So I have a couple of questions about the color of my pups. The first is about agouti (so?). I know that it doesn't refer to a specific color but the band on a single strand. My question is would it still be agouti if some strands are banded but others are not?? I regularly find strands from Nikita that are white, black, white. But also just white with a black top. 

The second is about Archer. He is two different colors! His upper back is a dark red with guard hairs and a normal coat. The back half is light and more of his puppy coat. He's been like this for quite a while, no matter how much I brush him. He's shedding a ton so I know he's losing his puppy coat but is it normal for him to be in this stage for this long? Would his diet have anything to do with it? 

Nikita's strands


Archer's multi shaded back

Can you put the banded hair on a white sheet of paper and take a close up, i wouldnt be surprised if its a light cream. But if the hair wasnt from a husky id say brindle.

I got 3 of each pretty. The lighting in my house is terrible and it's too windy outside to attempt to take the pictures there. But I was able to get a few! And I promise these were all off of Nikita.

So with with genetics in general not specific to a breed "The agouti series is a set of genes in certaindogs that determines which cells produce black pigmentation. Four different genes exist in the in the series: sable, wildtype, tan points and recessive black. These can result in a range of coat patterns." So its related to the recessive black gene and from a genetic standpoint it is found in virtually every creature on the planet. The recessive black is very interesting it comes into play with dilute colors. In alot of dogs recessive black is seen with the blue color, brindle or agouti dogs. With german shepherds there is no distinction between brindle and agouti, they are considered the same color, huskies are not the same in the brindle regard because agouti is accepted and brindle is not. The real answer would require a genetic screen for the 4 specific alleles.

It's normal that some of the strands are banded and some are not.  A typical visual indicator of an agouti besides the banded hairs is a dirty face, but the only way to verify an agouti is with genetics testing.

As for his puppy fur, the butt seems to always be the last patch to go. I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks @LostManiac! I always love learning new things. I'll probably never know for sure but it's good to know a few basics. Didn't you do something with genetics?? Or was it intelligence??

I'd love to do the embark test on Nikita since we have very little background on her but I can't afford right now but hopefully this time next year I can. Maybe one day I'll get one on Archer too. I know his background but not his health history.

Thanks @kavik_the_Havoc! It's good to know that both of my dogs are normal. Well, normal in appearance at least! They're pretty weird personality wise. I never saw a husky that looked like Nikita until I got her and now I see them everywhere!

Both genetics and pre vet before i got hurt 3 years into collge so ended up with a bunch of useless degrees ill never use in homeland security and information and tech systems security. Had a big company and was training and showing thoroughbreds and i got hurt again. Turns out sitting was just as bad as physical labor for my spine so i retired at 28. The va pays well so i dont have to work. Actually id like a job but everything im really good at my back wont handle and it would be devastating to lose medicare

My boyfriend has an old back injury from football. It doesn't sound like it's as bad as yours but I know it limits him a lot. I couldn't imagine not working. How do you keep sane?? Have you tried photography?? I've got another year before I graduate with my bachelor's and Masters and I'm already ready to quit. I am in desperate need of a vacation but that won't be happening any time soon.

So i play with 3dsmax alot. I build 3d worlds then i do still photography on my world. Takes about a year to build. Also hubby is disabled vet so im actually kinda busy even with no job because jerry doesn't drive and everything is atleast 50 moles away

I've never heard of 3dsmax. I just looked it up and it looks awesome! At least you're able to stay busy and productive. I'm sure your dogs keep you busy too! I know my 2 do, can't imagine with 4.

Me and the German shepherd both need to lose weight. So less offroading and more hiking. Took him to the vet yesterday because he is having issues walking. Not hip dysplasia but he is 27lbs overweight

I'm glad to hear it's not hip dysplasia. I know you were really worried that it was. I have the opposite problem. Archer needs to gain weight. He hasn't gained an ounce since his neuter almost 4 months ago.

