Maks is one of a small number of Dalmatians worldwide that carries two copies of the desirable SLC2A9 gene therefore every puppy he produces will have one copy of the gene and therefore Low Uric Acid (LUA)! Emily has one copy of the LUA gene so we expect some of these puppies to have two copies! This beautiful litter is the result of breeding an outcrossed female back to her sire. I believe that homozygous puppies from this litter will be very useful in incorporating the LUA gene in other bloodlines. They are very healthy and consistent.



Saturday, October 22, 2011

Day Forty One

We had a very busy day today and the puppies are all sleeping. They had many visitors and lots of time to run and play. The first visitors were friends Carl and Kim who own the puppies' Uncle Cash. All the puppies had kisses for them and Nancy even gave Carl a big dally smile! Then LaDonna came to visit. They puppies know her very well because she has been a tremendous help with the litter! I think she will be sad to see them go to their new homes too. After that Marion who will be Nancy's new Mom came to see her girl!

While LaDonna was here we collected DNA samples of the puppies to send in for hyperuricosuria testing. Because Maks has no copies of the hyperuricosuria mutated gene that all Dalmatians have (other than LUA Dals) the puppies will only get one copy of the mutated gene from Bizzi. Since Maks' normal gene is dominate the puppies will all be heterozygous and therefore not at risk of developing urate stones. Since Maks cannot pass on something he doesn't have the test is really not necessary however the AKC wants this testing in order to register these puppies. So let me explain the testing procedure. The DNA that the lab at UC Davis uses is collected on buccal swabs from the inside of the cheek. They require 3 swabs from each puppy. The puppies were not allowed to eat or drink for one hour before they are swabbed. I had to wash my hands after each puppy was finished and put the swabs back into their sleeves and then into an envelope so the swabs don't come in contact with each other. Labeling the swab sleeves was very tedious and I did it yesterday.

One other thing  the puppies experienced new today was a chicken wing. Boy they loved that!

Since I am taking the puppies tomorrow to the GPDC meeting I decided to do nails tonight instead of tomorrow They continue to grow. They weigh from 6 lb 10 oz to 8 lb 8 oz.

Below you will find pictures of all the swabs laid out and labeled ready for us to begin, a picture showing what the swabs look like and a picture of a puppy getting swabbed. Also you will see a puppy hording a chicken wing!





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