Friday, September 11, 2009

Grizzle color in the Norwich Terrier is not Brindle

I received a comment that my “explanation of grizzle color was not correct”. I would like to clarify a few points. My posting on my blog is presented to my puppy customers and the lay person in order to differentiate the grizzle vs the brindle colored puppy that is often fraudulently or ignorantly presented by puppy mills and sellers. My concern to those looking for a puppy is that they are scammed by those selling Cairn/Cairn crosses that present the brindle gene. The point of my posting is that the Norwich breed does not display the color brindle. My posting was not intended to be a genetic educational post, nor do I claim to be an expert in canine color genetics. The posting was in fact, to assist the lay person in identifying grizzle vs brindle patterns. I have found a particular website very helpful which I offered a link, so one may see more examples and descriptions of coat color in the Norwich Terrier. “Grizzles in your breed seem to be saddlebacks too, but with that gene which turns black saddle into grizzle one. It has been suggested that it might be another A locus allele, but some breeding data suggests that it isn't, but it is in another locus. Liisa Sarakantu” Another Website: “SADDLE PATTERN The saddle pattern gene restricts dark pigment (eumelanin) to the dog's back. The rest of the coat is red. Sometimes the black saddle can have interspersed red hairs. This occurs in some terrier breeds and is known as grizzle.” The point is that canine color genetics is not a complete science yet. There is a lot of information available and yet a lot more undiscovered at this time. In the Norwich terrier, regardless of what allele or modifying gene we’re discussing, we just need to realize that a Norwich grizzle is not the same as brindle. As a breeder, I am in a constant state of learning. If a person has documented information on a subject, please email me and I’d love to discuss it with you and explore information. But I will not accept anonymous, critical, and unconstructive comments through my blog. I will not participate in unprofessional and negative interactions that are counterproductive to the thirst for knowledge and learning.