SearchA question about albinos
I have been doing a lot of research on all aspects of the Doberman breed lately, temperament, genetics, history, etc etc. It's just sort of a nerdy thing I do when I become really interested in something - research the heck out of it. Anyways, my question is this. Say a highly reputable breeder who does not in any way support the breeding of Albinistic Dobermans and would not dream of breeding a z-factor dobe has a new litter of puppies, and one of the pups is white. What does the breeder do then? Do they register the whole litter as being z-factor, and update the status of the dam and sire as having the Z-gene as well? What about any previous litters that might have been conceived by either the sire or the dam?
By all means feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I have read it is not possible at this time to test a doberman to see if they are genetically affected - all we have to go on are the lists that have been kept. Which means that theoretically it is entirely possible for this to happen.
It may seem like kind of a random question, there are no intentions behind it other than honest curiosity and a desire to learn all I can about the breed.
Sorry sweet pea I can't answer your questions either (Although very good questions :D)
Just wanted to say.....I'm exactly the same!!! lol When I get into something....I really get into it! LOL
Looking forward to what the breeders on the forum have to say :)
Sian
All I can say is that if it happened to me, I'd spay the dam, I'd make sure every puppy was spayed/neutered before placement and I'd highly suggest that the sire be neutered too if I didn't own him. I'd register the litter, and make sure the national breed club was aware of the situation.
Hmm, ok. Thanks for the answer Glengate. I'm sure the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, I just wondered what a breeder would do in that situation. I am assuming it would depend on the breeder as well.
It's an interesting question, so far as registration goes. I assume one can look for the DNA marker for Albinism in Dobermans? That was it could be determined if it was the sire or the dam (though I guess it would have to be both for it to display, yes? My genetics are from 6th grade), I don't know if the whole litter would be required to be registered as Z factored or not; I would guess yes.
If it previousely hadn't shown up in the pedigree, it might be an environmental problem, rather than a genetic one. For instance, pretty much the only animal mutation in the Chernobyl excusion zone is Albinism in barn swallows (link to the abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11761068). I don't know how possible this is to relate to Dobermans and really, it might just be my nuclear paranoia talking.
I'm the same way sweetpea... I research the heck out of EVERYTHING... lol...
I saw a post about this somewhere... I can't find it though... I'll keep lookin!!
Covers everything you would ever want to know about Albino Dobermans.
The AKC has a registry marker that denotes if the sire or dam carries the albino gene with a "Z" in the number... so its a WZ litter number.
The only way that this could happen with AKC registered dogs if somehow both parents managed to escape the Z list... highly unlikely and improbable, and the only way a dog can be born ergo "Appear" albino is it if carries both genes for albinism.
" Further breedings have proved that the albino variant in dobermans is inherited as a simple recessive trait. Therefore, all albino dogs must carry two copies of the recessive gene, cc in order to appear albinistic."
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Sorry, can't help. I've never bred any of my dogs XD Hope you find your answer though, sweetpea :)