Spider as big as she looks only weighs 47 lbs. My vet office has a nutritionalist and i learned that the feeding guidelines on the bag are for intact animals and that sterilized animals need 15 to 20% less food then an intact animal. None of my animals started getting fat until around thier 5th birthdays. Shadow until 2 years ago people thought i didnt feed enough. Weird not going into the vet office but they have coronavirus precautions. I still cant believe i let shadow get so overweight but after he was neutered he started eating treats and tablefood and he never did that before the neuter. I feel bad because its my fault hes so fat.

My parents think I don't feed my dogs enough. But most dogs in America are overweight. I actually had to get Nikita to lose a few pounds and once I accomplished that I almost let my dad talk me into upping her food again. But I noticed her poop was going soft so I bumped her back now and everything is good again. She's about 45 pounds and Archer is 41. He's quite a bit taller than her so theoretically he should weigh more but I can't get him to gain it. It was weird having to drop them off for me too. I'm friends with most of the techs and have worked with a few so it was odd not being able to talk to them very much. It's hard to keep them at a healthy weight, I know I always want to give them more food because it makes them happy.

3 of my 4 are overweight and with groceries being an issue during the pandemic so are me and jerry. They put limits on what you can buy if its not in a can or box. I can get 1 pkg of chicken and 1 of beef and 1 ground beef. So thats 3 meals, and it costs approximately $30 in gas just to get to the grocery store so ive been eating and buying carbs like bread and pasta and ive never done that before. Its even effecting the dogs. Usually they get veggies like broccoli and cauliflower and berries as treats and now they are getting actual dog treats and it seems like across the board the energy level is down.

I would have had them do alot more if i had been inside. My vet office does the minimum unless you directly ask for things. Its the area my vet office is in. most people are really really poor here especially right now. Im in a slightly different financial situation then the majority of the valley because if i cant afford something at the vet i can call my mom or my uncle's animal hospital. Both of them will pay and give me a repayment plan if i cant afford it.

If they keep doing the drop them off thing i may just break down and pay the $400 fee to have them come to the house and do all 4 at once instead of 1 at a time.

The groceries aren't as strict as that where I am. I think it's mostly just limiting toilet paper and cleaning supplies. We're normally able to get meat and other stuff. We also have deer meat if worse comes to worse. I buy training treats since they're small and I've started using their kibble for training. And I also make special treats. I have a pumpkin flavored one and a peanut butter one. With only 2 that get them every now and then they last quite a while.

I wish I would've spread out all the vaccines. With everything it was double what I expected to pay. And Nikita had a bad reaction to them. So I'll have to spread them in the future to find out which one it was. If they were just gonna stay in the yard I wouldn't worry so much about the vaccines but they go to daycare and dog parks and walks so I'd like to keep them safe.

I'm not sure if my vet is doing house calls but since mine are good for the next 6 months I should be fine as long as an emergency doesn't come up. I do need to get Archer weighed again for May's flea and tick meds now that I think about it.

For 5 counties we have 2 real sized grocery stores for roughly 18k people. We have some smaller ones that are mom and pop types and way expensive or have a very limited selection.

Right now i have the full moon farms training treats, tried blue buff wild bits and buckley training treats. I dont know if my dogs like peanut butter things, im allergic so we have a peanut free house. Spider is really bad about needing treats to get her in the house if coming in isn't her idea. And shes fine but i feel like everyone needs one if she gets one.

We do have lots of cows and bison and several private slaughter houses/ processors and a place that does farm raised elk. We may be stuck with meat and potatoes if the food chain collapses. Oh and beer because they grow hops and barley here also. Ironically we dont have a paper shortage.

Running out of food at the grocery store happens here every summer during tourist season. Last 4th of july i drove 200 miles to get hamburger buns all the way in Durango. In summer we just plan for the food to run out. That was how i discovered that i really like Albertsons especially when they have the buy 1 get 2 free sales.

We have probably 20 in a 20 minute drive. We're right outside a city and most of the smaller surrounding towns have either a dollar general or a brookshires so groceries aren't that much a problem.

