1. NIKKI TALLA CORI This is Nikki, my first collie.
This is Talla, my second collie.
And and this is Cori, my current collie.
Talla is an example of the collie most people are used to seeing. She is what is known as a Rough coated Sable, like Lassie, while Nikki and Cori are known as Rough Coated Tri Colored collies.
But collies come in other coat and color varieties....
TALLA
CORI

2. Sable and Tri-Colored Smooth Blue Merle Rough and Smooth White
Collies also come in what is known as a smooth or short haired variety
And
They come in more colors
Blue Merle which is a kind of mottled black, gray and white
They come in a white version. The body is mostly white and the head can be sable, tri-colored or blue merle colored.
For the purposes of this discussion I am going to concentrate on the White, Rough version.
White
Rough and Smooth

3. But.............. How does a breeder produce a White collie?
*A White being bred to a White factored collie
(A white-factor is a dog that carries the white gene, but is not white itself.)
*A White factored being bred to another White factored
*Or a White being bred to a White
White Collies have no specific health issues due to their coloring.
They are perfectly healthy. They are just mostly White instead of mostly colored.
But
Many collie breeders try to produce certain types of collies and some, like Talla's breeder, try to produce White collies.
So how would a breeder go about producing White collies?
Well they would need to breed a a white to white factored, a white factored to white factored or a white to a white.
(white factored means that the dog carries the gene but is not white itself probably because it is a recessive gene. A white factored collie usually has a large white collar and there is white all the way up the inside of the back legs.)
White Collies are perfectly healthy and don't have any specific health issues connected with the color
But, and this is what I want to talk about, in order to produce the color sometimes breeders use closely related dogs and could they be passing on other genetic material inadvertently?
And this brings me to my next slide and the subject of Epilepsy.

4. Epilepsy ...a disorder of recurring seizures.
Seizures are described as an uncoordinated firing of the neurons usually within a portion of the brain called the cerebrum.
Probably certain substances called neurotransmitters are not in the proper chemical balance, so the nerves do not behave in the normal coordinated fashion.
A dog with epilepsy will exhibit periodic bouts of uncoordinated firing of the neurons within the brain. These episodes are called seizures and occasionally are referred to as convulsions or "fits."
I would like to talk a little about the disease of Epilepsy.
Does anyone know anything about Epilepsy?

5. Is Canine Epilepsy Inherited?
The disorder is likely to be recessive because often two parents that are free of epilepsy produce offspring with epilepsy.
There is reason to believe that Epilepsy is an inherited disease.
Many researchers have analyzed the pedigrees of specific breeds and have found strong evidence that one type of epilepsy, idiopathic epilepsy is inherited across generations.
When idiopathic epilepsy is seen in dogs in their prime - 1-5yrs - when they should be healthy and have no problems, and tests show no underlying cause, it is generally assumed they have inherited "something" that is allowing them to seize.
Some investigators have theorized that, at least in the breeds they studied, and I have included a list here of some breeds that are thought to have a predisposition for the disorder, it is likely to be recessive because often two parents that are free of epilepsy produce offspring with epilepsy. There are other theories but we are going to concentrate on this possibility at this time.
And this brings us to the reason for my presentation in the first place.
A partial list of the breeds that show at least some evidence of a genetic predisposition to idiopathic epilepsy include: Beagles, Belgian Tervurens, Boxers, Cocker Spaniels, Collies, Dachshunds, Dalmatians, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Irish Setters, Irish Wolfhounds, Keeshonden, Labrador Retrievers, Pointers, Poodles (all varieties), Saint Bernards, Schnauzers (miniature and standard), Siberian Huskies, Vizslas, Welsh Springer Spaniels, and Wire Fox Terriers.

6. Talla's Father, Tulip Acres White Gold (White Collie, Rough)
(Sable Collie, Rough)
Again, this is Talla, my second collie. She was a wonderful dog who lived to be 12 ½ years old. But when she was 6 months old she had her first seizure and several weeks later she had another one. Many causes were ruled out and since there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with her she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy and she took Phenobarbitol for the rest of her life.
Now why might this have happened?
Well.....
This is her father, Tulip Acres White Gold
And this is her Great Grandfather/Great Great Grandfather, Champion Paradices Along Came Jones.
As you can see, Talla's father is a white collie and you can see that Along Came Jones has white on the inside of his back legs so he probably was white factored which probably made him a good candidate as a sire for a breeder who wanted to end up with white collies.
Which brings me to Talla's Pedigree
Talla's Father, Tulip Acres White Gold
(White Collie, Rough)
Tala's Great Grandfather/Great Great Grandfather
Ch. Paradices Along Came Jones
(White Factored Sable?, Rough)

7. As you can see Ch. Paradices Along Came Jones appears in her background 3 times.
Twice in her father's line and Once in her mother's.
As we have seen in our study of Dominant and Recessive genes both parents must carry the recessive gene in order for the offspring to show the effect. Well if Along Came Jones carried the recessive gene and it is possible that both Tulip Acres White Gold and Lakewinds Golden Mirage (Talla's mother) could have also carried it and therefore Talla could have inherited the disease from them.
This is only a theory but it does seem to add up.
And now let's look at Cori's Pedigree.

8. And there he is again. Along Came Jones is also in Cori's pedigree
And there he is again!!! Along Came Jones is also in Cori's pedigree!!! Which is one of the reasons I ended up with her in the first place because there is a little of Talla's bloodline in hers too!! But luckily Cori has shown no signs of seizures.
Any Questions?