Presence of black-and-tan and sable colors.
The Belgian Shepherd that is shorthaired is the Malinois. The Laekenois is wirehaired. The longhaired Belgian Shepherds occur in two color varieties with separate names. The Tervuren are sable colored dogs and the Groenendael are black. Malinois are typically either ay ay or aya. Therefore, if two dogs that are both aya are mated together, some black pups could occur. Sable in Malinois is used to denote a predominance of reddish hairs with occasional solid black hairs interspersed. The number of black hairs can vary tremendously, probably under the control of another gene which has not been determined yet. The shade of red can also vary from cream to deep red. This is under the control of yet another gene which we are still searching for. Note that another allele, at, also occasionally occurs in Malinois and this allele, when homozygous, causes black-and-tan which is a disallowed color in most countries. DNA testing to detect the presence of the a or at allele in dogs that are sable, allows breeders to better predict the colors of pups from particular matings. (Note that Groenendael can be black from the genotype "aa", which is recessive to sable or from another gene with a dominant genotype). All Malinois have a melanistic mask and are therefore Em Em. |