I use Zuke's training treats. Right now I have their salmon flavored ones and the dogs love them. The special treats stay in a mason jar on the counter so they're easy to get to. They're mostly used for when Nikita gets something she shouldn't and drops it when I tell her to. We've been working on her drop it command for a while. Now I think it's time to start doing it for leave it. I try not to give Archer one at the same time but if I do I make it him sit and shake so he's at least working for it like Nikita did. I try not to give them more than one a day of those. The training treats I use for introducing new things or harder environments for solid tricks. After they get the hang of it, its kibble with maybe a few mixed in to keep it interesting.

We eat a lot of fried food at my house. We have homemade french fries just about every night. And spaghetti and cheese or Mac and cheese. Mom constantly says she's going on a diet but my dad is such a picky eater that it never last more than a week before she runs out of stuff he'll eat.

Maybe if the treats are big enough you could give Spider one for coming inside then break one up for the others. That way they're still getting a treat but just not as much.

Yeah jerry is really picky, with him its colors or in the case of lamb reminds him of the lambchop character. He totally tripped out when i got blue potatoes. We dont really fry anything except when i do home made potato chips. I also dont do pork unless its bacon or someone else cooked it. We eat bbq alot. Its what i get for marrying a texan

Blue potatoes?! I could understand that. It took me years to eat colored tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants. I'm picky but more of textures and temperatures. If it's meant to hot I absolutely will not eat it cold and most of the time won't eat warm either. I'm from Louisiana originally so I'll eat anything Cajun or spicy. Mom just got an air fryer so now it's a little healthier.. when she remembers to use it. I prefer beef and seafood. Chicken and pork are okay. I'll eat them but they're not my favorite. I'm not even that big of a fan of bacon. BBQ ribs are about the only BBQ I really like. Well that and baked beans, I could eat those all the time!

Home made potato chips sound good! I just got a dehydrator and have made some veggie and fruit chips that turned amazing. I also made deer jerky which was pretty good for my first time. I'd like to make some stuff for the dogs in it but they require quite a bit of time that I don't have. Most times if I start it at night, they're not done before I go to work the next morning. And if I start it before work, they're not done before it's time for bed. I'm not waking up at 1 in the morning just for some dog treats that may or may not need an other hour. I wish I had one with a timer but one day I will.

Im in potato country and its amazing how many types of potatoes there are. I did red white and blue pot roast and because of colored potatoes he wouldtn touch any of it. Jerry loves loaded mashed potatoes so once a month i make about 10 lbs of it and freeze it in single sized portions. I love fish but other then the usual frozen stuff (salmon/tuna/tilapia) i moved to the wrong part of the country. I grew up in south Florida mostly and i keep trying to get my relatives to mail me snapper and yellowtail.

My oven has a dehydrator setting that ive never tried.

Shrimp and crawfish are my favorite but crawfish is only in season in the spring so I don't get it very often because of everyone's schedules. I'm better at trying new things now than I used to be. I actually tried rabbit for the first in New Orleans at the end of February.

I tried dehydrating in our oven but I was very new and sliced them too thin then cooked them too fast and too hot. Then my boss let me borrow his and so far everything has come out well and we can still use the oven for regular food while it's cooking. A lot of people use their ovens I just didn't read the directions carefully enough and found a recipe for not beginners. Slow and steady is better than fast and hot.

Shrimp i have... nice pink key west shrimp. I dont think ive ever tasted a crawfish. Had a few in my fishtank that i caught. I was looking at the current fish and hunting limits and supposedly we have crawfish here. If you catch it you have to kill it immediately. We have lots of trout but im not so much of a trout fan.

Crawfish is pretty big where I'm at. We buy them live from seafood restaurants and boil them. That's odd about having to kill them immediately. You're supposed to purge them before cooking and put them in boiling water while alive. It's an all day thing which is why we hardly do it. But it is so worth it. We make them really spicy. Throw in some shrimp, corn on the cob, and red potatoes and you've got a feast. I'm not sure what shrimp we normally get but I'm pretty sure we usually buy catfish. I could be wrong on that but I know when we were in Louisiana, we had a hunting lease and we'd catch them and cook them.