Have we identified the giant gene!?

After Monday’s email about the Miners litter puppies, one of our Inner Circle email subscribers wondered if I considered heavy muscling a requirement for giant size. He also wanted to know more about my thoughts on the “giant gene” being an inherited dominant.

He asked such great questions. I thought you might like to read my reply. 

When I say "the giant gene" I am making it easy for people without any genetics background. The truth is... I have no idea if there is only one gene involved or multiple somehow working together.

Yes, I agree. The double muscling gene is heavy, thick muscling. But, I do not define the presence of double muscling on its own as giant.

A 25" tall Rottweiler has double muscling, but isn't a giant size.

A 20" tall Pitbull can have heavy muscling and look bulky and muscular, but I do not consider that to be a giant dog.

In my book, a giant dog is tall (30"+), regardless of overall body structure. An IW, Great Dane, English Mastiff, giant Alaskan Malamute, etc. are all giant dogs, even though the Great Dane is skinny, lanky.

What I can tell you is that I can breed a giant dog, i.e. Baluster (30" tall), to a large sized female, Opal (27"), and get 6 out of 7 puppies in the giant-sized category. If the "giant gene" were somehow recessive, Opal would have to carry it. Technically, I don't know that she doesn't for sure, but neither of her parents were giants. Since both of her parents were purebreds in their breed, I assume none of her ancestry were giants, either.

I have bred many litters like this, but Opal's litter was different because she very likely is not carrying any giant size in her background. I can't say with the same certainty that our other dogs are not carrying giant in their background. So, until the Miner's litter, I held onto my suspicion that the "giant gene" may be dominant.

Baluster's siblings were large, but not giant. Baluster was the heaviest puppy ever born into the breed at 1 lbs 10 oz. He was also, consequently, the largest newborn puppy in overall size.

Another interesting thing to note is that Monstro is very nearly a giant in size - 29" tall, yet he has one allele for small size indentified by DNA. Embark predicted he would only reach 72 lbs as an adult. It turns out he is around 130 lbs. Quite a divergence from the DNA test's predictions. In fact, probably the largest weight gap I have ever seen from Embark. I believe it is because of the presence of whatever giant gene(s) he must also be carrying.

It appears to me to be inherited as a dominant simply because the mother was not a giant, but the father was.

Could we be tapping into recessives? Sure. It's a possibility. But, I can now predictably breed a non-giant to a giant and receive giant puppies.

Until geneticists actually find this "giant gene" (or set of genes), we can't know. But, I can accurately predict giant puppies from a non-giant parent as long as one of the parents is a giant. My theory of the "giant gene" being dominant remains unchallenged within our work, so far.

So, we shall just have to see if it continues to ring true. Perhaps the Dire Wolf Project will be able to help geneticists find the alleles responsible for giantism in dogs. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here.

To me, canine genetics is fun! I could stare of those DNA testing results for hours.

Heck, I have done that on many occasions!

Opal’s introduction into the Dire Wolf Project is very interesting. She brings so many great aspects, but also so many other traits that need to eventually be weeded out. Turning the generations from here will really give us a good idea of what lurks just under the surface in her genetic background. 

The Miners litter puppies are doing very well. They fuss vocally when they are desperate for their momma, but otherwise have been quiet. 

They are beginning to wobble around the den now. 

Their eyes are starting to open. 

One of the puppies (red collar) cried out today when I made a loud noise near the den space. That means their ears are beginning to open, as well. 

I have a good feeling that we may be able to perform the second temperament test this weekend.

Look for those results to be in your inbox on Monday. 

In the meantime, have you seen the Miners litter’s latest videos? 

If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, you really should. Don’t expect me to share all of these great videos in an email. Sheesh!

Here is the link for you:
https://youtube.com/shorts/1xa_3RojvwY?feature=share

And here they are sleeping:
https://youtube.com/shorts/rmL8URihq-o?feature=share

PS: Did you go active for this litter yet? If not, you only have just under two weeks left to do so. After that we close the waiting list to any further activity. If your name isn’t starred on the waiting list, better remind me. 
https://direwolfproject.com/direwolf-dogs/waiting-list/

PPS: If you are interested in a puppy from us, the first step is to complete the puppy adoption questionnaire so that we can get to know you better. 

https://direwolfdogs.com/puppy-application/

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.