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of the First Generation
"Translated by Karin Heger, Edited by Susan Wenck"
In the first four to five generations, according to the records in the Dayton database, the only colors were seal and chocolate. The colors of lilac and blue were created during the 5th and 6th generations as a result of cross breeding, just as it is done today to achieve the colors of chocolate and lilac.
In those times, no genotype could be determined through testing. Because breeders did not know which seal animal of a litter would carry the dilution gene, it was a challenge to achieve the blue and the lilac colors as a pairing result.
Performed in England, the 1980s test-mating of Denny Dayton's stud “Blossom Times Bananas” and a lilac queen of another breed was conducted to learn which color gene “Bananas” carried. Dayton assumed that the stud was lilac. And since all resulting progeny were lilac, Dayton had been proven correct. Lilac bred with lilac will result in lilac.
The English breeders were careful to protect the lilac line in the first few months, meaning that none of that particular progeny was taken into the Ragdoll breeding program. The English were very proud of this new breed. During the first few years of the Ragdoll breeding in Europe, the English were extremely influential because they already had a proven record of successful breeding.
Sadly, there are breeders today who believe that the colors of lilac and chocolate are not colors that originated from the base color of seal. With the base colors being black (seal), white and red, the first two generations of Ragdolls had to be seal and chocolate! How else should those colors have been produced?
In 1975, with the four colors (seal, blue, chocolate, lilac) and the three patterns (color point, mitted, bicolor), Ann Baker was able to have her point breed patented under the name “Ragdoll”.
Only the progeny, which can be traced to those ancestors, plus a few “Purple Heathers” and “Blue Mountains”, which were added to the database by Denny Dayton, can be considered Original-Ragdolls.
Please note that in order to achieve the new colors and patterns below-listed results, Ragdolls had to be crossed with other breeds:
– base color of red diluted with crème
– 'tiger' fur pattern of tabby, lynx, or tortie, as well as the new patterns
– eye colors of yellow and green
– Ragdolls without the point pattern, mink, sepia or other patterns that may be created in the
future Calculated cross breeding had been performed in the past, but is most likely still being practiced today. Many of these specific crossed animals cannot be genetically traced to the initial animals, and therefore cannot be considered as pure-breds and are no longer Original-Ragdolls.
Careful!
Remember, that even a Ragdoll with the cattery name “Raggedy Ann” (from Ann Baker's cattery) is not necessarily an “Original-Ragdoll”. Ann Baker bred several breeds under her cattery name “Raggedy Ann”, including the breeds “Ragdolls”, “Honeybears”, “Persians”, “Cherubims”, etc. It is important to understand that not all cats from these different breeds were Ragdolls, nor do they necessarily have their origin from Josephine. These days it is common for a breeder to use only one cattery name even if they foster different breeds.
So much for “Everything started with Josephine!”
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