Dual Sired Litters
The possibility of having a dual-sired litter, a litter bred with two males, is appealing . Female dogs release multiple eggs during ovulation and are thus capable of conceiving every time they mate during this period. In theory, the female can throw pups from what would otherwise be two litters, from only one pregnancy and whelping. This is less stressful on the dam and breeder. A breeder with a focused program can monitor pups with different sires side by side throughout their whelping to better evaluate offspring and the Nature vs. Nurture effect. From a purely evolutionary perspective it makes sense for a female dog to mate with multiple males and let the best sperm win. A litter with diverse genetics is more likely to have survivors than a litter with all the same genetics.
However, the reality is there is a chance all or nearly all of the puppies may be from one sire and none or only one from the second. So, we cannot guarantee you a specific coat color with this particular litter.
How will we know which male sired a puppy?
This is where the genetics get exciting! I will attempt to simplify this as much as possible; If this part interests you, please visit http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/; The author of this site can explain it much better than I can on this single page.
How Copies of Genes Exhibit as Traits
A red coat is a recessive trait, meaning a dog must carry two copies of that trait for it to show up (we call it "expression"). If a Red and another Red breed, they both pass on one copy of their red coat trait to the puppy. Puppy gets two copies of red and BOOM- Red Puppy!
The alternative color to red is black, which is dominant to red meaning if they've got one red copy and one black copy, you have Black dog. Therefore, if you breed Black dog to Red dog, Puppy inherits a red copy from one parent and a black copy from the other- guess which color Puppy will be? Black!
Now here, Puppy will still have a copy of red- you just don't see it. This is why breeders test coat traits, so we know what's hidden in their genes. Black can be expressed with only one copy present (it doesn't need two, like red does), so if Black dad has a red copy hidden in his genes, there is a 50% chance he could pass on red to Puppy. If that same puppy has a Red mom (remember, two red copies) then the puppy could receive TWO red copies- one from Black and one from Red. THEN, Puppy is red!
How Does this Relate to Ginnie's Litter?
GINNIE is a red dog and has two copies of red
JACKSON is a red dog and has two copies of red
REMINGTON is a black dog and has two copies of black.
A Ginne/Jackson puppy will get red copies from both parents and will be RED.
A Ginnie/Remington puppy will get a red copy from Ginnie and a black copy from Remington. And what do we now know about the red/black combination? Black is dominant. All Ginnie/Remington puppies will be BLACK!
Why Deliberately Breed to a Black Dog?
We love Remington's coat traits! Just like red is recessive to black, he has some other things hidden in his genes that we would like to retain for our program.
Black puppies are hard to photograph, but trust me- in person, these dogs have the most beautiful coats.
However, the reality is there is a chance all or nearly all of the puppies may be from one sire and none or only one from the second. So, we cannot guarantee you a specific coat color with this particular litter.
How will we know which male sired a puppy?
This is where the genetics get exciting! I will attempt to simplify this as much as possible; If this part interests you, please visit http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/; The author of this site can explain it much better than I can on this single page.
How Copies of Genes Exhibit as Traits
A red coat is a recessive trait, meaning a dog must carry two copies of that trait for it to show up (we call it "expression"). If a Red and another Red breed, they both pass on one copy of their red coat trait to the puppy. Puppy gets two copies of red and BOOM- Red Puppy!
The alternative color to red is black, which is dominant to red meaning if they've got one red copy and one black copy, you have Black dog. Therefore, if you breed Black dog to Red dog, Puppy inherits a red copy from one parent and a black copy from the other- guess which color Puppy will be? Black!
Now here, Puppy will still have a copy of red- you just don't see it. This is why breeders test coat traits, so we know what's hidden in their genes. Black can be expressed with only one copy present (it doesn't need two, like red does), so if Black dad has a red copy hidden in his genes, there is a 50% chance he could pass on red to Puppy. If that same puppy has a Red mom (remember, two red copies) then the puppy could receive TWO red copies- one from Black and one from Red. THEN, Puppy is red!
How Does this Relate to Ginnie's Litter?
GINNIE is a red dog and has two copies of red
JACKSON is a red dog and has two copies of red
REMINGTON is a black dog and has two copies of black.
A Ginne/Jackson puppy will get red copies from both parents and will be RED.
A Ginnie/Remington puppy will get a red copy from Ginnie and a black copy from Remington. And what do we now know about the red/black combination? Black is dominant. All Ginnie/Remington puppies will be BLACK!
Why Deliberately Breed to a Black Dog?
We love Remington's coat traits! Just like red is recessive to black, he has some other things hidden in his genes that we would like to retain for our program.
- He is a Parti poodle, which means he has white spotting. His puppies will also have bits of white on the feet, chest, and chin!
- He carries for the color brown! Ginnie does, as well, so we could possibly get brown puppies from him with white chest, chin, and feet!
- He carries for tan points, which are the same light brown markings you see on Rottweilers, Dobermans, and some Dachshunds. Combined with other genes, this can also be expressed as tri-color, in a coat pattern similar to Swiss Mountain Dogs and Australian shepherds.
Black puppies are hard to photograph, but trust me- in person, these dogs have the most beautiful coats.
