Black Facial Masking ???

[saba]

Just curious about the black masking that some pups have…

Is it just on the pups that are red/white ???

Is it only found on the red pups that carry the tri gene ???

Why is it there at all ???

Does it always fade as time goes on ??? Normally when does it fade, i.e. age of the pup ???

Im just quite curious about it, we dont seem to find it a lot in the Aussie dogs, in fact of the pups Ive seen with this, its been those that are from some well known American dogs in their immediate family tree...

[Quercus]

@saba:

Just curious about the black masking that some pups have…

Is it just on the pups that are red/white ???

Is it only found on the red pups that carry the tri gene ???

Why is it there at all ???

Does it always fade as time goes on ??? Normally when does it fade, i.e. age of the pup ???

Im just quite curious about it, we dont seem to find it a lot in the Aussie dogs, in fact of the pups Ive seen with this, its been those that are from some well known American dogs in their immediate family tree...

Let's see…it is usually found on red/white, because it wouldn't show up on the other colors...I have seen masking and saddling on brindles.

See next post for actual answer

I am pretty sure that it is only found on tri-factored animals.

It is there because it is a mild expression of the recessive tri gene that the animal is carrying. Just like tri-factored dogs that have black hairs on their tail. There is a 'bleeding through' of the recessive gene. Don't ask me how that works!It usually fades as much as it is going to by the time the dog is a year old. There are some lines here in which a dog will have some masking all its life. Lines with masking are generally also known for lovely dark pigmentiation on the nose and eye rims, and dark red coats.

Hope that helps

[lvoss]

There is a separate gene that causes black masking. It is on the e series.

[Quercus]

oops…never mind what I said apparently I learned that from the old school of 'heresay'. Thanks for clearing that up Lisa

So, that would mean that a dog that has masking is no more likely to carry tri, correct?

[lvoss]

Correct, masking is a separate trait. I co-own a lovely, most likely pure for red bitch that inherited the masking gene from her dam. Her dam is black so you can't see it but she has thrown it in her reds and since masking is a dominant gene one of the parents has to have some masking to pass it on. There are certain lines where the trait is found, it tends to go hand in hand with the lovely dark eye liner that is sought after. With some the masking fades to almost not noticeable as adults but they can still pass the trait on.

[lvoss]

Now, with tri factored reds, I have seen black hairs on the body that are slow to fade. So like the tri factored black spot on the tail, you will find other patches of black hairs that are slow to fade. One puppy in my first litter had black hairs on her one side until nearly 3 years old. Not terribly noticeable unless you were looking for them, they were just mixed in with the red hairs.

[saba]

Thanks for the info guys :)…

I was wondering about the masking on brindles as well... I had noticed that the dogs/pups that had the masking as babies, had the lovely black pigment...

Ivoss, you have now led me to another question :o...

I have also noticed that some pups seem to have a lot of black hairs in their red coats, especially from about 3-4 weeks to 8-9 weeks, but it seems to be all gone usually by the time they are off to their new homes ??? These black hairs seem to be a lot longer than the red hairs, and are typically on their bodies ??? Is this also related to the black masking ??? I cant say whether this has been on the pups with the black masks, but I dont think so ???

[lvoss]

No, the black hairs throughout the body is because all of our red and white basenjis are genetically sables. Most will lose all of their black hairs except a few on the backs of their ears. Or at least all mine still have black hairs on the backs of their ears.