So, I’ve been thinking a lot about selection with my Russian Cinnamons lately, and talking to Kirstin about it. We’re both very disturbed by the tendacy that the new fad of Russian Cinnamon breeding has brought out (and can I say how much I HATE that my personal project color has become the “new thing?” I really really do!!) which is to say that something is either a “dark Russian Cinnamon or a light Russian Blue Agouti” and not being able to tell the difference.
There ARE dark Russian Cinnamons, who shade more toward Russian Blue Agoutis. And there’s been a whole mess of very light/reddish RBAs, way lighter than they should be. And this is the result of just one thing, in our opinion – mistakes and poor selection. Those of us who are trying to get Rcinn are selecting for light, reddish RBAs, thinking and hoping they’re Rcinns. Also, very light, gold Cinnamons, again, selecting them and hoping they’re Rcinns. We tell ourselves that “oh, they’re going through a dark phase,” and then when they moult into an adult coat, they’re a “darker” Rcinn, instead of being recognized for what they are – poor RBAs.
They’re poor because they don’t fit the standard.
This is the color an RBA should be. Yes, it’s reddish, and there’s gold highlights in it, but it is NOT Russian Cinnamon.
Here’s an Russian Cinnamon. They are not in the same ballpark. Russian Cinnamon is LIGHT and GOLD. That’s what the standard calls for: “Color to consist of a mixture of light gold, cream and brown hairs giving an overall golden and sparkling appearance on a pale silver-blue base. Undercoat to be pale down to the skin. Belly and foot should be a lighter, gray version of top color. Faults: Overly dark or diluted color, patchy or uneven ticking.” Dark Russian Cinnamons are not the right color, and in fact, I think we’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot by keeping poor Russian Blue Agoutis and calling them poor Russian Cinnamons!
I think that ruddiness is the issue. Russian Cinnamon doesn’t – or shouldn’t! – have ruddiness to it. But that sort of red/orange highlighting is common in RBAs. I’d like to see RBAs darker, and more than that, I think ruddiness in Rcinns should be heavily faulted by judges. We can select away from that, and we should be.
The selection should be obvious from the beginning – the very beginning, in fact. I’ve been mulling this over through the last year of litters, and it’s clearly where we’re going wrong. Russian Cinnamons are not dark-skinned babies. Russian Blues are. A Russian Cinnamon baby should not ever be mistaken for a Russian Blue Agouti – it should be mistaken, if anything, for a Dove, or for a Platinum Agouti. They are LIGHT. They start off SILVER and then turn GOLD as the ticking comes in. More and more, as I’ve seen these babies fur out, and get bred from and produce their own babies, I’m seeing what should have been obvious from the beginning.
It would have been easier, of course, if I had initially produced Russian Cinnamon on purpose, or realized what it was. At the time that Teacosy, my first Russian Cinnamon was born from NXPR Kaeman (Dove) and MAN Ha’Kan’Ta (Russian Blue Agouti) there WERE no other Russian Cinnamons identified in the US. I found the name and the genetic description on an Brittish rattery’s website. There were some people in the US producing “Golden Agoutis,” but they had not genetically identified them, nor had any club standardized them. And in fact, the immediate reaction to Teacosy’s identification was several breeders saying “Oh, THAT’S what I have!” …and promptly misidentifying RBAs as Rcinns.
If I had realized how rare and strange the color was and how much confusion it was going to cause, you can bet your bippy I would have documented that litter much more assiduously! Especially if I’d realized how hard it was going to be to successfully recreate it.
This is the only baby picture I have of Teacosy. You can tell she is NOT a Russian Blue Agouti. In fact, she could easily be mistaken for Dove, except for the ticking.
Here’s some more baby pictures. See if you can guess which ones were identified (or misidentified) as Russian Cinnamons.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
The answer? All of them. Every single one of those babies was identified by myself as a Russian Cinnamon or a possible Russian Cinnamon. #1 and #9 I now feel are definitely Russian Blue Agoutis. They are simply too dark. And they’ve moulted out to be very light (wrong to the standard) Russian Blue Agoutis who could be mistaken for bad/dark Russian Cinnamons. This is not a good thing, IMO.
About #6 and #7 I still have doubts – they are either bad Cinnamons or bad Russian Cinnamons. The red has faded from #7’s coat as an adult, and #6 is both red AND gold, giving her a very attractive “strawberry blonde” look that is nonetheless dead wrong for the standard. #2 is very strange – that strongly yellow color is not typical, but is the same as BVR-FSTR One Night of Song, who is a Russian Cinnamon Pearl – and since that is one of her daughters, maybe it comes from there. Regardless, I won’t be breeding 2, 6 or 7 – who are all siblings from that breeding – for other reasons, but if I had to judge on color, only #7 would still be in the running. The other two are simply wrong to the standard.
The other babies are the ones I feel are the actual, true and proper Russian Cinnamons. They don’t have dark eyespots when they’re born, and they never have dark fur. Their fur grows a gold tone as the ticking comes in, but primarily for most of the baby-coat phase they could be mistaken for Doves… which is correct, since they’re Dove Agoutis!
When selecting Russian Cinnamons from now on, these will be the babies that I consider to be actual Russian Cinnamons. And I’ll do my best to select out the ruddy ones, the ones who look like really over-bright Cinnamons but otherwise are also non-dark eyespotted and come in quite light at first. Whether or not these guys are Rcinn or Cinnamon, they’re definitely wrong to the Rcinn standard and shouldn’t be selected for.
