INVITATION FOR BLACK COLOR STUDY 2-18-11

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What an honor! We just received a request to use our dogs and to work with one of the top Genetic Labs on the complicated black colors, there being 4 or more, in connection with the English Bulldog Breed. Of course we accepted. It may be a few months, but we will share their findings and explanations when the study is finished. This will help all Rare Color EB Breeders tremendously in knowing what to expect from the matches they choose in their breeding programs. It will also help me greatly, in accurately updating the Official Rare Color Chart for English Bulldogs!  

Update from the Geneticist: The dominant black gene is simply black, whereas a Black Tri or Black and Tan is genetically a sable dog with excessive black markings. The Dominant Black (K) gene has two presentations on the dog, which must be visually interpreted. The two presentations are SEAL and BRINDLE. If you have black tri or black and tan that also has the SEAL part of the Dominant Black gene, you will not see the tan points as they will be hidden by the SEAL part of the dominant black gene. The dog looks black and white but can be genetically tan pointed, a black tri SEAL. The BRINDLE part of the Dominant Black gene does not do this. In fact almost the opposite. The Black Tri Gene, atat, covers the brindle on a dog except where the tan point are. Therefore the dominant black gene and the black tri are two separate genotypes.

Recessive black is, aesthetically, no different to dominant black. The only difference is in the breeding - a solid black puppy could be born from two parents who are non-solid black if they both carry (without expressing) one copy of the recessive black gene, whereas a dominant black pup could only be born if one or both of its parents are also dominant blacks that express the color. Another important aspect of recessive black is that it is on a different sequence of locus to dominant black. The only way that a dog can be solid black if it is SEAL on the K locus. The tan points on a recessive black tri will not show if the white is in the spots where normally the tan points would be.