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Natural Bob-tail Genetics:

The Brachyury mutation of the tail causing it to be known as a bob-tail or short-tail.

It is an autosomal dominant and dogs who carry one or two copies of the mutation will have a natural short tail.

The Homozygous (*2 gene)  Brachyury mutation is semi-lethal in utero therefore the breeding of 2 dogs with the

bob-tail gene is discouraged.

There is a 50% hereditary rate when breeding a single bob-tail parent.

Animal Genetics UK has a test for the bob-tail gene.

Due to legislative efforts to stop the practice of docking tails, the dog fancy will eventually have to turn

to natural bob-tails to continue their love for dogs with shorter tails.

Over 25 breeds of dogs are known to have the NBT gene in their mist including

the HPA  Harlequin Pinscher.

Miniature Pinschers DO NOT have Natural Bob-tails.

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Natural Erect Ears Vs Drooped Ears

There are only 50 gene combinations that control a breed's appearance in size, shape, fur types, ear positions

and shape, color and etc.  Within those 50 gene combinations lies the secret to perfect V-shaped Natural

Erect Ears to the hound dog type drooped ears and it lies within only one gene on the CFA10 or Chromosone 10.

Dogs with drooped ears were originally genetic mutations from Erect Earred lineage.

Once the mutation occurred however and humans allowed the breeding of the mutation then the gene pool was set

to be able to produce both Natural Erect Ear and Drooped Earred dogs.

The Natural Erect Ear was named as such due to it's Natural State as seen on the Wolf.

The NEE is a recessive gene therefore the dog must have 2 copies of the NEE to have NEE.

2 NEE parents mated together should produce NEE offspring unless a mutation for drooped ears occurs.

There are a variety of ear sets:  Erect, Drop, Tipped, Rose Ears, Half Set, and combinations where a dog has 2 ear set types.

​Many breeds allow any type ear set in their breed standard.

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Eye  Color:

The dominant eye color for dogs is brown.

A number of genes affect eye colour in dogs.

There are a variety of eye colors such as:

1.  Amber:

Occurs mainly when the eumelanin produced by the dog is diluted or modified by the B or D (*dilution) gene.

Brown, Blue and Isabella coloured dogs will have Amber eyes.

Amber is considered to be anything from a light brown to a yellow, yellow-green or grey eye.

Occasionally occurs on black pigmented dogs producing "Copper" eyes.

2.  Blue:

There are 4 genetic ways for a dog to have blue eyes.

The most common is the side effect of the merle gene which dilutes random part of the pigment of the eye.

A split eyes has some blue in it and the rest brown or amber.

A Wall Eye technically known as heterochromia are dogs with one blue eye and one brown or amber eye.

A double merle (*homozygous) have a higher percentage of Blue eyes.

Dogs with large amount of white around its eyes are more prone to have blue eyes as the white areas are

unable to produce pigment.

Inheritance of a completely separate gene such as seen in the Siberian Husky where coat color

and pigmentation are inherited separately.

The HPA list in their breed standards acceptable eye colors of: Blue, Green/Gold and Dark.

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 Coat Colors & Patterns:

Coats:

There are 3 Main Coat Colours in dogs being Black, Red and Brown.

All other colors are dilutions or modifications to these 3 colors.

1.  Black - Recessive - Found on the K and A Series

2.  Red - Found on the A Series (*often referred to as Sable)

3.  Brown - Recessive found on the B Series

Some of the Diluted or Modified Colours of these 3 are:

1.  Blue - Dilution of Black - Recessive - Found on the D Series

2.  Fawn - Dilution of Brown - Recessive - Found on the D Series

3.  Tan -   - Recessive 

4.  Blue/Fawn -  Recessive

Patterns:

Brindle - Kbr - A Striped Coat - Found on the K Series - Can be in dominant or recessive gene form depending

on the breed which it is associated with.  In the Rat Terrier and Harlequin Pinscher however the brindle gene has

only be known to be dominant in nature meaning AT LEAST ONE parent must be brindle to get brindle offspring.

Progressive Greying - Where the coat turns from a black to a blue as seen in Yorkshire Terriers.  Found on the G Series.

Merle - Gene modifies the coat to a lighter colour, leaving patches of the original coat colour.  Merle effects only

eumelanin thus Black, Brown, Blue and Fawn coats are noticeably merle in pattern.  Red is Phaeomelanin

and often times the Merle gene is not easily noticed on a Red coat.

