Alba and white dogs  
 
 
       
 



 

I am slowly building a collection of white dogs,   of which Alba is one.   For me a white animal is the ultimate sign of domesticity.   When they do occur in nature it is something rare and freakish,  chances of survival are slim due to their visibility,   and their rarity makes them something special,   like Snowflake the white gorilla in Barcelona zoo   (who sadly passed away last year of skin cancer).   Albinism in most animals is rare,  yet we have produced whole races of them,   mice, rabbits and ferrets to name a few.   Some zoos encourage albinism in certain species, like the tiger,  for example, because it is a crowd puller.

My feeling when I see albino rabbits,  or any other domestic albino,  is that they have been de-natured,  they look all neat and clean,  just like the laboratories that breed them.

The issue of albinism in dogs is exceedingly complex,  whether a dog is a white dog or albino depends on the skin pigmentation,  not just the fur.   In some breeds they are expected to be white,  like the sameyode, but there are other breeds that if they were white, they would be albino,  like the Dobermann Pinscher.   (if you are interested in looking at a white dobermann then go to www.whitedobes.com).    

There are in fact three different distinctions of white dogs:  there are dogs with white fur,  but dark skin, like poodles,  or dogs that in their white form are extreme forms of piebaldism such as the english bull terrier,  where they often have very small patches of colour,  dark eyes and a black nose,  then there is the albino, which is completely white with pale eyes and nose, though it should be said at this point that there is a form of dicolouration called leucism,  where the colour is weakened due to the fact that less melanin is produced, than would occur normally.

The fact is that white dogs can look freakish,  glamorous,  weird and sometimes,  plain ugly. Apart from being a cultured colour,  rather than a natural colour;  it has an unworldliness.   To see an albino dog with it's pink nose and china blue eyes, is like looking at a ghost of a dog.   It looks alien in the natural world,  ethereal and out of place.   Beautiful or ugly,  white dogs are a perfect symbol of genetic manipulation.

You may also be interested to read about colouring in
Siamese cats /
Harlequin Great Danes

 
     
     
     
     
     
     


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       
  Alba and white dogs  
 
 
       
 



 

I am slowly building a collection of white dogs,   of which Alba is one.   For me a white animal is the ultimate sign of domesticity.   When they do occur in nature it is something rare and freakish,  chances of survival are slim due to their visibility,   and their rarity makes them something special,   like Snowflake the white gorilla in Barcelona zoo   (who sadly passed away last year of skin cancer).   Albinism in most animals is rare,  yet we have produced whole races of them,   mice, rabbits and ferrets to name a few.   Some zoos encourage albinism in certain species, like the tiger,  for example, because it is a crowd puller.

My feeling when I see albino rabbits,  or any other domestic albino,  is that they have been de-natured,  they look all neat and clean,  just like the laboratories that breed them.

The issue of albinism in dogs is exceedingly complex,  whether a dog is a white dog or albino depends on the skin pigmentation,  not just the fur.   In some breeds they are expected to be white,  like the sameyode, but there are other breeds that if they were white, they would be albino,  like the Dobermann Pinscher.   (if you are interested in looking at a white dobermann then go to www.whitedobes.com).    

There are in fact three different distinctions of white dogs:  there are dogs with white fur,  but dark skin, like poodles,  or dogs that in their white form are extreme forms of piebaldism such as the english bull terrier,  where they often have very small patches of colour,  dark eyes and a black nose,  then there is the albino, which is completely white with pale eyes and nose, though it should be said at this point that there is a form of dicolouration called leucism,  where the colour is weakened due to the fact that less melanin is produced, than would occur normally.

The fact is that white dogs can look freakish,  glamorous,  weird and sometimes,  plain ugly. Apart from being a cultured colour,  rather than a natural colour;  it has an unworldliness.   To see an albino dog with it's pink nose and china blue eyes, is like looking at a ghost of a dog.   It looks alien in the natural world,  ethereal and out of place.   Beautiful or ugly,  white dogs are a perfect symbol of genetic manipulation.