The Genetics of Breed Color In The American Pit Bull Terrier

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The Genetics of Breed Color In The American Pit Bull Terrier



by Amy Greenwood Burford B.S.ffice:office"

<o:p</o
One of my responsibilities as a member of the staff of the American Dog Breeders Association is to be the ‘color expert’. I believe that my many years of experience in the breed, as well as the opportunity to have grown up in a true ‘American Pit Bull Terrier’ family. has given me the exposure that it requires to know the descriptive terms to describe the many diverse colors in our breed. The color description that is placed on your ADBA registration papers does not in any way attempt to depict the genetic makeup (genotype) of the individual dog. Instead it is a description of the dogs actual color that you see (phenotype). This color description is used for identification only and in many cases does not predict what color combinations the individual dog will produce in its offspring.<o:p</o
Over the course of the last few months, I have received a surprising number of questions concerning color and the genetic inheritance of color. Questions such as: 1. The blue color in the APBT in the past was very rare. How are so many kennels now producing blues in such numbers? 2. It is possible to produce a puppy with a black nose, when both parents have red noses? 3. Where does the chocolate coloring come from? 4. How did I produce a brindle from a line that has never had brindle dogs? In my review of the genetics of color in the American Pit Bull Terrier, I will review a few of the principals of genetic inheritance in general and look at the research that has been done in the field of color genetics in our breed in an attempt to give our readers a better understanding of color genetic as well as provide answers to the above questions. <o:p</o
<o:p</o
GENETIC PRINCIPALS<o:p</o
http://www.adbadog.com/p_pdetails.asp?fspid=101

(Simplicity) ​

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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>The Color-Type Method Of Breeding

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Constructive Breeding II – The Color-Type Method <HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1>

