Piebald

[crock]

What makes a piebald a piebald?

Thanks

[Cindi]

Genetics. The 's' gene has 4 alleles which control the amount of white that is expressed. SS - no white markings; SiSi is for Irish spotting which is like BostonBulls, Shelties, Basenji's (some dachshund people are calling these dogs piebald because they do occur in our breed), SpSp is the piebald allele as in Beagles, parti color cockers, bassets, etc. largely white with patches of color. And then the SwSw allele for extreme white as in Sealyham's and probably JRT's. The list of alleles is also in order of dominance.
And it is JUST A COLOR. I do NOT understand why people pay outrageous prices for dogs of unusual color....they can get sick just the same as a 'regular' color and unfortunately they are most often available from questionable breeders. JMO

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Cindi on October 21, 2001 at 07:56 PM</font>