Squib and Cracker

 

 

CDA in 1897 - Squib and Cracker

Squib and Cracker - Colour Dilution Alopecia in 1897

Squib and Cracker were litter brothers born 19 November 1896. Their breeder was Mrs Vallance. Squib was registered as a blue and Cracker as slate grey. They were both successfully exhibited as blue Pomeranians - so Cracker clearly changed out to blue as he matured.

In 1897 an article was written for The Ladies Kennel Journal which reviewed the year's show scene. In this article both brothers ( particularly Cracker) are stated to suffer from 'blue failing'.

Blue failing is a Victorian term for the condition also known as Blue Dog Disease, Blue Dog Alopecia and Blue Doberman syndrome depending on which breed it affects. It is more commonly referred to now as Colour Dilution Alopecia ( CDA). CDA is also associated with the colour Fawn.

 

 

As you can see in the extract given above the condition was apparently so common that no explanation is given of 'blue failing' - the reader would know what this meant. Also both these dogs continued to be exhibited regardless of their coat loss and Cracker was also used at stud being the grand sire of Prairie Rosette in 1902.

The colour blue mainly stems from the progeny of Blue Boy born in 1884. In the shows of 1893 four blue Poms placed - he was the sire of two and the grandsire (through his son Ch Black Boy) of one other. The fourth winning Pom was of unknown ancestry. The colour quickly became very popular and many of these blue Poms are ancestors of the foundation orange, Ch Mars and the foundation orange sable, Ch Dragonfly. Squib and Cracker share common ancestors with Mars and Dragonfly.

However, it is apparent that by 1897 a problem with the colour 'blue failing' was so common it required no explanation and didn't prejudice the effected dogs in exhibition or stud work.

Another show review ( in the Ladies Kennel Journal) comments on the coat of the blue Pom called Chocolat ( who subsequently became a Champion) it says,"...though his tail and ruff nearly hide the fact, the coat on his back is barely an inch long". Chocolat was the litter brother of Merry Boy and both dogs were used at stud - Merry Boy is the 1st gt grandfather of Ch Mars. Ch Black Boy a grandson of Blue Boy and Black Prince a grandson of Ch Black Boy were two other very influential studs of this era.

Mr. G.M Hicks wrote in a 1906, "...Cracker and Squib, of very fine bone but rather scanty coat, especially on the back".

Additionally 'Fawn' Pomeranians were being incorporated in breeding programmes commencing with the show success of Pan born in 1880 the daughter of a Fawn Volpino called Mouskie ( also Mooskie) imported from Florence. Aigburth Chance born in 1893 was another winning Fawn.

It has always puzzled me why blue as a colour fell out of favour - it is usually explained by the trend towards orange, orange sable and wolf shaded sables commencing in the late 1890's . I now wonder if it was more to do with the coat problems occurring in blues.

In the 1929 update by Mrs Thomson of Ives' book  Show Pomeranians it mentions  Mrs Stratton's efforts to revive blues and  states "... much ill luck has been her portion". In the 2nd edition of Mrs Parker's The Popular Pomeranian, the American contributor Mrs Byron Hoffman writing in 1928 states that this colour is ".. never seen at shows today". We will never know what ill luck befell Mrs Stratton's programme but Mrs Hoffman's observation dates the demise of this colour in the show ring ( she does state that some black dogs of this period were producing blues, including her own but for one reason or another they were not shown).

I contacted Dr Tosso Leeb a geneticist at the University of Bern in Switzerland working on the genetic causes of Alopecia problems with the information on Squib and Cracker. It seemed to me that it might be of interest to him that a line associated with 'blue failing' is behind some of the 'pillars of the breed'. I wondered if was possible if this problem could genetically exert any influence on dogs of other colours. This is an extract from Dr Leeb's response. It would be of great assistance to his research if Dr Leeb could examine samples taken from blue and fawn Pomeranians so I hope if anyone reading this owns a Pom of either of these colours that they will contact him.

"Regarding the blue (dilute) coat color: We tested a few of our Pomeranian samples for the dilute mutation and yes, indeed we had few carriers of this mutation among our samples. Unfortunately, we do not have any blue or fawn Pomeranians among our samples, so we did not find any homozygotes for the dilute mutation.

It seems quite possible that the blue coat color predisposes Pomeranians to hair loss. Normally, heterozygous carriers of this mutation are supposed to have normal hair coats and are not affected by CDA. I know now of two heterozygous Dobermans that are affected by hair-loss as seen in CDA. Therefore, there seems to be a very small risk that heterozygous dogs may also eventually develop hair-loss."

 

Here are the links for general information on Dr Leeb's work and two links for specific problems:

http://www.vetsuisse.unibe.ch/genetic/content/e2353/e2479/index_eng.html

http://www.vetsuisse.unibe.ch/genetic/content/e2353/e2479/index_eng.html (alopecia X)

http://www.genetics.unibe.ch/content/e2353/e2694/index_eng.html (CDA)

Click here to see current photos of a Blue Parti Pom with CDA- please scroll to bottom of page - link kindly provided by Robin's Wee Bears

Cracker with cats

Mrs Vallance's blue pets - Cracker in the middle about 1 year later

PEDIGREE OF SQUIB AND CRACKER

Born November 1896

 Sire - Montezuma, a 12lb black born in 1893. He was by the unregistered Poms called Jacko and Duskie - no further details on them at this time. Dam - Niminy Piminy a black born in 1892, bred by Mr Betts and owned by Mrs Vallance ( along with Montezuma). 

The sire of Niminy Piminy was Nubian Prince born in 1897 the full brother from a later litter of the black Bayswater Swell who was used extensively at stud. Nubian Prince was a son of Nubian King born in 1887 and his dam was Huzza. Huzza ( sometimes called Hizza) was by Dutton's white dog Fritz and the black bitch Magna who was sired by Dutton's Fritz and her dam was Greta an imported bitch. Therefore Huzza's sire was also her grandsire.

 

The dam of Niminy Piminy was Tips also owned by Mr Betts ( the owner of Morle) . Tips was by Peter and Bredna - no other information given about their origin. I suspect that 'Peter' is actually Peterle mentioned below. Early records were compiled from handwritten information and spellings often vary. Nubian King was by Peterle and Cosy. Peterle was by Morle and Spitzer ( most likely a German import). Cosy was by Blue Boy and Frau - no further data on Frau. Blue Boy born in 1884 (according to Hicks) was by the imported dog Black Jack ( originally called Fritz) and Topsey II. Topsey II was by Nigger and Freda. Freda was imported from Germany by Mrs Monck sometime before 1878.

 

Morle was born in June 1879 by Mr Lender's Fritz and Mr. Wagner's Lady and was later sold to Mr Betts.

Article Copyright Vivienne Peterson B.A., August 2007 / Web design Vyctoria Brock B.A. (Hons)