White Dobermans and Cremello Horses...

[sillysally]

This was posted on another board I frequent (the blogger is a member there), and I thought I would share. It's interesting and I was curious about the reactions of those who know more about dog genetics than I do...

http://equinetapestry.com/2014/01/more-albino-dogs/

 

[SizzleDog]

An interesting read.

The last paragraph states that a genetic test to identify the "white" mutation in Dobermans, but at least in the U.S. that isn't needed. All instances of "white" Dobermans can be traced back to that one bitch mentioned in the article. The AKC registers all descendants with the "WZ" prefix, so we know which dogs are related to the bitch and which aren't.

"White" doesn't pop up in non-Z litters.

"White" Dobermans not only often have problems with their skin and vision, but most of them have pisspoor temperaments as well.

 

[sillysally]

Out of curiosity, is it possible that the temperament and health issues have more to do with the BYBs being the primary breeders of these dogs (I'm assuming since the color is out of standard) rather than there being an actual link to the color? In other words, could these dogs' normal colored siblings have the same issues but they are just not noted (or just writen off as being badly bred dogs) because they are not white?

I'm guess I'm kind of thinking about how chocolate labs are said to have issues, when the issue have less to do with the fact that they are chocolate and more to do with the fact that the color is super popular with BYBs.

 

[noludoru]

Out of curiosity, is it possible that the temperament and health issues have more to do with the BYBs being the primary breeders of these dogs (I'm assuming since the color is out of standard) rather than there being an actual link to the color? In other words, could these dogs' normal colored siblings have the same issues but they are just not noted (or just writen off as being badly bred dogs) because they are not white?

I'm guess I'm kind of thinking about how chocolate labs are said to have issues, when the issue have less to do with the fact that they are chocolate and more to do with the fact that the color is super popular with BYBs.

Probably. I've met some super nice ones through rescue.

 

[SizzleDog]

Out of curiosity, is it possible that the temperament and health issues have more to do with the BYBs being the primary breeders of these dogs (I'm assuming since the color is out of standard) rather than there being an actual link to the color? In other words, could these dogs' normal colored siblings have the same issues but they are just not noted (or just writen off as being badly bred dogs) because they are not white?

I'm guess I'm kind of thinking about how chocolate labs are said to have issues, when the issue have less to do with the fact that they are chocolate and more to do with the fact that the color is super popular with BYBs.

Perhaps. But as a rule, the albinos we get in rescue are waaaay worse than the other colors... and I volunteer for a very large Doberman rescue that does pull dogs from all over the region. The temperament issues we see seem to be a combination of poor breeding and poor sight, as well as something that is just... off. As for health, we see a ton of skin cancer with the albinos, compared to almost never in the other colors. IMO, that is linked to the albinism.

Don't get me wrong, I have met a handful of nice albinos. But the majority of them are not anything I'd be willing to have in my home.