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Shepherd’s Lantern


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  • 2 weeks later...

White tail tips are not uncommon in dogs, and there's a good reason for it.  As I understand it, melanin moves outward from the spinal column during the dog's development, mostly pre-natal but also post-natal.  (That's why the black on a dog may increase after birth, but the white never does.)  So the regions more remote from the spinal column are more likely to be white (paws, tail tip, even the chest and abdomen), because the melanin "flow" stops before it reaches that far. 

Also, the term "gay tail" doesn't refer to white on the tail tip, but to a tail that is held high, rather than parallel to or lower than the spinal column.  Old time shepherds (and even some modern ones) don't like to see a gay tail on a border collie, because a seriously working border collie will be carrying its tail low.

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Thanks for that info, Eileen! I never knew that about the melanin, and find it fascinating. 

I thought that the "gay tail" was about holding it high, and not about the coloration, but since I am not well versed in this I didn't comment on it when someone called it that.

Makes sense, especially as you see that since most border collies have that white tip,  most working border collies have the white tip to the tail also.

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This thread reminded me of a study I read many years ago about breeding for tameness in silver foxes in Russia.  A synopsis is here : https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-018-0090-x

As the foxes became tamer, their phenotypes changed to include melanin shifts as Eileen referenced, with "shepherd's lanterns" even appearing on tail tips.

Amy

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I’ve read about the fox study, and I’ve even seen a televised piece on it, which was cool. The subject really is fascinating. While it’s not uncommon to see a red fox with a white tip on its tail, the other coat color changes were surprising, to me.

Here it is: 

 

 

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I was and still am fascinated with this study as well. The color change in the coat surprised me as well. I have wondered why.

I have also wondered if the start of what we call breeds today came in much the same fashion. People started select breeding for herding ability and those brown dogs slowly became black and white? People selected for scent tracking and the dogs developed longer ears? People took canines north and they grew longer and thicker fur. Of course, those things were then bred on purpose, but I can't help but wonder if the changes started off with the animals themselves, rather than what people thought up all on their own. The same way that people did not tame wild canines and breed them deliberately, but rather wild canines started hanging around early versions of human beings in order to get their food and scraps, and evolved into dogs at the same time we evolved into people because the association was mutually beneficial.  I always like to think of people and dogs sort of creating each other.  :-)

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'Of course, those things were then bred on purpose, but I can't help but wonder if the changes started off with the animals themselves, rather than what people thought up all on their own.' I think the humans noticed that the black and white dogs were easier to see, that dogs that grew thicker coats lived longer and were of more use than the thinner coated dogs.

If my memories of biology/evolution are intact animals who survived long enough to breed had an advantage of some kind that animals who didn't survive to breed didn't have. If those advantages were replicable, dogs with longer ears had puppies with longer ears. Dogs whose black and white coats were easier to see than dogs with brown and white coats were more useful to the humans. And biddability to humans probably played a part as well. Humans cared for those canids that contributed to human survival. The canids who didn't contribute as much to human survival were a burden/danger rather than an advantage. 

R&G

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Thanks for the replies. I had not really realized how many dogs have white -tipped tails - although once people started listing them, I said to myself "how could I have forgotten that breed?"

Also, thanks to Eileen for the info about melanin distribution.

The reason I asked was because I am fostering a stray puppy (found in rural WV as an 8-9 week old) for a border collie rescue group. We also foster and adopt BC mixes. He looks close enough to a BC to be 'accepted' into the foster program, but I keep playing "Guess the Breed" in my mind.

I have his pic on my phone and will try to post It, but it may be in a separate post.

Feel free to take a guess.  Smile.

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Here is Archie. (next to my 44 lb border collie) He is 4 months, 21 lbs. He can be delightfully energetic, then is also very ready to relax on the couch. He doesn’t display the intensity I associate with purebred border collies. If there is BC in him, I keep thinking that it may be mixed with lab or pit - which are 2 popular breeds for mixes in this area. Or Archie could easily be a mix of multiple breeds and by happy circumstance, just happens to look similar to a BC. I hope whoever adopts him will send a sample to one of the breed ID services.

CC5447FF-6A5A-4814-A398-39AB823AA649.jpeg

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Oh dear, I so love dogs. I’m going to go with Labrador and Border Collie with maybe some others mixed in, but breed ID in mixes is always hit or miss for me. He is awfully cute, whatever he is. I love his serious little expression.

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