Albino Pits?

I was at the dogpark today with Loki, and we met this lady who had te most wonderful looking 3 year old pit. after talking with her for a while she told me how she was at a dog show, and was told that her dog was rare, and in fact albino. apparently you can tell by the eyes, which were the most beautiful color gold.

I was wondering if any of you have additional info on albino pits?
her dog seemed really healthy, but are there the same kind of health concerns as with albino dobie's? are they really all that rare?

 

The lady was feeding you a crock. Albinos are not rare, and her's wasn't albino because it had pigmented eyes. Albinos are dogs lacking in pigment, meaning their whole coat is white, pink nose, pink skin, and pink eyes. Albinos do have health problems, they can be deaf because they have no pigment and can have no pigment in their ears, also major skin problems from allergies and the sun, and possible temperament problems. The lady you were talking to probably just had a white dog, which is NOT the same as an albino and is also definately not rare either. My aunt had an all white boxer and it had temperament problems. At our vet hospital we get a lot of all white dogs with skin issues also.

 

WAY off the subject but last ngiht i went out to dinner and i swear a kid on the table across from us was an albino. he was about 6 or 7 and he had white hair and almost white skin. it was bizarre!

 

Yes they are "rare" and uncommon, true albinos that is. They should be culled from any breeding program and not allowed to reproduce. Albinism is a recessive trait. They carry serious health problems, their like walking health hazards although there may be some exceptions.

Albinos can suffer from
Deafness
Blindness
Skin problems/allergies/tumors
Cancers
Immune system
Kidney/Liver problems
Shorter life span

The person sounds like they are just BSing ya. If the dog had gold eyes its a white pit bull, not albino. Albinos have red or blue eyes.

 

tks for the info.
I hate being bs'd, next time i see her ima call her out!
then ill try to bs her bout how my black do is a rare reverse albino ^^

 

lol that will be great..lol

 

I think some tend to misinterpret things people tell them - it's not the dog that is "rare" (as in a rare breed) but the "trait".

 

someone take a look

I got this pit uesterday, i was told she was not full albino cause her eyes are not red, is this true? i got a pic. but i dunno how to poast it here[/img]

 

I havent ever heard of a half albino.

 

I have an all white pit bull with a pink nose and dark eyes. You would not believe the looks I get when I take her to the park. I think people are frightened of her. She is an absolute charamer though!

Copy and paste url to share AnnaBelle:
http://www.dogster.com/?92897

 

PS, the pink coloring is above her brown nose. TypeO sorry.

 

There seems to be some confusion here about what is or is not an albino dog. There are at least 50 mutations that result in a form of albinism in dogs. Some are more common than others, but none of them are all that common in the general population of dogs.

The OCA1A mutation is the one that pops into most people's minds when the albino is mentioned. This is sometimes called complete albinism. It is a mutation in the gene that is responsible for production of tyrosinase. OCA1A albinos are tyrosinase negative. They produce no pigment, and are white, with pink skin, pink eyes.

OCA1 albinos are tyrosinase positive, but are still true albinos, although they are sometimes referred to as incomplete albinos. They can be yellow, cream or pale red. The skin, eye rims, and pads of the feet will be pink, and eyes will be blue.

OCA2 albinos are tyrosinase positive, but they lack sufficiant melanosomes that carry the pigment molecules to show much color, and will be white, pale cream or yellow, with pink or blue eyes, depending on how many melanosomes are present.

Albinism doesn't just effect the production of pigment, however. It is a mutation that effects the whole body system. Albinos can have immune system defects, liver and kidney abnormalities, clotting defects, anemia, defects of the thymus gland, inner ear, skeleton, retina and optic nerve. They can also have osteopetrosis, megacolon, megaesophagus, spina bifida, neurological abnormalities and they are sometimes sterile. And of course they are prone to skin damage from the sun, and often die from malignant melanoma. Some forms of albinism are prenatally lethal, while other times the trait is lethal after birth, as the animal is too damaged to survive to adulthood.

Albinism is not concidered a normal genetic trait, but a serious defective mutation. In other words, it is not a naturally occuring color, but a mutated absence of color, and no responsible person would perpetuate the trait. Unfortunately, there are a lot of irresponsible people who are ignorant of how serious the condition is, and breed specifically for it because other equally ignorant people will pay way too much money to obtain this 'rare color'.

We recently had an albino Doberman in rescue. His color is pale cream, with pink skin and blue eyes. He is extremely shy, can't go outside longer than 10 minutes at a time, even on cloudy days, is allergic to just about everything in the world, can't see much past the end of his nose, and has some other health issues. I doubt he'll live past 6 years of age.