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FAWN OR YELLOW-WHITE MARKS ON BLACK MUDI/CROATIAN SHEEPDOG
In my Mudi litter, born on 21/06/96, the five pups were born perfectly black excepted some white marks. But when they
were 19 days (10/07/96), I noticed that some white hair appeared on the back side of Mester's left foreleg, and nothing
elsewhere ; the following day, I saw the same on the right foreleg, but I was sure that there was really nothing the
previous day. Then these marks increase ; it seemed strange for me, because it was not white marks, but some white, or
rather yellow-white hair was appearing more and more among black ones, it looked like grey marks that were increasing
with time. Somewhere the hair was almost completely yellow-white, in other places it was rather grey marks (white hair
among black hair). These marks increased on the front side of the forelegs, but when the pup were more than 1 month,
the same began on the front side of the hind-limbs. Some "grey-yellow" marks appeared to in the inner side of the ears.
When the pups were about 1 months, the same mechanism began to Mano front legs too. But Mano had only had some
light hair in the back side of the forelegs, and a little between the fingers, and because of that, his marks appeared
scarcely on the photos.
In the opposite, I could find much enough photos of Mester to show the modifications of the marks.
Because the marks have changed a lot. First, during a few months, they were increasing more and more, or appearing in
new places too : the four legs and the inner side of the two ears. But what a surprise when I began to notice that in some
places the hair was becoming again completely black, while in some other places the yellow-white hair was making
marks without any black hair inside. When Mester was adult, his legs were completely black but the "flag" behind the
forelegs, these two flags were completely off-white, with no more any black hair. Only a few yellow-white hair in the inner
side of the ears and on the belly could be still found.
It was strange to notice that Mano became a completely black dog excepted a yellow-white line at the back side of the
forelegs (Mano had very short "flag", it was not really a flag).
I found only two photos for Mano :
- pup (01/08/96), some yellow-white hair appeared between the fingers and in the back side.
- adult, he kept these marks.
I got more photos of Mester :
- Pup (01/08/96) the yellow-white hair was beginning to reach the front side.
- While the front marks seemed rather grey, the hair behind the leg was already yellow.
- While the "grey " marks increased on the front side of the forelegs, other marks began to appear on the hind limbs and
in the ears.
- This photo shows the marks on the 4 legs and in the ears.
- Marks are still increasing.
- Here can be seen the marks on the hind limbs.
- All the marks are still increasing (he is 4 months).
- Hair of the foreleg is more and more yellow-white in the flags but the marks on the front side were beginning to
disappear, those of the hind legs too.
- Now (he is about 7 1/2 months then 8 months) the legs are perfectly black but the flags of the forelegs.
Yellow-white hair inside the flag is increasing, from the middle part, while the hair on the outside of the flag is still black.
Mester is nearly 11 months, and his coat is almost like it will stay : black (but a white mark under the tail) with completely
off-white flags behind the forelegs, and some yellow-white hair in the inner side of the ears and on the belly.
When Mester and Mano were young, such a colour was a defect but not an eliminating defect. But since the standard
dated 2000, black with fawn or yellow-white marks and "wolf-colour", that is to say black with more or less fawn or
yellow-white marks or hair (fawn or yellow-white hair can be lying among black hair without making a delimited mark) are
eliminating defects.
Although the standard dated 1969 of the Croatian Sheepdog doesn't write that all colours excepted black (with some
white marks) are eliminating defects, it must be considered so - the standard doesn't mention this probably because that
this is such an obviousness in one hand, and probably too because in an other hand other colours didn't appear or
scarcely. The standard says first that "the base colour is black", that could be ambiguous, but in the part about the hair, it
is written that the base colour of the hair is black, and immediately the explanation follows : some white marks can be
found on this black coat. Only white marks under the throat and the chest and on the feet are allowed, while all marks on
the head, the body and the tail are eliminating defects (white marks on the legs are more ambiguous). Although the
standard doesn't write this with precision, how could it be imagined that any other colour than black couldn't be an
eliminating defect when only a white mark on the head, on the body (but the throat and the chest) or the tail is an
eliminating defect ?
Of course white marks and yellow-white marks are not the same, and even very light yellow-white marks on the chest or
the feet are eliminating defect, because white marks and yellow-white marks don't come at all from the same genes.
