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Issue #5 Volume #3

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Revisiting Little's 'A' Locus


By: Patricia Weissleader, lizardha@sprynet.com

"The Inheritance of Coat Colors in Dogs" was first published in 1957. I got my copy, an eighth printing, in 1984. Although there have been sporadic works done on coat colors, this text remains the definitive work on understanding what genes are responsible for how your dog looks and how the genes interact, or is it? After carefully recording the information from my own breed, I found that the patterns given by Little may not apply at all. I will concentrate on the factors that he claims for the 'A' locus and what I found in my lines concerning those traits.

Little's basic system was to assume the basic standard was a solid black, unmarked dog. The dominant allele he assigns to a locus is capitalized and assumed to be the dark solid dog that is unaffected by the changes the other allele choices at that locus could bring. At the 'A' locus, he has designated the dominant allele as 'As. The next allele is av. This allele allows the black to be lightened to a uniform coat of sable or tan. The third allele is at, which allows the black and tan pattern. Little remarks that the tan or sable color is reduced from black and is the lighter color in a two color dog, what ever the two colors are, but the sable or tan is not to be confused with yellow or red allowed by some other genes. It is difficult at times to assign his colors since another locus reduces the black to 'chocolate' or 'liver'.

The last allele Little mentions as a 'possible' one for this locus is aw. this designates the wild or 'agouti' hair, allowing the hair to be bi-colored or banded in whatever part of a solid dog or patterned dog they fill. Hutt later removed the aw allele from the A locus, but since he didn't put it anywhere else, he didn't clarify things for the person trying to figure out their dog.

I was examining three litters for various traits in order to find out how some factors were being passed on in the line when I realized that something was wrong. A dog should get one allele for each locus from each parent, making the total two. I assumed that if 'As' was present, it prevented the other allele, if different, from being expressed. All that meant was that a dog was solid black or it was not. If 'As' were not present, it would be possible for two alleles to be expressed if they were incompletely dominant, but theoretically one allele would be expressed and the other hidden.

However, many of the dogs I was studying were expressing all three of the 'a' alleles! In one litter I had a dog that was bicolor and was brown and tan. His dark hair was banded, starting as chocolate then lightening then darkening again. Another in the litter was also bicolor in the familiar pattern, but her hair was blond with dark tips. A third pup had similar markings but instead of tipped hair, she had black and tan hairs mixed together, but individually uniform from root to tip.

The rest of the litter were black dogs without tan but with the 'Irish spotting' pattern caused by another allele. The white areas were covering about 20% of the dogs. I noticed that Irish spotting was greatly reduced in the brown dogs, and visible on less than 1% of their body area. I worked out the ratios of the various patterns and here is what I feel is indicated by the results:

  • the dominance of the solid black dog as a standard is hypothetical, especially since this gene assignment marks the dog as solid black even when it has the Irish spotting pattern and is really black and white.

  • the black and tan pattern may be assigned as an alternate allele to the solid black dog for convenience, but I think that it ought to have a locus of it's own until it is proven that this allele is suppressed by the 'As', and actually being affected by it. In my opinion it is not.

The presence or absence of the bicolor pattern is more likely to be a simple mendelian ratio. But different colors in the bicolor pattern affect other locus patterns. If the top color is black, it allows Irish spotting to extend its self. If the top color is brown it restricts the Irish spotting to a minimum. Spots and specks on the animal's skin were also reduced or eliminated by the reduction of black to brown. the lack of the saddle design in the bicolor pattern seemed to allow the Irish spotting to define a pattern which divided the black into areas, typically going around the neck and down the center of the head and around the muzzle.

The 'aw' or 'wild hair' seemed to be a locus of it's own. The trait was passed as either banded hairs, mixed colors, or later growth resulting in a permanent color change, but all these traits affected the same areas on a dog. the trait could be inherited by either a black or brown dog but seemed almost certain in a bicolor dog. another hair color change that is probably related to only the brown dog (reduced from black by the 'av' allele) was the presence of a tan undercoat in the flank area under black hair.

Two other color patterns were noticed. in two pups there was red hair that dominated parts of the bicolor 'tan' areas, and in black dogs with the least extension of the bicolor pattern, the tan on the legs became a dusty gray.

I would like to put together a tentative chart for the possible new patterns of the supposed alleles at the A locus and get feedback from other dog owners on how the patterns appear in their breeds.

