Next Saturday, October 1, is National Black Dog Day, and posts on that day will focus on white breeds (just testing to see if you’re paying attention). Kidding, of course. We’ll be focusing on black dogs, and invite you to share pictures of your black breed dogs that day (not today). This focus of this post, however, is a breed that is often thought of as being only black, but Newfoundlands also can also be brown, gray, or white and black. “Grey” is the name used for diluted black in Newfoundlands, while black and white Newfs are known as Landseers, so named for the English painter Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, who did several portraits of these dogs. Landseer didn’t give these dogs his name, by the way. Sources suggest that it was an eccentric Victorian dog fancier Dr William Gordon Stables who coined it.
Color genetics in the Newfoundland have been known over 50 years, but we find it fascinating that the authors of one article used historic newspapers to analyze Newfoundland dog fur color genetics, specifically, a database of the advertisements for lost or stolen dogs in the Times newspaper. It’s an interesting approach, and Newf owners and genetic junkies will want to read, “Historical analysis of Newfoundland dog fur colour genetics.”
“Shelby” by Nadi Spencer
NadiSpencer.com
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NadiSpencer.com
https://www.facebook.com/dogartbynadi
http://www.cafepress.com/dogartbynadi