In a message dated 97-05-07 14:02:01 EDT, you write:

<< How would you breed for a saddleback sable in the ES? >>

It seems to be unclear how this inherits in relation to tricolor in collie
breeds.  It is recessive to sable.  Its relationship to tricolor could
possibly be determined by answering the following:
1. is it known whether a tricolor has been produced from two saddlebacks?
2. or, is it known whether a saddleback has been produced from two clearly
classic tricolor (or black and tan) parents?  If the answer to no. 1 is yes,
that would indicate tricolor is recessive; if the answer to no. 2 is yes,
that would indicate saddleback is recessive.  If yes to both, or if not
enough is known to answer yes to one or both, then the inheritance is unclear
-- we just don't have enough information yet to know for sure.

GSD breeders might be able to shed some light on this, since black and tan
does occur in GSD's, but is less common than saddleback.  Sable also occurs
in GSD's.  Willis says sable is dominant to black and tan and saddle, but
doesn't seem to clearly indicate which is dominant between just black and tan
and saddle.  His list of alleles under the A series indicates saddle is
dominant to black and tan by listing it first, but in the text he doesn't
clearly say whether one is strictly dominant to the other.

The best way would to be sure of getting saddlebacks would be to breed two
saddlebacks together.  Next choice would be a saddleback to a sable or
tricolor that has a saddleback parent or saddleback siblings.  Of course, in
any case, there are many more important factors to be taken into
consideration in breeding -- color can be considered in cases of "all other
things being equal."

Linda R.
Pacifica, CA