Merle Modifiers (*Harlequin & Tweed):

​Merle is a dominant gene in all breeds therefore AT LEAST ONE parent must be merle in order to get Merle offspring.

TWEED:  - A merle gene modifier when inherited along with the merle gene causes a varying shade of patches on the coat.

If the merle gene is not present the merle modifiers will go unnoticed.

It is believed Merle Modifiers are located on their own locii.

HARLEQUIN: - Modifier which turns areas between the dark patches on a merle to pure white including Reds.  

It is a dominant gene and is inherited separately to merle.  

The Harlequin Gene requires the presence of the Merle gene in order to work. 

Found on the H Series.

Please note the HARLEQUIN gene as known to Great Danes is not the same MH gene as found in

the Harlequin Pinscher.

HOMOZYGOUS  MERLE: - The expression of merle combined with the extreme modification causing patches of white.

The ACR/HPA does not condone the breeding of merle to merle or double merles therefore have taken

the stand of not registering litters or animals of Double Merle Status. 

 White Spotting -  Found on the S Series - Can express itself in varying degrees from:

Tri: - Small amount of white usually on toes, chest, chin and forehead.  Sometimes these markings are caused by

pigment migration interruption during embryo development but if the markings are found to be predisposed to

markings then it most likely is the lowest form of the Piebald gene being TRI.

Tuxedo: Also known as Irish Spotting - Where there is a white pattern on feet, chest and a partial to full collar.  

A tuxedo patterned dog looks to be wearing a Tuxedo when stood on its hind legs.

PIEBALD: -  A white base coat with patches of unconnected colour.  A dog with a spotted coat.  

Extreme white Piebald as seen in some breeds, such as the White Bull Terrier & Boxer,  may cause deafness due to

lack of pigment in the inner ear.

Ticking: also known as Roan -  The inheritance of very small dots of colour throughout the coat.  

Ticking can be from black to grey to red.   ​​

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 ~ ~ ~ REGISTRIES ~ ~ ~

​Let me state that I have used many dog registries over the years and left them for good cause for one reason or another.

​I have NEVER been banned, suspended or fined by any of them.

​Let me rephrase "TO DATE, as of this writing, I have never been banned, suspended or fined by any of them." 

After posting this I may be banned by them all !!!! 

​I have been around dogs and registries for a LONG time!

​I didn't develop a Registry because I got banned from another.

​There are more registries today than you can shake a stick at.  Some good - some not so good, Some superior in

their field some mediocre and others inferior.  I found 102 different Clubs/Associations/Registries just from a simple search

of the internet.  Some registries only register a single breed thus called a 'breed registry' while others register 

only established purebreds; some register anything you want to send in and others do something in-between.

I personally choose a registry which has established and stable breed standards that won't be changed at the whims of a few

every time the regiment changes.  A registry that establishes it's own breed standards and not by a revolving membership of a given

Breed Club.  A registry that isn't prone to caving in to a single minority group of breeders who want a given size or color/pattern

made a fault or disqualification in an established breed standard where it already exist and worst yet has already sold a set

​of papers to the owner of that animal recalling the papers based on size, color or pattern that YESTERDAY was a qualified

​part of the breeds standard.  I choose a registry that sells me a documented set of papers with a truly given Color & Pattern

​listed on it that allows me to SHOW that animal just as any other animal of the breed that gets issued papers from that registry.

​The only reason a dog with issued papers shouldn't be allowed to show is if it has disqualifying health issues or poor conformation.
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​HARLEQUIN PINSCHER ASSOCIATION - aka HPA ... I use HPA to register my Harlequin Pinschers (*fancy looking Min Pins). 

All of our pups from Harlie bloodlines are registered as Harlequin Pinschers and not Miniature Pinschers.

In Aprl 2023 we made the conscious decision to register all our Harlie bloodline as Harlequin Pinschers

to prevent the misconception of them being out of Purebred Min Pin lineage.

HPA does not allow dual registration of Harlequin Pinschers from 

other registries thus assuring every buyer their pups are Harlies documented back to the

founding animals.  HPA does not accept dual registration of Min Pins from any registry that allows Foundation/Single Registration

nor do they accept AKC Conditional Registered Animals.

I am the developing and founding breeder of the resurrection of the extinct Harlequin Pinscher.

​I am the catalyst for the reason the HPA was formed to establish a documented lineage database which to work toward

purebred status of the Miniature Pinscher ​and patterned Rat Terrier cross to develop a new breed known as Harlequin Pinscher.

