Suwannee Cockers
The Place for Natural Merles and Sables
SUNCATCHER'S ZAFFRE ZECCHINO
The second that this little boy was born, one of five partis in a litter of seven pups, we knew that he was different. He was the smallest pup in the litter--smaller by half than the largest pup--but he has never been weak, and he has always been a scrapper, able to hold his own among the larger pups and dogs. Also we had never seen such markings on a Cocker pup before. So we did some online research and did find some similar markings--but on Calico cats, "Japanese Brindle" rabbits, and African wild dogs! Zecchino's DNA is currently being evaluated by a University genetics research lab, and we hope that this will soon give us some answers about Zecchino's unusual markings.
Zecchino is rather small, weighing only 16 pounds at 10 months old, and we will be surprised if he ever weights over 20 pounds. And in addition to his amazing markings, he has an engaging personality, being very friendly and outgoing, and he has become more of a house dog than some of our other dogs. We notice that the smaller dogs prefer the house more, whereas the larger dogs seem to prefer being outdoors more.
The partly pink nose is called a "butterfly nose," and it is a sign of a lot of dilution.
This picture, taken at seven months old, shows Zecchino's Blue Sable markings--the greyish spots--and some black spots on his back. Zecchino only has Blue Merle spots on his muzzle and on his tail, and his coat would be good for camouflage if he didn't have all of that white.
Zecchino, shown at ten months old, has just a tremendous coat, which fans out around him when he lies down.
Zecchino has a little black "love spot" on the top of his head, which is suppose to bring good luck to Spaniels and their owners, and it shows the exact place to kiss the dog on the head.
Zecchino as a newborn was small, but not skinny, and from the minute that he was born we were fascinated with his unusual markings.
Zecchino was only six inches long when he was born, but he was looking strong at five days old.
Zecchino at two weeks old was starting to show his really unusual markings.
Zecchino was starting to try to sit up at three weeks old.
Zecchino at three weeks old, finally sitting up, and this was about the time that we realized that his white areas were really very, very white, with no ticking at all.
Zecchino at twenty-five days old.
Zecchino at almost four weeks old, sitting up and checking out the world.
Zecchino at 30 days old, already showing the beginnings of his tremendous coat.
Zecchino, at about six weeks old, had big, bright blue eyes, and he still does. His name, Zaffre Zecchino, means "blue sequin," referring to his glittering blue eyes, and somewhat to his being a Blue Dilute Sable, as well as a Blue Merle.
Zecchino, at two months old, proving that he is a chip off of the old block, as his sire loves to fetch tennis balls.
When we clipped Zecchino, at about four months old, we were expecting Merle, not Calico! His lighter spots on his back eventually proved to be Blue Shaded Sable markings, which are rare, as black Sable dogs usually dilute to a mahogany red color, like our Max, unless there are other dilution genes involved, like the recessive dilution allele on the D Locus, sometimes called the Maltese Blue gene.
Zecchino has two beautiful big blue eyes, and one day we hope to have an actual in-focus picture of them, as he is very adept at closing his eyes just when we take a picture of him. So this picture will have to do for now.
Goodbye!
To see Zecchino's pedigree, please look at his sire's pedigree page and his dam's pedigree page.
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