There are alot of breeders pumping out some pretty fancy dogs these days...purple lilacs, lilacs, blues, dilutes, chocolates, seals, tri's, lilac tri's.....and to an untrained eye poorly structured and bred dogs seem to get a free pass based on their coat color. Breeders also sell these dogs for up to 5 x more than a regular coat color and claim its rarity.....but whats the real story?

 

Rare colored dogs are a product of diluting basic color coats in order to create almost a "pastel" color variation so to speak. Even rarer colored dogs are a product of crossing and combining these diluted color coats creating even more diluted colors.

 

The problem that arises when you dilute and then combine dilutes is that you are literally stripping away the strength from a dogs genes. This "stripping" opens the doors to a diversity of issues like skin, coat, ear, eye and immune disorders. Sure the dog is a looker for the first year or two of its life, but what happens after that? You rarely hear about the later years of these dogs lives as is the breeding world, "it's hot until its been forgot". And who pays the bill on these potential health disaster dogs? The buyer who bought it for an inflated price and inevitably, the dog itself.

 

So what should you be looking for in a healthy diluted color bulldog? Its parents. Coat color DNA is like a road map to your dogs health. If bred properly, healthy and properly structured bulldogs wearing the dilute shades can exist, but that takes time, money and patience. Alot of breeders don't have one or all of these, and cut corners to match the market with more experienced breeders. They produce for ego and a quick buck. If you insist on buying a dilute colored bulldog, despite its overall structure and tempermeant, please ask questions about its parents.

 

So back to the parents......a healthy dilute colored bulldog should not only have at least one different colored parent than itself but carry the K LOCUS. K LOCUS is the black alele responsible for grounding a dogs health. That does not mean a dog with the K LOCUS will be black in color, thats a completely different gene, K LOCUS is generally found in Dark Brindle dogs. So how can a Brindle dog create these rare colors? When a dog is a "carrier" of different aleles, it in itself does not have to be dilute in color in order to produce them. It only needs to be combined with another carrier or dominant colored dilute to produce these colors. In theory these pups, unless there are noted health issues in both parents genes that can be passed along, should be healthier. And the only way to know what your dog carries is if you DNA them.

 

This same rule applies to standard colored dogs. Two recessive parents or "homozygenous" parents can and usually produce pups with potential health issues. There is a standard rule in breeding that you do not breed two fawn colored dogs together, or two blues.

 

"Color Dilution Alopecia Primarily affects blue and fawn coats Alopecia is a term that refers to hair loss regardless of the cause. Color Dilution Alopecia is a condition in which dogs develop a gradual thinning of hair on their bodies often progressing to widespread permanent hair loss. This condition develops in some, but not all dogs that have been bred for unusual coat color, especially “fawn” (a dilution of a normally red or brown coat) or “blue” (a dilution of the normal black and tan coat). Doberman Pinschers are most affected by this condition but it has been seen in other breeds bred for unusual coat colors including Chows, Great Danes, Chihuahuas, Daschunds and others. 

 

Color dilution alopecia is an inherited condition and the coat will appear normal at birth. Most affected dogs will show signs between 6 months and as late as 2 or 3 years of age. The first signs are hair loss and dry skin and possibly a recurring bacterial infection, generally on the back where small bumps will reveal infected hair follicles. While the primary condition has no specific therapy, the secondary infection is treated with antibiotics. Many dogs will have chronic recurrent infections because of the abnormality of the hair follicles which results in an increased tendency to allow for bacterial colonization and infection. Some animals also have their hair affected on the neck and the top of the head while the face and legs are less commonly affected. The affected skin is scaly and without hair, sunburn or extreme cold can be a concern. These dogs can lead a normal healthy life with routine treatments of moisturizing rinses and shampoos and antibiotics for bacterial infections. High dosage essential fatty acids and Vitamin A supplements can occasionally be helpful.

 

Affected dogs, their parents and siblings should not be used for breeding. The condition can be entirely avoided by the use of non-color-diluted dogs in breeding programs."

 

Breeders who know their lines by having produced all their breeding dogs will know what each dog should potentially carry. If they don't, and established breeder will DNA their dogs. "Back yard" and "hobby" breeders rarely see or care about the big picture, sure they advertise that they are not "puppy mills", but with only one breeding dog and one litter a year, what do they really know, mostly from experience about not only their dogs, but the puppies they produce?

 

"You know whats in your lines by the dogs that you produce."