Did we find a NEW GENETIC DISCOVERY?!

As you know, we DNA test every single puppy born into the Dire Wolf Project.

We have been doing this for years now.

There are many reasons why we do this.

Here are a few I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Scientific proof we do not, nor have we ever, bred wolf content into our dog breed.
2. To monitor the 250 (and growing) known canine genetic health issues.
3. To track the known recessive traits in the breed.
4. To collect haplotype ancestry data in order to keep genetic diversity high.
5. To acquire genetic coefficient of inbreeding (COI) and immune diversity data.
6. To help improve genetic research in dogs to contribute to the overall improved health of the entire species.

Well, because we DNA test every single puppy born into the Dire Wolf Project…

We may have just found a NEW genetic discovery!

For those of you who are new to canine coat color genetics, geneticists have been able to identify many specific coat color traits in dogs.

Scientists can know, based on DNA tests alone, whether a dog has:

1. blue eyes or brown
2. white spotting or solid coloration
3. liver dilute or blue dilute
4. predicted adult weight based on five genes associated with size
5. natural bob tail or long tail
6. dwarfism
7. normal muzzle length or brachiocephalic
8. feathering (long silky hair between toes and behind legs and ears)
9. furnishings (long whiskers)
10. recessive red (like a Golden Retriever or white German Shepherd Dog)

Before we proceed, let me give you a mini Genetics 101 review.

• Dominant means only one parent needs to contribute the gene for it to appear.
• Recessive means both parents need to contribute the gene for it to appear, otherwise it is hidden.

I bet you remember that from your high school genetics days.

That being said, Challenger presents a HUGE genetic quandary.

That’s because…

Challenger does NOT fit the above definition!

Challenger is a piebald in color (meaning extreme white spotting), but DOES NOT have the known genetic conditions for such an appearance.

White spotting (piebald) is a known genetic color pattern.

Geneticists use shorthand (sp) - short for spotting - to describe it.

Solid coloration is also a known genetic color pattern.

Geneticists use shorthand (S) - short for solid - to describe it.

Challenger’s father, Cookie Monster, is a carrier for white spotting.

It looks like this: S/sp

Challenger’s mother, Syrenka, is homozygous for solid coloration (not a carrier for white spotting).

It looks like this: S/S

When we use a Punnett square to determine ALL of the possible combinations in any offspring from this match, we find the following:

50% S/S (solid coloration)

50% S/sp (solid coloration w/ white spotting held in the recessive)

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY (according to the known DNA) that Challenger can show extreme white spotting.

Which would look like this: sp/sp

Yet… here he is.

As pretty and unique as he could be.

Which can only mean ONE THING!

There must be an UNKNOWN gene, never before recorded, causing Challenger’s extreme white spotting.

Here is what the extensive “Dog Coat Colour Genetics” site has to say on this very topic:

“So far all extreme white dogs that have undergone genetic testing have been shown to be homozygous for the piebald gene (spsp), just like the piebalds in the section above. However, as there is a fairly large difference between those dogs and the ones shown below, it is possible there is something else going on to cause the high white. In breeds with both true irish spotting and piebald the high white may simply be caused by the interaction between homozygous irish spotting and homozygous piebald (e.g. the Sheltie). In other breeds the cause is less obvious and has led some people to postulate a further S allele - sw. However, no evidence has yet been found for the existence of sw, on the S locus at least.”

If you are a genetics nerd like me, and you want to read more about white spotting in dogs, here is the Dog Coat Colour Genetics website.

It’s addicting. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/white.htm

Anyway, we’ll be looking into this phenomenon further to find out how Challenger has such extreme white spotting when it appears to be genetically impossible.

The first step will be to DNA test him.

Perhaps a mistake was made in the DNA test of one of the parents.

It’ll be very interesting to find out!

But that’s just another reason to love the Dire Wolf Project.

We remain on the cutting edge of canine genetics research, in order to move dog breeding forward into the future.

See Challenger and all of his siblings on our YouTube channel:

https://youtube.com/shorts/G2wx6Y9xkfs

While you’re there, subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss any of our updated videos.

And if you’re curious about all those DNA tests we do for every puppy born into the breed, here is a link to our DNA database. ENJOY!

https://direwolfproject.com/direwolf-dogs/our-health-foundation/dna-health-database/

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.