.com Forum · Dachshund

Hey Guys!
I said I’d put this “How to guide” together to help everyone figure out how to breed the colour, coat type and pattern that they want. I’ll have to do it over a few days – it’s a BIG job – but I’ll start with coat type and pattern.
Just an explaination about masking traits – some traits from certain loci (ie Wirehair) will mask the affects of others (ie smooth and long coat) – the easiest way to explain this is a car You’ve bought a car which is white, but decide to paint it black straight over the white – everyone who sees the car thinks it is black but really underneath all that paint, it is really a white car. The black paint masking the white, just like wirehair masks smooth and longhair.

Coat Type

How to breed Wirehair

W locus – “WW, Ww” – wirehair dog, “ww” – allows expression of L locus (ie smooth or long)

In order to have wirehair offspring one of the parents must be wirehair. It is a dominant trait (like dapple) so it cannot be carried – all animals which are genetically wirehair will be shown as a wirehair. It masks the L locus – so a wirehair must be carrying longhair or smooth underneath the wirehair coat. Breeding to a wirehair will introduce the coat type into your lines – and by avoiding breeding to wirehairs or only breeding to wirehairs that carry the recessive allele will help to remove these from your lines.

How to breed Smooth and Long

L locus – “LL, Ll” Smooth dog, “ll” longhair but must be “ww” on the W locus to show.

The easiest way to produce smoothies and longhairs is to breed to smooth and longhair animals only – smooth is dominant over longhair but will be masked by wirehair. Breeding to wirehairs can get tricky but if you know that they are carrying the recessive allele, breeding to a smooth/long will produce half wires and half smooth/long. Wire to wire may produce the occasional longhair/smooth pup but isn’t going to get you anywhere fast.

Coat Pattern

How to Breed Dapple

M locus – “MM” – Double Dapple, “Mm” – Dapple, “mm” – normal

This is a dominant condition, which cannot be carried and all animals which have the gene will express it. Double dapple is a deleterious condition in real life, and may one day be penalized in the game but at this time there is no consequences for these dogs (IN THE GAME!). For any offspring to be dapple, one parent must be dapple. If the parent is double dapple, all offspring will be dapple. Breeding dapple into and out of lines is relatively easy once you have dapple dogs to use as it shown in all affected offspring.

How to Breed Brindle

E locus – “EE, Eebr, Ee” – expression of A locus with no brindle pattern, “ebrebr, ebre” – brindle patterning in red/cream areas of A locus, “ee” – recessive red, red with no black hairs – is grouped under “solid red” in this model.

Brindle (ebr) is recessive to “E” (normal) but dominant over recessive red (just classed in Red). The way the model was put together any brindle dog must not be dapple or sable/wildboar (ayay, ayat), but any of these patterns may be carrying brindle. Brindle to brindle may produce red/cream but only via the “recessive red” clause, meaning they may be carrying bicolour as well (ie black and tan) – but any red/cream offspring from brindle to brindle can only be recessive reds/creams.

How to Breed Solids, Wildboar/Sable and Bicolours

A locus – “asas,asay, asat” – Solid red/cream, “ayay, ayat” – Wildboar/Sable, “atat” – bicolour

Solid is dominant over wildboar/sable which is dominant over bicolour (ie black and tan). Remember wildboar is genetically a patterning in SHs and WHs but considered to be a colour by the AKC – just to be confusing – so you can have wildboar dapples etc. Also, sable is only found in LHs but is controlled by the same alleles as wildboar – easier to consider it the same colour/pattern genetically.

Solid red/cream parents (meaning both parents) can produce both wildboar/sable and bicolour offspring. Wildboar/sable parents can produce wildboar/sable and bicolour offspring but bicolour parents can only produce bicolour offspring unless offspring are “ee”- recessive red (rare).

Breeding a homozygous solid (“asas”) to any other pattern will ensure solid offspring, but solid carriers of other patterns (ie “asay”) may produce offspring of other patterns. So to reduce the incidence of solid, breed out to other patterns (will use bicolour as an example) and then put back those offspring to bicolours – will be ~ half solid and half bicolour pups.

BUMP

Coat Colour

This is partially dependant on the A locus – see above – I’ll start with “as-“ dogs which will be red or cream. Cream is called Wheaton in WHs but I’m being simple and just calling it cream .

How to Breed Reds/Creams

If the dog has at least one copy of “as” then the coat colour is dependant only on the C locus.
C locus – “CC,Ccch” – Full red pigmentation (Red), “cchcch” – diluted red pigmentation (cream)

Cream parents will only have cream or cream bicolour offspring but red parents may have red, cream or either tan or cream bicolour offspring. Bicolours of any description will not produce a red or cream (unless recessive red pops up but it is UNLIKELY). If you want creams – breed to a cream – breeding red to red may occasionally pop up a cream but not often enough to make it worthwhile.

How to Breed Bicolours

By “bicolour” (I borrowed a term from the cat world – sorry if it’s incorrect), I mean tan or cream pointed (ie Black and Tan). These dogs must have “atat” at the A locus to show points. What colours are seen on the animal are determined by several loci. C locus works the same as above. There is interaction between B and D loci which affects colour seen.

D locus – “DD,Dd” – non diluted colour, “dd” - dilution
If “DD or Dd” on D locus B locus – “BB,Bb” – Black, “bb” – chocolate
If “dd” on D locus B locus – “BB,Bb” – Blue, “bb” – Isabella

SO…
How to Breed Black/Chocolate and Tan/Cream

Bicolour dogs will (for the most part) only produce bicolour pups – breed a solid to a bicolour and then offspring together to provide bicolour stock. Most likely bicolour dogs are blk/tan – breeding blk/tan to a choc/tan and then breeding the offspring together should provide choc/tan stock from a “BB” blk/tan. Adding a cream pointed or cream dog will introduce the cream points if desired.

How to Breed Blue/Isabella and Tan/Cream

To produce these colours, a dog must have 2 recessive alleles – “dd”- on D locus. The fastest way of producing these colours would be to introduce the “d” allele by breeding to a blue/tan to blk/tan and then breeding the offspring together to produce blue stock. Isabella may be produced by breeding a blue/tan to a choc/tan and then the offspring together. Adding a cream pointed or cream dog will introduce the cream points if desired.

Questions?? Comments?? I'll put up how to evaluate what alleles a dog maybe/is carrying sometime in the near future too.....

This is freaking awesome... thank you!!

Ah so this is the famous "How to breed for *insert color here* guide," that you were PMing me about! It's great! Thank you.

Very much appreciated.

Anna <333

Thanks so much.

June

Bump for color breeding reference.

Bump.

Bumpity

Alexandria

Bump

Wow! Thanks! If linlin hadn't bumped this I don't think I would have ever found it. This is going to be so helpful!
Mack

You're welcome . Best of luck in your breeding!