High Country Collies
Breeding for Structure, Health, Temperament and Genetics
|
Breeding for Structure, Health, Temperament and Genetics
|
1. All rough collies today trace back to one collie named Trefoil. A tricolour, Trefoil was born in Ireland in 1873. You can likely trace your collie back to Trefoil using online pedigree databases if your collie is registered. Unregistered collies of course won't show up in pedigree databases, so you would hit a dead end at some point. I've traced mine back to Trefoil. They take different paths, but they do lead there. It's a fun but time consuming exercise.
2. Did you know the skin on your collie's nose is called leather? It's true! While it's not technically leather, the word is used to describe the textured layers of skin that make up the nose. One more fun fact about your dog's nose - his nose print is as unique to him as your fingerprint is to you! 3. If you've ever wanted a merle collie with blue eyes, you should know you can't breed for blue eyes. If the pigment deletion caused by the merle gene lands on the eyes, or on one eye, the puppy will be born with blue eye(s). It's purely random. 4. Did you know that blue merle collies are genetically Tricolour? Technically, they are black merles and the merle gene causes random pigment deletion of the black hair (eumalanin) so it appears silver or bluish. If they didn't have the merle gene, they would be tricolour collies. Its like they're top dressed with a beautiful blue coat! 5. Every collie likely has two copies (homozygous) of the Irish spotting gene, which is why it always breeds true. It is not testable (yet), and it creates that symmetrical white pattern on our collies' neck, chest, chin, belly, lower legs and the tip of their tail, and creates the thin white snip or blaze some collies have on their face.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
June 2023
Categories |