religionstudent11
New member
Today, let's learn about the panda pattern in German Shepherds! Though panda German Shepherds are often thought to be mixed breeds, the panda pattern is only present in German Shepherds. Let's get into why.
HISTORY:
The panda pattern was a mutation that first appeared on October 4th, 2000 when a puppy called ''Lewcinka's Franka Von Phenom'' was born. She was the only puppy out of the whole litter that had these unusual white markings and blue eyes (a picture of her will be posted in the comments). The pairing that produced her was repeated, but all of the puppies in the second litter turned out normal colored. Franka was DNA tested to see if she was mixed breed, but the results confirmed that she was indeed a purebred German Shepherd, though that is still up for debate to this day. Franka was health tested and later bred, with more panda puppies being born, meaning that panda is a dominant trait. Today, we can see pandas of different breeding paths and colors, some better and some worse, but if they truly are panda german shepherds (NOT piebald, those are 2 completely seperate and different genes), then they are all descendants of Franka.
GENETICS:
Panda is a new gene and not as researched as many others, but we do know some things about it. The panda marking is a result of a dominant mutation of the KIT gene, or the CD117 gene. The panda markings are NOT caused by the S gene that causes piebald or irish spotting. The way to correctly write a panda dog's genotype is to write N/P (A non-panda dog would be N/N). No homozygous panda (P/P or double panda) puppies have ever been born as they get absorbed in the womb.
So, how does panda look and what does it do? Panda removes pigment and turns some places of the dog white. The pattern is seen mostly on the dog's paws, legs, chest, neck, and muzzle. There have been no cases of pandas who have white past their shoulder blades or on their back. If you see a German Shepherd with white on their whole body (not recessive red), it is piebald, not panda.
The panda pattern can also cause lack of pigment in a dog's eyes, making them blue, like in the case of Franka. A panda dog can have either two normal color eyes, two blue eyes, 1 blue and 1 normal color eye, or sectoral heterochromia (which causes different sectors of an individuals eyes to be different colors) in one or both eyes. Blue eyes are mostly seen in pandas with white around their eyes or white close to their eyes. Their eye color isn't caused by crossbreeding and you can see this by comparing a blue eyed panda to it's non-panda offspring. The puppy won't have blue eyes as it doesn't lack pigment.
No color related deafness has been seen in panda German Shepherds.
As panda causes white on the dog's body, you can sometimes see ticking. It can be extreme and not look white (Like in Australian Cattle Dogs) or it can be almost fully white. Ticking can't be tested for so unless your dog has white on their body, you can't know if they carry for ticking or not. All panda puppies will be born with bright white on their coats, but they might develop ticking when they're older.
Panda is a pattern that can be on any other non true white color or pattern. That means that panda dogs can be black, blue, liver, isabella, sable, saddleback, etc, and even recessive red (although it would be harder to see, especially if the dog doesn't have blue eyes).
HEALTH:
There have been no color related health defects observed in panda German Shepherds.
The panda pattern itself doesn't have any health defects, but there is a controversy related to breeding pandas. Breeding a panda to a non-panda results in a 50% chance of panda puppies and 50% chance of non-panda puppies. However, breeding panda to panda results in a 25% chance of non-panda puppies, 50% chance of panda puppies, and 25% chance of double pandas, with the double panda puppies getting absorbed in the womb. This would mean that if puppies were born exactly with those odds, you'd lose 25% of the puppies before they're even born. This also means that in most panda to panda breedings, you're losing some or even all of the puppies, even if the mating was successful. Of course, this is not the same as merle to merle breeding in dogs like Border Collies where double merle puppies are often born and born with defects. And of course, as all pandas originate from a single dog, the two parents for sure are realted, closely or distantly. In any scenario, breeding panda to panda isn't worth it, even if no defected puppies can be born due to the pairing.
IN GERMAN SHEPHERDS:
The biggest problem for panda German Shepherds is actually misinformation. Uneducated people claiming that pandas are mixes is nothing new (especially given Franka's pedigree), but it's also not a big concern when it comes to education about panda GSDs. The real issue is incorrect articles, posts written like fact when the information is false. A good example of that is the constant claims that ''panda is the same as piebald'' which is very, very incorrect (I will be posting about piebald GSDs next). Another issue is that due to it being relatively new in the breed, it's not very well understood.
