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box 148, chaplin, saskatchewan, canada



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penny@packetranch.com



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PERFECTION IS ACHIEVED NOT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO ADD, BUT WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO TAKE AWAY....



Each year, we strive to improve our program..... one litter at a time... baby steps... laying the foundation for our future. I truly believe that the only way to KNOW what you are producing is by retaining pups from your program in order to evaluate how they mature~ disposition/conformation/drive~ all parts of trying to lay the foundation for our breed's future. I have kept back a couple of our male pups & have also brought in some new males to outcross on our girls, who are mostly products of our breeding program. I cannot wait to see what we will produce in the next coming years ......



M Locus Results= Mosaic

What does that mean???




All of our Aussies young & old have been getting their M Locus DNA tests done for the last few years & all have come back as expected, but we were thrown a curve ball with Jewel's results as she came back as mosaic: Mos m/Mh273[84]/Mc+233[16].... Normally I would have expected her results to come back like m/Mh273. Her sire is m/m (non-merle) & her dam is m/Mh272. Each pup received ONE allele from each of their parents...so the m would have come from the sire & the Mh272 from the dam...​





Jewel is what is known as a Mosaic Merle. During development in the womb, each pup receives one cell from each of their parents. Jewel would have received the m from her sire. From her dam, she received the Mh273, but during development, this cell mutated & bascially became 2 in one...which is where we are getting the Mh273 and Mc+233... one of the tails from the mutated cell shortened. (They allow 1-2 degree either up or down from the Merle parent's allele length~Jewel's mom was Mh272 & Jewel is Mh273). The 2 numbers that are in the brackets { } show the break down as to how many cells are actually of that value. With Jewel the Mh273 has a value of 84, while the Mc+233 only has a value of 16, making her genetically a merle. (When trying to decide which allele value to use when making a breeding decision, make sure to use the dog's LARGEST Allele# when utilizing the charts- in Jewels case that would be Mh273.- Do NOT go by the # in the brackets, but by the actual allele #!)​





So what will happen if we were to breed her? Each of her pups can receive only ONE cell from her, but it can be the m, Mh273 or the Mc+233, With the m & the Mc+233, those pups "SHOULD" be tri/bi~solid colored dogs, but NOT necessarily as the Mh273 CAN cause deleted color, so you CAN have a solid colored bodied dog that CAN test up as a high valued merle~only way to know is to have their M Locus tested with a company that provides the allele #'s. the pups that have visible merle markings will receive the Mh273 value BUT remember those pups could also come back wth the mosaic results...AND to throw another loop into the fire, I was discussing this with the

Aussie Genetics ladies a couple of weeks ago & the MOST allele's that they KNOW of for ONE dog is 7!!! That's right SEVEN...more than one allele shortened in uterus to caust the dog to have seven alleles vs the traditional 2. That dog ended up having to have multiple DNA tests for the M Locus as it's offspring kept coming back with different allele #'s than what he was testing up for. Sometimes science is just crazy, don't you think???




M Locus Charts to help you make INFORMED decisions on Who can safely be bred to WHO according to their merle allele #'s.




Now what dog)s) would be the safest to breed her to???? Any dog that is m/m (non-merle) or m/Mx (number would have to be 230 & under) as both are on the charts as being Low Risk. The higher you go up, the more chance of having pups with hearing impairment & if you go into the M category, you will also run into sight problems & deletion of color~that is where you run into the white Aussies traditionally known as double merles. I have had breeders say that any Mh dogs should be eliminated from being bred due to having a Low Risk of causing hearing problems. The problem with that is the majority of merles within the breed ARE Mh, so you would REALLY be limiting the gene pool. I believe I was told up to 75% of merles tested up in the Mh zone. I have included some various charts above to try to help you all to understand what is going on. All of our dogs- male/female Tri/Bi/Merle have been tested for their M Locus~merle length as even a solid dog can carry a merle length AND yes, they can also come back as Mosaic Merles as well! Does that mean that they are Merle & should not be bred to a Merle? NO, it TOTALLY depends on what their merle length #'s ends up being & what the merle length #'s of their prospective mates are. BEFROE this science became available, it was known thru out the Aussie world to avoid breeding a Merle to a Merle, but now with this DNA test, it really will help everyone make INFORMED decisions on WHO should be bred to WHO & WHY.... as some tri/bi dogs can come back with higher merle lengths & therefore should NOT be bred to merle patterned dogs.... just another "little" thing for Breeders to try to Wrap their heads around....


****This is NOT just an Aussie thing, but IS a thing for ALL breeds that have the Merle gene!!!










Packet Ranch ~ Ghost Eye Aussies & Mini American Shepherds
Canadian Bred ASDR Registered Toy/Mini/Standard Aussies & AKC/CKC Miniature American Shepherds ~ MAS



penny@packetranch.com Phone: 306-629-3278 Chaplin, Sask., Canada