Pygmy Goat Care


By: Gary K., goatfolk@swbell.net

Gary is the owner of Gary's Goats of Bucyrus, KS. This is a condensed version of "Care and Feeding of Your Pygmy Goat" which is given out with each Pygmy Goat sold by Gary.

Here are some items to keep in mind if you plan to purchase a Pygmy Goat. Try to plan for the arrival of your goat. Make sure that the area you plan to use for your goat is well protected from any dogs or other animals that may harm your goat. Normally a 4 foot high fence (2x4 field wire or chain link works best) will be sufficient to keep your goats in and dogs out. We also have 4x4-field fence that I have added 24" of chicken wire to the bottom to keep goats from getting their heads caught in the fence, keeping babies from walking through the fence, and keeping dogs from biting a goats nose that might be sticking through.

Make sure that there are no items for the goat to jump on to assist it in jumping over the fence. Place all play items such as stumps, well away from the fence. A pen that is 6ft by 10ft should be big enough for two goats but I always say the bigger the better. Be sure that you put some items in the pen for the goat to play on , they love to climb stumps, and logs or wooden platforms. KEEP IT SAFE. Don't allow any item in their pen that they could get their hoof, leg or head caught in.

Housing

The housing in this part of the U.S. (Kansas) should be fully enclosed with a southern exposure. No leaks or drafts should be able to enter the house. There do need to be vents in the roof of the house to allow for gasses to escape. Urine and dung put off an ammonia type of gas that is harmful to the goat. Keep the house and pen as clean as you can to keep your goat healthy and happy. Goats also love to sleep up off the ground on a sleeping bench. A simple 2x4 frame bench with plywood on top raised off the ground 12" or so would work great.

Water

Goats suck the water up like a horse. They do not lap it like a dog. Goats need to have clean cool water always available to them. A goat's body is over 80% water so it is an important item in their existence. Water should be clean with nothing floating on top. If the water feels or smells bad, replace it. Water left in the sun will grow algae. Keep the water fresh. The water container should be cleaned with chlorine at least once a week and rinsed. Self-watering floats work great in the summer time. In the winter you will need a de- icer to keep the water from freezing. Make sure that the cord to the de-icer is inside a PVC plastic pipe so the goats cannot chew on it.

Feed

Goats are ruminants, meaning they have a 4-compartment stomach like a cow. A goat will eat grass, grain, etc. at a rapid pace and then go back to a safe place and re-chew their "cud". A goat that is left unattended will eat dog/cat food or anything else and will fill up their first stomach. Many a goat has died from bloat by not being able to bring up large amounts of food that they were allowed to over eat. We feed a sweet grain mixture at a rate of 1 pound to 100 pounds of animal. Example, if your goat pet weighs 25 pounds they only need 1/4 pound of food a day NO MORE. Feed rates vary for breeding does and severe cold weather conditions but in general Hay and water are all that they really need.

Hay

We feed brome hay. Try to locate a supplier that has good leafy hay that smells good. Feed hay in a feeder off the ground. Feeding a goat off the ground is not a healthy way of managing goats. Again, make sure that the hay feeder is not something that they can get their heads caught in. Do not store your hay outside. Wet hay grows mold and mold causes sick goats. Hay in the sun will lose most of it's nutrient value.

Mineral Block

Do not use a horse or cow mineral block for goats. They contain too much copper. Copper is toxic to goats. There are blocks that are "special sheep and goat blocks" that you should use. Keep these off the ground as well because they suck up moisture and mold. Keep them dry and replace them before they get in to small chunks that a goat can choke on.

Hoof Care

Hoof need to be trimmed to keep the outer part of the hoof from growing over the bottom of the hoof. Pruning shears can be used to cut the hoof and the heel and a file is used to file a nice flat surface that the goat can walk on. Goats do not get "hoof rot" as easily as sheep but it is a concern so keep the hoof flat and it will keep itself clean.

In closing, a goat that is allowed to run free is just an accident waiting to happen. An unsupervised goat will chew on just about anything both good and bad. Some plants are toxic to goats and will kill them. Dog and cat food are things that the goat will seek out and over eat, bloat and die. Dogs will chase goats to death and then chew on them. IT HAPPENS!!

Your goat is YOUR responsibility. It trusts you with it's safety. Do your job to keep your goat healthy and happy and it will reward you with hours of running and jumping and love in return.


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