AUSTRALIAN TERRIER COLOR THOUGHTS ON by ALEXA SAMAROTTO
C ongratulations to the Austra- lian Terrier Club of America on its 50th Anniversary! We have come a long way in our status in the Terrier group and the breed deserves it. I should know, I acquired my first Aussie puppy in 1963 and have been a fan ever since. The breed has never disappointed me and we who own them know we have something special. Besides its personal- ity, utility, hardiness and versatility, the Australian Terrier is a beautiful breed. Yes, beautiful and in this essay, I would like to offer some thoughts on one key aspect of type that is uniquely Aussie: its color. While some may not equate this quality with conformation, struc- ture, temperament, it is clear that the Australian founders of the breed intend- ed to produce a particular set of colors which are intrinsic to Aussie type and lend beauty to the overall appearance. I would like to share my thoughts about two books I have come across over the years which have informed some of my opinions and still keep me thinking, learning and analyzing even more. The first, Mr. W. A. (Fred) Wheat- land‘s book, The Australian Terrier and The Australian Silky Terrier , pub- lished in 1964, has been known to most of us for some time; the second book, discussed below, is a more recent acqui- sition for me, although I have known of it for a long time as well. Let’s quote from the Australian Stan- dard as presented by Fred Wheatland in his book. Standard from 1896: Colour • Blue or grey body, tan on legs and face, richer the better, top- knot blue or silver • Clear Sandy or Red
• black with tan on face and legs, the richer the better • Sandy or clear red. Smuttiness or dark shading undesirable. Standard from 1962, by the National Kennel Council of Aus- tralia: Colour • Blue, steel blue or dark grey- blue with rich tan not sandy on face, ears, underbody, lower legs and feet and around the vent (puppies excepted) The richer the colour and more clearly defined, the better. Top- knot blue, silver or a lighter shade than the head colour. • Clear sandy or red, smuttiness or dark shadings undesirable. Topknot a lighter shade. The book further cautions against allowing the tan to “creep up the legs into the shoulder or the blue portion of the back coat in the Blue-Tan, cautions against white on chest and body, and urges that Reds and Sandies be clear and defined. Mr. Wheatland was strongly opposed to breeding Blue-Tans to Reds or Sandies, mirroring the conventional wisdom of many of his time. While I have always felt this caution may not have been warranted, we really don’t know as much about the inheritance of Aussie coat color as I would like. We all know that the gene for red/ sandy is dominant and the blue-tan is recessive. So red/sandy can produce only red/sandy if neither or only one carries the recessive blue-tan gene. Red/sandy can produce blue-tans when bred to red/sandy, if they both have the recessive blue-tan gene or when bred to blue-tans. Blue-tans bred to blue- tans, both recessives, only produce blue-tans. The next book I wish to discuss tells us we have a lot more we could learn. The answers are not necessarily contained in this book, but this book
has provided a whole meal of food for thought for me. This new thought pro- cess started for me a few years ago when I acquired my copy of The Inheritance of Coat Color in Dogs , by Clarence C. Little first published in 1957. This dis- cussion is presented in my laymen’s way of understanding, but I found it so inter- esting in light of the distinct colors the Australian Terrier has that I wanted to share it as well as I could. Mr. Little tells us that dogs have two major types of pigment in their coats: dark (black or brown) and yellow; all the colors are formed by genes which control the amount, extent, patterns and combinations. The optical effects produced in the various breeds may be produced by the same or different combinations of genes and may be very similar genetically or very different. He tells us, as a basic primer, that genes are located in linear order in chromosomes and that genes occupying the same site (locus) in a chromosome are called alleles of one another. The main focus of the book is the discussion of the ten (10) genes for coat color and a detailed description of each series of alleles. They are as follows: 1. The A series - These alleles govern amounts and location of Black/ brown pigment and tan/yellow together on the hair and the coat as a whole. • -As - Dark (black or brown) overall as in a Newfoundland • -Ay - Creates clear sable or tan by restricting the dark, as in the Basenji or Irish Terrier
• -At - Creates black and tan, liver and tan, etc. Described as Tan-Points, as in the Welsh Terrier or Doberman. • -A possible 4th, Aw - would produce an agouti or “wild color”, i.e. banded hairs, as in
Standard from 1974: Colour • Blue or Blue-black or grey
244 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , J ULY 2017
Powered by FlippingBook