nymaureen
Posted : 2/22/2009 4:35:04 PM
D is dominant full pigmentation and d is recessive, dilute pigment. So, in simple words, in order to get the dd dilute pigment, you would have to have each parent carrying a d gene. Since the dilute shepherd is not allowed, according to standard, they'd have a pretty good idea of the gene pool, with regards to that gene, after years of making sure they didn't breed dogs who were possibly carrying the gene. Any time it did happen, I'd think a reputable breeder would have made sure the parents, who produced the dilute, were spayed and neutered and any pups, from the litter, were as well, since any of them could be carrying the d gene.
So, what I'm saying, is that the chance of it happening with reputable breeders, I'd say again, is very, very slim. The likelyhood of this gene even being in the gene pool was very slim. Just as others have said, on another forum, it is very odd that all of a sudden these mutation colors are appearing all over the place, after years of breeding without them. ....some shepherd people included. However, in breeds that the standard allows the blue, you will have many more dogs carrying it, as the people are not worried about it being in their lines and so outcrossing to these breeds will get the gene in your gene pool. And as far as looking like the breed, that is very possible, as they've brought the gene in and then bred back again to their shepherds. I've seen dogs, that I knew for sure had more than one breed in them, that would easily pass as a purebred to john q public. And yes all should do their research, but those that are not quite as dog savvy, maybe thought they had done their research and done it well, but when dealing with people not telling truths, that is rather difficult for them.
As far as the photos, from the link you gave, some of them come from a breeder who originally said she was breeding to get the old shepherd type back. However, now she says the dogs aren't supposed to resemble the shepherd in every way, because her dogs are not shepherds. They look like shepherds though and she has bred out to malamutes, according to her own words, and out to sarplaninas according to another source. These dogs are not AKC registered. So most of those photos, the blue included, are not AKC registered shepherds.
This breeder had in the past and probably still has a very large breeding operation. According to a statement that she has made, she had over a hundred dogs in her kennels, by the late seventies and produced dozens of litters a year. She still continues to breed experimentally after more than 20 years. What I'm getting at here is I'd take whatever this woman says with a grain of salt, being as, in my opinion, someone breeding that many dogs is a puppymill. You just cannot possibly give the individual attention that is needed for puppys and adults. In most definitions of reputable breeder, those breeding large scale are not included.
Found another shepherd breed as well, which most would say looks like a shepherd and the breeder has bred out to Malamutes, Akitas and other breeds, in order to increase size.
And yet another claiming to be a pure shepherd.
http://www.pandashepherds.com/photo_gallery
They don't look purebred to me, just as others on another forum have said. However, there are those that aren't as aware, as they aren't into dogs big time, they just want a special pet, who think they look pure. And the people selling them state that they are pure and even DNA tested, so the unknowing person buys the untruths. As for the DNA, on further reading, one will find it stated that it is proven that the dog is related to the original of this color. It does not say that it proves they are pure shepherds, which at this time, DNA tests cannot prove. DNA proves nothing for sure, more than who the dogs parents are. To positively prove anything further, they would have to go back every generation and prove parentage along the way. And so I still hold that I feel sorry for those that are taken in on these untruths and or trickery, when trying to buy a dog. And so I try to educate, whenever and whereever, as much as I can.
Even if any of these dogs are pure, a reputable breeder would not be pushing them and so no one would be discounting them, as being a reputable breeder, just because they produce a blue.