HISTORY:
The panda pattern was a mutation that first appeared on October 4th, 2000 when a puppy called ''Lewcinka's Franka Von Phenom'' was born. She was the only puppy out of the whole litter that had these unusual white markings and blue eyes (a picture of her will be posted in the comments). The pairing that produced her was repeated, but all of the puppies in the second litter turned out normal colored. Franka was DNA tested to see if she was mixed breed, but the results confirmed that she was indeed a purebred German Shepherd, though that is still up for debate to this day. Franka was health tested and later bred, with more panda puppies being born, meaning that panda is a dominant trait. Today, we can see pandas of different breeding paths and colors, some better and some worse, but if they truly are panda german shepherds (NOT piebald, those are 2 completely seperate and different genes), then they are all descendants of Franka.
GENETICS:
Panda is a new gene and not as researched as many others, but we do know some things about it. The panda marking is a result of a dominant mutation of the KIT gene, or the CD117 gene. The panda markings are NOT caused by the S gene that causes piebald or irish spotting. The way to correctly write a panda dog's genotype is to write N/P (A non-panda dog would be N/N). No homozygous panda (P/P or double panda) puppies have ever been born as they get absorbed in the womb.
So, how does panda look and what does it do? Panda removes pigment and turns some places of the dog white. The pattern is seen mostly on the dog's paws, legs, chest, neck, and muzzle. There have been no cases of pandas who have white past their shoulder blades or on their back. If you see a German Shepherd with white on their whole body (not recessive red), it is piebald, not panda.
The panda pattern can also cause lack of pigment in a dog's eyes, making them blue, like in the case of Franka. A panda dog can have either two normal color eyes, two blue eyes, 1 blue and 1 normal color eye, or sectoral heterochromia (which causes different sectors of an individuals eyes to be different colors) in one or both eyes. Blue eyes are mostly seen in pandas with white around their eyes or white close to their eyes. Their eye color isn't caused by crossbreeding and you can see this by comparing a blue eyed panda to it's non-panda offspring. The puppy won't have blue eyes as it doesn't lack pigment.
No color related deafness has been seen in panda German Shepherds.
As panda causes white on the dog's body, you can sometimes see ticking. It can be extreme and not look white (Like in Australian Cattle Dogs) or it can be almost fully white. Ticking can't be tested for so unless your dog has white on their body, you can't know if they carry for ticking or not. All panda puppies will be born with bright white on their coats, but they might develop ticking when they're older.
Panda is a pattern that can be on any other non true white color or pattern. That means that panda dogs can be black, blue, liver, isabella, sable, saddleback, etc, and even recessive red (although it would be harder to see, especially if the dog doesn't have blue eyes).
HEALTH:
There have been no color related health defects observed in panda German Shepherds.
The panda pattern itself doesn't have any health defects, but there is a controversy related to breeding pandas. Breeding a panda to a non-panda results in a 50% chance of panda puppies and 50% chance of non-panda puppies. However, breeding panda to panda results in a 25% chance of non-panda puppies, 50% chance of panda puppies, and 25% chance of double pandas, with the double panda puppies getting absorbed in the womb. This would mean that if puppies were born exactly with those odds, you'd lose 25% of the puppies before they're even born. This also means that in most panda to panda breedings, you're losing some or even all of the puppies, even if the mating was successful. Of course, this is not the same as merle to merle breeding in dogs like Border Collies where double merle puppies are often born and born with defects. And of course, as all pandas originate from a single dog, the two parents for sure are realted, closely or distantly. In any scenario, breeding panda to panda isn't worth it, even if no defected puppies can be born due to the pairing.
IN GERMAN SHEPHERDS:
The biggest problem for panda German Shepherds is actually misinformation. Uneducated people claiming that pandas are mixes is nothing new (especially given Franka's pedigree), but it's also not a big concern when it comes to education about panda GSDs. The real issue is incorrect articles, posts written like fact when the information is false. A good example of that is the constant claims that ''panda is the same as piebald'' which is very, very incorrect (I will be posting about piebald GSDs next). Another issue is that due to it being relatively new in the breed, it's not very well understood.