# Panda markings?



## Kava3 (Jan 28, 2009)

I have seen a couple GSD breeders who breed Panda markings? Where did that start? I'm just curious. Is it a white regressive gene or what? I'm not a breeder but I figured that this would be the bet place to ask.


----------



## windwalker718 (Oct 9, 2008)

From what I've read it seems to be a random mutation. The dogs involved in the 1st appearance were DNA tested and are German Shepherd, not cross bred... there's a very limited group of dogs producing this coloring, and like and "FAD" color there's concern about other health issues happening in an attempt to reproduce on only a color.

There's also been an appearance of brindling after many years of it seeming to have been bred out of the genetic pool. The dogs involved I understand are undergoing a 3 generation genetic screening to prove there's no Akita or some other breed with brindle mixed in there before being included as registered breeding animals in the GSD. 

I don't have any 1st hand info on these issues, this is taken from posts on another Message board... so take it all with a grain of salt.


----------



## Ceph (Mar 28, 2007)

The white pattern probably occurs at the spotting locus.

There were piebald shepherds in the olden days...the Captain and other writers from the 20's-50's do mention them from time to time. I imagine it was those initial piebald dogs that are the cause of the occasional spots we see popping up on chests and feet.

The spotting locus itself is an incompletley dominant locus -- meaning that if your dog carries the dominant no spotting gene and a recessive spotting gene, that recessive spotting gene is still going to express itself, albiet less so.

I have always kind of thought that the panda expression was merely a dog carrying two copies of the second or third alleles in the spotting locus.

~Cate


----------

