Well the seminar was fantastic! Claudia Orlandi did a wonderful presentation, and hands on demonstration. I think Cheyenne was disappointed though, she had a different idea on how we should have spent our afternoon 
Instead of just telling you about how good the seminar was I thought I would do a series on what I learned starting with the basics of genetics. I find the whole world of genes and how animals are put together absolutely fascinating, so here goes my first post of many, Genetics 101.
The father of genetics was Gregor Mendel through his work with plants and peas he discovered that traits don’t blend, you can find more information on him here.
Every dog has 78 chromosomes or 39 pairs in the cell of the nucleus, they are rod shaped structures. The 39th pair are the sex chromosomes and the other 38 pair are called autosomes; these determine things like the body structure and temperament. Along these chromosomes are the genes and they also come in pairs, one gene from each parent goes into making the puppy and the genes in each puppy of a litter are different.
Each pair of chromosomes are called homologous and the place a gene is located on the chromosome is called locus. There are dominant genes and recessive genes, when genes are the same either both dominant or both recessive they are called homozygous and are considered pure for a trait. Gene pairs that have one dominant and one recessive are called heterozygous, these are considered not pure. The dominant gene overrules the activity of the recessive gene.
Phenotype is the external appearance of the dog and genotype is the genetic make up of the dog. You can not tell by the phenotype what the genotype is because of the hidden recessive genes. So I will stop here and show you a few pictures from our day…
Cheyenne being examined
Our friend Chemmy
Maybe the ducks are over there…what no ducks
Watching the dogs
Hey where did everyone go
Chemmy and her mom
Cheyenne loves her Uncle Dave
So that’s it for today, stay tuned for more Genetics 101 in the weeks to come.
Misty Shores Chesapeakes 
Sounds like a very interesting seminar! I don’t think I would have faired well with all the genetics stuff though. So much to learn. Great picture of Cheyenne with her Uncle Dave. 🙂
LikeLike
It was and there is a lot to remember so I find myself referring to my books often 😉
Cheyenne does love her Uncle Dave, shhhhhhhhh don’t tell but I think it is because he has the ducks 🙂
LikeLike
I won’t remember any of those words, but I love learning more abt. How genetics works:)
LikeLike
I know it is a lot to remember and I have to go back and read it again and again sometimes 🙂
LikeLike
Very interesting post. Homozygous and heterozygous are amazing words – I have never heard of them before.
P.S. Tall person is always asking where his jeans are – after reading this post I will be able to tell him.
LikeLike
Those are very amazing words! Don’t forget to mention to tall person that half his jeans come from his dad and the other half from his mom 😉
LikeLike
I thought they came from Levi 🙂
LikeLike
yes yes, Levi dad and Levi mom 🙂
LikeLike
Sounds like you learned a lot. Nice pictures. I spotted Sara Shull and her curly coat in one of your pics. 🙂
LikeLike
🙂 she did an awesome presentation for first aid!
LikeLike
Ohhhhh….I love learning about genetics, especially the color aspect! I have to admit though that I need to read it over and over again and sometimes write it out on paper and then sometimes it clicks!
We are going to the Cobo show, are you going?
LikeLike
Same here about the genetics and yes will be at COBO on Sunday, I will be looking for you.
LikeLike
I wanted to let you know, that Leroy will not be benched with the Newfs, he’ll be in the Muti-Breed benching area with his handler. I saw today that the Chessies show at 8:45 on Sunday, the Newfs show at 8:30 so I will do my best to make it over to see the Chessies! If not hopefully i will see you around!
LikeLike
Ooooh this reminds me of Biology class, I used to know all of this stuff. My mom is quite good at the gene stuff as she breeds and shows canaries and has come up with her own interpretation of “type” that she breeds for and she pays attention to who caries what. pretty amazing considering she never cared about that stuff till canaries, and is an artist at heart.
Looking forward to reading more about this, thanks for sharing.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
LikeLike
Wow canaries that is cool! You should post some photos, or have you already?
LikeLike
I have not in a long time. I am trying to talk my mom into setting up a cage that we can rig with my camera. But it is breeding season so the males are all buff and sleek so they won’t represent their true type as well, due to being so wacked out for the girls. So it may need to wait till after. But I will dig around. You can see some in an album I made for her to show clients of for sale birds.. they are old shots and nothing fancy but it gives you an idea of what she breeds color wise..
http://akginspiration.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/Susans-Canaries/14976257_m4qchR#!i=1118554509&k=HF33U
I want to work on getting some in flight shots of the birds eventually.
A
LikeLike
They are gorgeous!! I really like the Varigated Cinnamon. I would love to see in flight, I hope you are able to capture that one day. Thanx for the link.
LikeLike
My person thinks genetics is fascination. Me, I don’t even wear jeans.
LikeLike
LOL Bongo 🙂
LikeLike
I never did get the sciences….genes….frustrate….me! Chromosomes, nucleaus, recessive, dominant, UGH! It’s all over my head. 😦
LikeLike
I used to think that too Jodi until I read Claudia’s book, she has written it in layman’s terms so it is very easy to understand. I find the whole thing so fascinating.
LikeLike