What are merle dogs mixed with?

The merle pattern is seen in combination with black tri, and the resulting dogs are blue merle tri. If you have your heart set on a merle Collie, chances are you will have an easier time finding a merle Smooth Collie puppy than a rough Collie.

Are merle and dapple the same?

Merle — that kaleidoscope of swirly patterns that has no two dogs looking alike. It’s one of the most beautiful coat patterns in the dog world. The merle (also called dapple) pattern is the pattern in which random splotches of dark pigment are overlaid over a lighter shade of the same color.

Can horses be merle?

The horses in the Pech Merle cave in southern France, painted during the Earth’s last Ice Age around 25,000 BCE, have long had a special fascination for anthropologists, mainly because of their mysterious spots. …

Is the merle gene dominant or recessive?

Merle is dominant, and so denoted by the capital letter M. Non-merle is recessive, and denoted by m. There are a number of different merle alleles, which are dealt with on their own page here.

How do you know if a dog has a merle Gene?

The merle gene creates mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat, blue or odd-colored eyes, and affects skin pigment. Recessive red dogs can also be affected by merle, but the patches are either hardly seen or (if the dog is a clear, recessive red) are not visible at all.

Is merle the same as brindle?

The brindle can also carry unseen colors. Merle and black are dominant genes. A blue merle has two blue genes as well as one merle but can carry others as well. Read more on Brindle.

Are brindle horses real?

Brindle is not a horse breed or a color but rather a specific coat pattern. Horses are well-known for their variety of colors. They can be found in shades of black, chestnut, bay, gray, and many others. However, one horse color that you may not have seen is brindle.

What breeds carry the merle gene?

The Merle pattern can be seen in various breeds, such as the Australian Shepherd Dog, Australian Koolie, Border Collie, Dachshund, French Bulldog, Louisiana Catahoula, Labradoodle, Miniature American Shepherd, Miniature Australian Shepherd, Pyrenean Shepherd, Rough Collie, Shetland Sheepdog, Welsh Sheepdog, Cardigan …

Can you breed 2 Blue merles?

A double merle is created when two merle dogs are bred together. It doesn’t matter what color merle or what breed they are. If two merle dogs are bred together, each puppy in the litter has a 25\% chance of being born a double merle.

Can you breed a merle with two merles?

A double merle can only be bred from two merles, as it requires an M gene from each parent. As merle is dominant, no dogs can be carriers of it – any dog with one M gene will be a merle. However, occasionally merle can be hidden by other genes.

What is a double merle?

Double merles are often referred to as “lethal whites”. This is an incorrect and misleading term. There is nothing lethal about the merle gene, it can just be problematic. Lethal white is a completely separate gene which does notoccur in dogs. It occurs in horses, and is recessive, unlike the dominant merle in dogs.

What is the risk of breeding double merles by accident?

The risk of breeding double merles by accident is always present. Heterozygote is “an individual having two different alleles of a particular gene or genes, and so giving rise to varying offspring”. Clear sable (a y) is another gene that hides merle patterns. Sable is the top dominant gene of the agouti (a locus) series.

What is merle colouration in dogs?

Merle colouration in dogs occurs because of the presence of a specific gene, commonly known simply as the merle gene, which is a heterozygote of an incomplete dominant gene. This means that mating a merle dog with a non-merle dog will result in a one in two chance of each resultant pup themselves being merles.