Yamabushi no Shakko (aka "Risu")
Shakko is the first true akatora we've produced. He's from the Nio x Haru litter. I think he deserves his own thread too...
(ordered by age)
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(ordered by age)
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Comments
@ayk - He reminds me a lot of Nio too. He has Nio's build and head.
@Yandharr - That's the funny thing, he is tiny... Like very small. It's a bit troubling - hopefully he's just a late grower.
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If that last photo was a poster I would definitely put it on my wall, great shot
After seeing pics of Okabe-san's dog, Mao(?), I thought I knew at last what akatora looks like- I mean that dog's black IS brown- his nose is not black. and I see clearly that Juno (for example) is NOT akatora, but a chutora with a nice red-gold coat and black stripes. Can you discuss the finer distinction of 'true akatora' for us? Shakko is beautiful, and light in color, but he doesnt look like Mao, so now I am not sure I understand akatora anymore...
Akatora has nothing to do with skin pigmentation. Mao has a liverish colored pigment. Akatora is specific to the color of the brindle only, and should have little-to-no black in it.
Juno is probably more akatora now than chutora, but she is registered chutora. Shakko is registered akatora.
There is no clear distinction between a very red chutora and an akatora, it is up to the individual judge/breeder to choose the definition of "akatora". I tend to save "akatora" for only examples who show the extreme, like Musashi, Shakko, Mao... But, one could argue that Haru, Juno, and maybe Ayu are akatora too.
To me, it's when the pups are first born that tells their true color. Take for example Juno vs Shakko...
Juno
Shakko
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Is the skin pigment unrelated to the black hair pigment, genetically? (I'm thinking of how you never see a chocolate lab with a black nose, nor a black lab with a liver nose. or in springers or pointers, liver spots: liver nose, eye rims + black spots: black nose eye rims.) In the end, is it all just a matter of degree? a spectrum, rather than an on/off thing. Must there be a liver gene in Mao, or other akatoras- or is any black a degree of overall red?
The color term is called chocolate- or liver-dilute in some breeds and denoted by "b." On the DNA level, there's actually several different "b" genes that cause this color.
I don't know if akatoras are caused by one of the obscure "b" genes or just "an unknown reddening factor". A buccal sample to a coat color DNA lab might be revealing. I think Shigeru still has access to Mao. If not Mao, then his son Kibou can probably be tested in the US. If Mao is really "bb", then Kibou has to be carrying one copy of his "b" gene.
I have seen, in brindle Akitas, offspring which have significantly different red/black pigment ratios from their parents. As an example, @jellyfart's boy Toki and his littermates have a traditional amount of red/black for an akatora Akita. His father, however, has a very unusually high amount of red with large spans (some areas wider than my hand) without any black stripes. This is just one example of many that leads me to believe that this "stripe dispersion" is a polygenic trait, which thus causes it appear "random" because so many different components come from both parents and mix together differently.