Double Dappled Dachshund
A genetic Disorder
History
Dappling is a splotchy coat pattern found in the Dachshund dog breed. It is often referred to 'Merle' in other dog breeds such as in Great Danes, Australian Shepards, and the Collie. Dappling pattern can be found all over the body or just in a few spots. It is caused by a dominant allele for the trait and results in an unpredictable spotted pattern. When two Dappled Dachshunds breed, the result is a Double Dappled Dachshund.
Why is this a problem?
The combination of two dapple genes can be lethal and often causes:
-Blindness
-Deafness
-Birth defects
-Microphthalmia (an abnormally small eye)
-Sterility
-Impaired sperm production
Genetic Transmission
-Double Dapple is the result of both the mother and father giving the pup a dapple gene
-Where the two genes overlap, the dachshund with have white fur. Everywhere else will be dappled
- The allele for dapple is dominant over the non-dapple allele
- Dapple Dachshunds have recessive genes for blindness and deafness, so when two Dapples are cross-bred, the pups have a high risk of attaining both disorders
Birth Defects
1.
Microphthalmia- Birth defect in which one or both eyes are smaller than normal
2.
This Double Dappled dachshund lost her vision and hearing due to this genetic disorder
3.
Double Dappled Dachshund born without eyes
How it works
Why would anyone do this?
- Simple ignorance- many breeders don't take the time to learn the basic genetics of the animals they are crossing
- Genetic background may be unknown- although most of the time the dapple trait is a physical trait, some dapples coloring is washed out and less visible
- For the Show Ring- The Double Dappled Dachshund is a stunning patern to have on a show dog. Many owners purposley cross-breed Dappled Dachshunds together to create a show ring dog- despite all the risks.
- Greed- Since the gene for this trait is dominant, a Double Dappled Dachshund can only produce dappled offspring. Dappled dogs are often sold for much higher prices than non-dappled so many breeders want to take advantage of this.
Prevention
*add ways to prevent