defective merling gene problems in a solid to merle breeding, though excessive white trim may still be present and require culling and pinto pups occassionally crop up. Breeding solid to solid produces only solid colored puppies.

Defective puppies from merle to merle breedings are not caused by one defective gene. The defect comes from the pairing of merle genes, expressed on the average, in one out of four pups in a merle to merle breeding. The effect of the merling gene breaking down the solid color pattern and the effects on ear and eye development in the fetus is not well understood. When a solid gene is present with the merle gene the result is usually a sound merle dog. When the merle gene is paired with another merle gene (homozygous merle), a defective puppy will result. Homozygous merle puppies are typically predominately white. In particular, the head will be white with little or no pigmentation around the eyes and nose (Note that virtually all Australian Shepherd puppies are born without pigmentation on the nose. The pigment becomes evident within a few days, or even hours after birth. A defective puppy will have other indicators in addition to a lack of nose pigment). Puppies with excessive white trim share these characteristics to a lesser extent. There may be color around one eye or ear with the rest of the head being white, or white patches on the body, white legs with the white extending from the leg well up onto the body, or a white collar that extends well past the withers. Culling all puppies with white off the blaze, collar, socks, white chest and belly patterns, ensures there are no borderline pups. Puppies with each eye surrounded with color, color over the ears, and no white on the body behind the shoulder should be sound. The patterns seem to be the key. Sometimes a puppy without very much white, but with mis-markings on the body, such as a stripe running up from the underside, will be defective. Culling should be done as soon as possible after whelping since there is no reason to stress the bitch with nursing extra pups.

EXAMPLES: M = Merle gene

m = solid gene

Each sound merle dog carries the Mm gene.

Each solid dog carries the mm gene.

Each defective merle dog carries the MM gene.

In an average litter of four puppies from a merle to solid breeding:

Sire SolidDam Merle

mm Mm

MmmmMmmm

Merle Solid Merle Solid

No defective puppies

In an average litter of four puppies from a merle to merle breeding:

Sire MerleDam Merle

Mm Mm

MMMmMmmm

Homozygous Merle Merle Merle Solid

In a single breeding from a merle to merle mating, homozygous puppies will vary from one to many defective puppies.

Sound individuals with excessive white markings do exist in the breed. They carry the genetic makeup of a pinto or piebald horse, which simply causes white body spots. These dogs are usually from a bloodline with a history of lots of white trim.

Breeding these pinto dogs or dogs with excessive white trim is discouraged for an obvious reason: if the breed carried the genetic possibility of sound puppies marked like defective puppies, there would be no way to make a determination at birth about the relative genetic markers. To keep these puppies easily identifiable, the excessive white individual must be kept out of the breed's gene pool.