​After years of  breeding, documentation, testing, hurdle jumping and complying with a variety of rules and regulations the

Harlequin Pinscher breed and the HPA database was accepted into the ACR family of registries as a purebred breed of record.
HPA is solely ran by the ACR family of registries. 

HPA has the only founding pedigree database for the Harlequin Pinscher​ and the only certified pedigree ​database

approved by the founding breeder.

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~ ~ ~   DIFFERENCE IN REGISTRIES   ~ ~ ~

First Question is very important and apparent!

Is there a difference?

​Without a doubt there are differences!

Ask yourself some very import questions and then FIND the true answers to those questions.

1.  What is the purpose of a registry?

A.  To issue a set of papers based on a numerical system.

2.  What information is used to issue those papers?

A.  The initial information comes from the individual requesting the papers.

i.  thus the information is only as accurate as provided.

ii.  Unscrupulous individuals know how to work the system especially with registries

that accept Foundation/Single Registration (*CKC & NAPR to name 2) and those registries that

allow handwritten Pedigrees to be submitted. 

While I realize it is totally unrealistic to even believe some registries allow you to just

slap a Pedigree on ANY dog you choose to say it belongs to -

IT IS BEING DONE.
Pedigrees can easily be downloaded from the web by unscrupulous breeders and used with

some registries as a Fraudulent Pedigree for their registered mutts.
(*I know for a fact it happens as a lady took my pedigrees, years ago, and used them as Pedigrees on her mutts

with CKC and CKC refused to even discuss the matter with me.)

Unscrupulous breeders KNOW how easy it is to get Papers with Pedigrees.

1.  CKC or any registry with foundation/single registration - simply fill out their forms and submit.

2.  Take those CKC or other registry papers with Pedigree to ANY Registry with open(*no restrictions)

dual registration and wa-la ... You now have a MUTT registered with 2 (*or more) registries. 

On the average it will cost you less than $20.00.

Congratulations - you have expertly worked the system!

3.  What is Foundation/Single Registration?

A.  It's the process of allowing somebody to submit paperwork and claim a dog is a given breed

when there is NO  proof to stand behind it.

ii.  Unscrupulous Breeders have long used Foundation/Single Registration to register

unknown breed/lineage dogs (*MUTTS).

They in-turn sell these Mutts to unsuspecting Puppy Buyers.

iii.  Registries allowing Foundation/Single Registration are prime examples of 'MONEY"

being the bottom line - NOT Integrity, Honesty or Survival of TRUE PUREBREDs IMHO.

iv.  Breeders using these registries and/or methods of registration condone the scamming

of puppy buyers believing they are buying Purebred animals IMHO.

NEVER BUY A PUP with Papers from a registry allowing Foundation/Single Registration.

​NEVER buy a pup from a Breeder "SELLING" with "Limited Registration".

ALL of the above is "WHY" HPA does not accept any so-called Harlequin Pinscher

for dual registration.  HPA stands alone as the sole Registry with the full documentation

of PUREBRED Harlequin Pinschers back to the founding dogs - Bar None.

Even AKC allows dogs that have flunked their DNA parentage test to stay within their mist.
​These dogs are allowed to STAY in the AKC database as a Purebred dog and is allowed to continued to be used for breeding.

These dogs are given a "Conditional Registration" and 3 generations later are back to Full AKC papers leaving

the buyers of these likely crossbred dogs unknowingly purchasing a crossbred dog instead of a Purebred.
AKC puts a "Q" in front of the registration number of the animal symbolizing a dog who has unknown parentage.
How many buyers KNOW how the AKC system works? 

Not many which works out wonderfully for both AKC and the unscrupulous breeder.

​Our AKC Min Pins have full accredited AKC papers with lengthy documented pedigrees.

3.  Probably the MOST Important of all - WHY was the Registry Founded?

i.  Was it founded as no other existed in the United States for the Breed?​

ii.  Was it founded to develop a New Breed?  Color/Pattern?

HPA was founded for this very reason.

​ 4.   Was the Registry founded to accomodate a small group of breeders who are

no longer welcome in an established founding registry?

4a.  Board Members appointed themselves "PERMANENT" Board Members?

4b.  Registry charges a Voting Membership fee but gives themselves the power to OVER-RIDE all votes.

BIG Red FLAG imho!

​These Type Registries you probably want to avoid .

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"Know the Facts about Merle Genetics"

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