what does merle mean in dog color

While most likely all dogs are to some degree Merle a few are quite clear. With merle dogs you will usually see either blue merle or red merle coats.

Merle Dog Information Center Discover The Beauty And The Dangers

The lightening is not spread evenly over the coat but leaves patches of undiluted color scattered over the dogs body.

. The merle gene can affect skin pigment as well. What does merle mean in dogs. A coat of mottled white black or tan is the defining characteristic of a merle-colored dog.

What is a Merle Dog. The most defining characteristic of a merle dog is a mottled coat of black tan or white colors. All dogs are not the same.

A Merle is a genetic pattern caused by a genetic mutation that can change the dogs coat color eye color and health and its not breed-specific. MERLE COAT PATTERN EXPLAINED. A coat color pattern of some dogs such as the border collie dachshund and Great Dane that consists of a typically bluish- or reddish-gray mixed with splotches of black or reddish- brown and that occurs as a result of the lightening or dilution of the normal base coat color so that only dark patches of normal.

The typical presentation of the merle pattern is a solid-color coat usually black broken up with irregular patches of another color often gray. Merle is a genetic characteristic that expresses itself through the coat eye and paw color changes. If the dog inherits one Merle gene and one non-merle gene he is considered heterozygous Mm.

A coat color pattern of some dogs such as the border collie dachshund and Great Dane that consists of a typically bluish-. The merle gene dilutes random sections of the coat to a lighter colour usually grey in a black-pigmented dog leaving patches of the original colour remaining. Noun 2 plural merles.

The patches can be any size and can be located anywhere on the dog unlike the patches on a piebald dog which are generally confined to the body and head. Also the lightening seems to work primarily on the black pigment in the coat. Merle forms of black are called blue Blue merle dogs can be distinguished by the marbling of gray silver and black in their coat with some copper points possible on the face.

Tricolor dogs may look similar but typically lack the characteristic marbling of merle. They are dogs breeds with blue eyes or odd-colored eyes. A dog with two merle genes will be mainly white in color.

Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy with merle pattern. Merle is a dilution gene that is it lightens whatever the coat color would otherwise have been. We will call the Merle gene m and the non-merle gene M.

Merle is an incompletely dominant coat color pattern characterized by irregularly shaped patches of diluted pigment and solid color. Also the lightening seems to work primarily on the black pigment in the coat. The best example of the merle coloration is the typical blue merle coloring often seen in Australian Shepherds.

Red merle dogs are marbled light cinnamon to dark liver color with copper points on the face and legs. No two dogs with. What does merle mean in dogs.

The merle gene creates unique mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat along with blue or odd-colored eyes. The parents that are likely to have a Merle dog will have a dog that may be Merle as well. Merle is a dilution gene that is it lightens whatever the coat color would otherwise have been.

If your dog gets two copies of m the gene for Merle it is considered homozygous mm or double merle. Definition of merle Entry 2 of 2 1. The merle pattern is characterized by irregularly shaped patches with diluted pigment while other patches on the coat are fully pigmented in color.

The word merle describes a color pattern seen in certain breeds of dog. Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy with merle pattern. The lightening is not spread evenly over the coat but leaves patches of undiluted color scattered over the dogs body.

Merles arent different from standard dogs only that they are more beautiful and sadly prone to health issues such as deafness and blindness. Merle is an incompletely dominant coat color pattern characterized by irregularly shaped patches of diluted pigment and solid color. 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.

Merle is a genetic condition and it may seem like this would make it more difficult to determine the exact color of your dog.

M Locus Merle Merle Cryptic Merle