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Breeds Serviced

Unfurnished breeds (ff) that show variation at the Shedding Locus

  • American Eskimo Dog
  • Basenji
  • Beagle
  • Belgian Malinois
  • Belgian Tervuren
  • Bernese Mountain Dog
  • Bloodhound
  • Bullmastiff
  • Canaan Dog
  • Chesapeake Bay Retriever
  • Chihuahua
  • Chinese Shar-pei
  • Cocker Spaniel
  • English Springer Spaniel
  • Flat-coated Retiever
  • Fox Terrier (Smooth)
  • Golden Retriever
  • Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
  • Irish Water Spaniel
  • Labrador Retriever
  • Papillion
  • Pekingese
  • Pug
  • Saint Bernard
  • Tibetan Spaniel

Furnished breeds (FF) or (Ff) that show variation at the Shedding Locus

  • Airedale Terrier
  • Australian Labradoodle
  • Bearded Collie
  • Bedlington Terrier
  • Bichon Frise
  • Border Terrier
  • Borzoi
  • Bouvier des Flandres
  • Briard
  • Chinese Crested
  • Fox Terrier (Wire)
  • Giant Schnauzer
  • Goldendoodle
  • Havanese
  • Jack Russell Terrier
  • Labradoodle
  • Lhasa Apso
  • Maltese
  • Miniature Schnauzer
  • Poodle
  • Portuguese Water Dog
  • Puli
  • Rat Terrier
  • Schipperke
  • Scottish Terrier
  • Shih Tzu
  • Silky Terrier
  • Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
  • Spinone
  • Standard Schnauzer
  • Xoloitzcuintli
  • Yorkshire Terrier

Shedding

Vetgen is pleased to offer a new Shedding Locus Test based on research conducted at Cornell University and licensed from the University.

A variable region of DNA has been identified wherein one allele (+) is associated with a propensity toward “high shedding,” while the other allele (-) is associated with “low shedding.” Some breeds presumably have only one or the other of these two alleles. In other words, in some breeds every animal is (+/+) while in other breeds every animal is (-/-) . This test is not meant for use in breeds such as these, which show no variability. In at least the breeds listed here, we know that both high shedding (+) and low shedding (-) alleles are present. In these breeds, this test provides the breeder an opportunity to identify those dogs which are low shedders or likely to pass on this trait.

Shedding locus 1 result types:
  • 0 copies of high shedding allele ( -/- )
  • 1 copy of high shedding allele ( +/- )
  • 2 copies of high shedding allele ( +/+ )


Shedding allele Level of Shedding*
-/- 0
+/- 1
+/+ 2

∗Level of shedding 0=lowest, 2=highest


The researchers believe that there may be an interaction between this locus and the Furnishings locus. For those testing breeds where variability at the Furnishings locus is a possibility, it is our recommendation that both the Shedding Locus test and the Furnishings/Improper Coat test be used to garner the most information. At the Furnishing locus, the (F) allele is associated with low shedding.

Shedding Locus 2 ( Furnishings/Improper Coat ):

The gene (RSPO2) located at the Furnishings locus, Shedding locus 2, also has high and low shedding alleles which are different than those found at Shedding Locus 1. These alleles are linked to, but are not the same as furnishings results. Furnishings refer to the variation of longer facial hair seen in all wire haired breeds as well as some others. The mutation is a dominant one, so in breeds where the coat can vary, it is possible for a furnished dog to carry the "unfurnished" trait ( f)



  • FF dogs- 0 copies of RSPO2 high shedding allele/ 2 copies of RSPO2 low shedding allele
  • Ff dogs- 1 copy of RSPO2 high shedding allele/ 1 copy of RSPO2 low shedding allele
  • ff dogs- 2 copies of RSPO2 high shedding allele/ 0 copies of RSPO2 low shedding allele



The total number of high and/or low shedding alleles (0,1,2,3,or 4) can be determined by adding the results from the two tests. All dogs that are unfurnished (ff) do not need the furnishing test ( since they carry 2 copies of the high shedding allele) and should automatically add 2 to the number of high shedding alleles identified with the Shedding locus 1 test.

  • Furnished dogs can be either FF or Ff.
  • Dogs that are FF, will not contribute any high shedding alleles.
  • Furnished dogs that are Ff will contribute 1 low shedding allele. Therefore these dogs need to be tested for furnishings to determine the number of low shedding alleles that they can contribute.


  FF
2 copies of low shedding allele
Ff
one copy of low shedding allele
ff
0 copies of low shedding allele
-/-
no shedding alleles
-/- FF → 0 -/- Ff → 1 -/- ff → 2
+/-
1 shedding allele
+/- FF → 1 +/- Ff → 2 +/- ff → 3
+/+
2 shedding alleles
+/+ FF → 2 +/+ Ff → 3 +/+ ff → 4

Level of shedding 0,1,2,3, or 4. Low → high

The list of dogs shown here are all known to show variation at this new SHEDDING LOCUS.