I will use the acronyms and the informations of "Génétique et sélection chez le chien", Pr Bernard Denis, Pratique
Médicale et Chirurgicale de l'Animal de Compagnie, Société des Sciences Naturelles de l'Ouest de la France).
White marks come from S locus, and a white mark on the adult was still here when he was just born (sometimes it can't
be seen if it is too little, but when the pup grows, the white mark appears). Like in other breeds, in the Mudi/Croatian
Sheepdog too, some pups have white marks that disappear when they are a little older.
Yellow-white colour come from fawn with genes that make the colour lighter (d or cch). So the dogs with yellow-white
colour have genes that gives fawn colour, and also d or cch).
atat gives a black coat with fawn (or yellow-white) colour on the feet, some parts of the head, etc, like in the Dobermann
for example. This colour appears at birth.
B. Denis uses the acronym A+ but it is often called Ay, although there's too the possibility than both exist (and even an
other). I will keep A+ and no Ay.
A+A+ gives a coat with both black hair and fawn (or yellow-white) hair, but also hair with both black and fawn on the same
hair-sprig (like in the German Sheepdog for example), so the result can be very different from a dog to another - from a
breed to another too.
A+at can exist too, and that is sometimes difficult to know exactly how is the A locus in dogs with black and more or less
fawn or yellow-white hair ...
In the case of my Mester and Mano, the facts that they were born black (but white marks) and that yellow-white hair
appeared later and that the coat changed a lot during the growth, all this makes me think that they were A+A+, (or
perhaps A+at according to Mester because of the places of the marks - the end of the legs and the inner side of the ear).
So in the Mudi/Croatian Sheepdog, fawn or yellow-white hair on black coat is an eliminating defect. In the case of atat, the
colour appears at birth, and the breeders know ; but in the case of A+ action, pups can be not completely black at birth,
but they can also be completely black during the first weeks, then appears some light hair among black hair, more and
more etc. Like Mester's coat shows, some fawn or yellow-white hair can disappear, and no one can know how will be the
adult dog's coat. It seems difficult to hope that a dog who has shown a coat with more or less fawn or yellow-white hair
will ever become again completely black - although of course nobody can ever know ... - , fawn appears in some places
and then increases and stays, or disappears a few months later, but some other fawn hair can be found in new places ...
It isn't simple at all.
In any case, when some fawn or yellow-white hair had appeared on a black coat, even if it has disappeared later, that
means that the dog is A+A+ (or A+at), so he must not be used in breeding. Because an A+A+ dog (black with more or
less fawn) will give one A+ to ALL his offspring (100%), so the eliminating defect will spread in the breed. In the same
way, an A+at dog will give A+ to 50% of his offspring, and at to the other 50%, that is too say 100% eliminating defect
gene !
What about the parents and the brothers/sisters of a dog with black and more or less fawn or yellow-white hair ?
If he is A+A+, that means that both parents are AsA+ (it is supposed that they are both black without fawn) ; such a sire or
dam (so AsA+) that is mated with a black dam or sire without black and fawn/yellow-white gene (that is to say without A+
nor at, so such a dog is AsAs) will give statistically for 50% AsAs offspring ( black dogs that will never give fawn hair in
their offspring) and for 50% AsA+ offspring (black dogs who could give black with fawn/yellow-white hair coats in their
offspring).
When both parents are AsA+, statistically offspring is so : 1/4 A+A+ (black with fawn/yellow-white hair), 1/2 AsA+ (black
without fawn/yellow-white hair, but they can have offspring with this colour) and 1/4 AsAs (black without fawn/yellow-white
hair, but they can't have offspring with such colour). So black brothers or sisters can have (1/2) or not (1/4) genes giving
this colour to their offspring.
The mechanism is exactly the same for atat.
If the black with fawn/yellow-white hair dog is A+at, that means that one of his (supposed black) parents is AsA+ and the
other Asat, so the litter is statistically : 1/4 AsAs (black dog that will never give any fawn/yellow-white colour to his
offspring), 1/4 AsA+ (black dog who can give pups becoming black with fawn/yellow-white hair), 1/4 Asat (black dog who
can give pups that are black with fawn/yellow-white marks at birth), and 1/4 A+at (black with fawn/yellow-white hair dog).
12/05/06
Isabelle Coquinot
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