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Constructive Breeding II – The Color-Type Method [/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]by Lawrance D. Mahomes[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]For thousands of years, breeders of plants and animals have used breeding methods to [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]produce favorable combinations of genes. These “genetic engineers” have produced most[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] of the economically important and Influential varieties of flowers, vegetables, grains, cows, horses, cats[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] and dogs.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Breeding with the Color-Type Method – one must start with or acquire foundation stock or [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]breed (create your own) foundation stock from the absolute best Genetic Gene Pool [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]available. Then implement the Color-Type Method of breeding for the expeditious [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]development of a line/strain/family for this is one method by which one who is not well [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]versed in genetics can create a line/strain/family. Breeding with this method one can [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]segregate desired traits and fix those traits quickly. [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]This is achieved by breeding the [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]same colored and type (genotype) specimens within a line/strain/family (close bred from [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]the same stock), black to black, brindle to brindle, red to red, white to white, etc.., [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]remember starting with a good foundation stock is essential. Once the desired [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]characteristics and conformity are attained, one should line-breed, producing exceptional [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]progeny (off-springs) with consistency.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]The Color-Type Method in detail – the breeding of like characteristics, most off-springs [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow](siblings) of the same color and type, carry close genetic make-up (genotype), hence the [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Color-Type Method of breeding. By segregating like characteristics and breeding the like [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]characters together, the traits are fixed with rapidity (genetically fixed). This is how [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]distinct lines/strains/families are created from common foundation/stock. The practical [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]universality of the Color-Type Method was proved by the cattle industry many years ago [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow](used to create new strains of cattle). Also used to create pure strains of lab animals [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]such as mice, rabbits, rats etc... This method has been used to produce pure lines, [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]consistent from generation to generation with a quantitative measurement of the [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]inheritance of ability. [/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]• Example:[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] Rod Kershner began his strain of Bulldogs in 1989, from the best of Don [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Mayfield/Tudor's dogs. Today 14 years later the strain that they started over 100 year ago [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]is still continuing at Rod Kershner's yard.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Kershner's Dogtown now just produced the fourth generation of some of the purest dogs [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]alive. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]The knowledge that Don Mayfield got from Earl Tudor, he passed on to Rod, and he [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]has been doing that for over fourteen years now. This blood has been highly respected [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]by most breeders around the world and you can find it in every Bulldog today, but not [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]many keep up the same high quality breeding.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]His family of dogs is guaranteed quality, coming from some of the purest dogs of today.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]His base is KERSHNER'S OR-NOT[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow], who is not one, but the only Pure Blooded Mayfield dog[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] alive. Owning a dog from Kershner's Dogtown it is like owning a part of history. (take a [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]look at Kershner's dogs to see the Color-Type Method in action)[/FONT]
http://www.longroadgamedogs.net/links.html​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Genealogy rather than genetics – one should never use the Color-Type Method of [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]breeding on the basis of genealogy alone. Many so-called breeders are caught-up in the [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]breeding of pedigrees and not on the merit of the individual animals being bred together. [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Because certain lines/strains/families are more numerous and hence tend to produce [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]more of exceptional class and various qualities ascribed to the different [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]lines/strains/families responsible for successful dogs (and breeding programs) is precisely[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] why the frequent recurrence of some individuals are in the pedigree of noted dogs. The [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]pedigree breeder may sometime yield satisfactory results – but selection based on [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]ancestry compares unfavorably with selection based on individual merits. While it is true, [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]the pedigree is a blueprint of ancestry, one must place great reference on the individual [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]merits and their capacity as athletes as well as producers before mating individuals [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]regardless of their pedigrees, Many breeders today select prospective mates largely, if [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]not primarily, on the basis of pedigrees only. Breeders should always start with the best [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]possible gene pool; one must take care to choose the very best from that gene pool.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Breeding the foundation/stock – based upon a supposed optimum in the proportions in [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]which lines/strains/families should be combined- a system “nick” or combination of [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]bloodlines which already has produced exceptional dogs i.e.…Alligator/Jeep cross, [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Alligator/Eli cross, Jeep/Red Boy cross, Patricks/Jeep cross, etc…. One can use [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]elementary principles of genetics to examine the ancestry of the dogs that made these [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]combinations successful. This is where the pedigree becomes an important tool in ones [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]breeding program-the biological handicap or genetic predication index. Examination of the[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] ancestry, the individual, his parents, his sibs and half sibs, a pedigree at this point [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]makes it more effective in predicting genetic probability and quantitative measurement of [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]the inheritance of ability, especially when using the Color/Type Method.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Environmental Factors – after one is satisfied with the line/strain/family, one must keep in[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] mind the environmental factor. The array of genes (genotype) may produce different [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]characters if the individuals carrying them develop in different environments, “phenotype”- [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow](the visible properties of an organism that are produced by interaction of the genotype and[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] environment) the genes act as the regulator or modulators of this interplay. The range [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial
Narrow]varies with the character under consideration and may in some cases be very wide, as in [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]the case of size in which the same genotype may result in small size if some essential for[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] requirements is withheld, or much greater size if all essential requirement for maximum [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]growth are freely available. It is from such consideration that the general principles is [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]derived which states that what is inherited is the potentiality of response during [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]development to a range of environmental conditions (reasons some lines/strains/families [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]change over a period of time/distance/location). Note: Sporting Dog Kennels, Inc. [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]comparative data (data complied since 1975) from random bred and inbred lines, and from[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow] crosses between inbred lines, indicates the practical universality of heredity using the [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Color-Type Method of breeding.[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]One must reiterate, at this point, starting with the absolute best genetic gene pool is [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]essential, for there are many individuals that have purchased dog (for the expressed [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]purpose of breeding their own line/strain/family) that have magnificent pedigrees but are [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]dumbfounded when they fail to produce any exceptional off-springs. One must keep in [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]mind the hallmark of the American Pit Bull Terrier, his gameness, soundness and [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]campaigning ability are the attributes most highly valued. It is these attributes that have [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]kept this great breed pure and free from the importation of foreign blood (blood from other [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]species of dog), genetic defects and precisely why using the Color-Type Method, one is [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]still able to create new lines/strains/families, crosses and combinations that breed true. [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Note: Method developed and perfected by the Sporting Dog Kennels, Inc...[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,adobe-helvetica,Arial Narrow]Sporting Dog Kennels, Inc.[/FONT]​

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[FONT=tahoma, new york, times, serif]SPORTING DOG KENNELS[/FONT]
http://sportingdog1.tripod.com/
[FONT=tahoma, new york, times, serif]Lawrance D. Mahomes[/FONT]








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