What is a muddy merle?

What is a muddy merle?

A muddy merle dog has a black based coat just like the blue merle but with this color, the swirled areas appear to be tinted brown rather than blue. It is not uncommon for a muddy merle to develop into a standard blue merle appearance with age. Blue eyes are possible.

What color is merle blue?

A blue merle is a black dog whose coloring has been genetically diluted. Parts of his black coat remain intact, while other parts take on a bluish-grey color. Patches of solid color are normally irregular in shape and are located anywhere on the dog’s body.

What are the different colors of merle?

There are two general types of colored patches that will appear in a merle coat: liver (red merle) and black (blue merle). Some breeds that can be affected by this genetic trait are Carea Leonés, Australian Shepherds and Catahoula Leopard Dogs. This genetic trait should be taken seriously when breeding merles.

What is the difference between merle and blue merle?

A blue merle is a black dog with the merle pattern; a red merle is a liver dog with the merle pattern. One of each is a normal merle, a state midway between the two homozygous forms. There is also another version of this gene, called cryptic, that falls in dominance between the other two.

Why are merle dogs more expensive?

Why are merle dogs so expensive? In a nutshell, merle dogs are expensive because puppy buyers are willing to pay a lot of money for them. The pattern is very sought-after, and the more demand there is, the higher breeders can set their prices. In addition, merle breedings can be quite rare in some breeds.

Why are merle dogs bad?

It is known that merle coated dogs have a slightly increased risk of hearing problems, possibly due to the Silv gene. So when a dog inherits two copies of the gene, the risks of hearing problems would seem likely to double.

What does blue merle look like?

Blue merles can exhibit a range of coat markings. Some blue merle dogs will have a mostly gray-blue coat with a few small, black patches. The most common merle pattern and the one described in most breed standards is a coat that is approximately 50 percent merle, or gray-blue, and 50 percent black patches.

How do you tell if my dog is a blue merle?

In blue merle dogs, the color is mottled black atop black-and-white dilute hair. In red merles, the color is a mottled brown on top of lighter brown hair. You’ll still see patches of undiluted pigment over the dog’s body. The merle gene seems to affect mostly the black pigment.

Are merle dogs more expensive?

Merle dogs of any breed are likely to be more expensive than solid-colored dogs, even though a lot of responsible breeders try to change that. Depending on how rare the merle pattern is in the breed and how much the standard price for a puppy is, your merle dog might cost up to $3,000.

How much does a Blue Merle cost?

What’s the price point you can expect for a merle dog? The quick answer is – somewhere between $800 and $2,000, with an average of $1,300.

Can you breed a Blue Merle to a Blue Merle?

Why you shouldn’t breed two merle dogs together Merles are popular, so it seems only logical to breed two merles together to get more merles. No. Don’t do it. The merle pattern is produced when a dog has a single copy of the M< allele.

Should I buy a merle dog?

Yes – merle dogs can be just as healthy as dogs that have a solid color. They have the same life expectancy, they are just as strong and athletic and smart as their counterparts without the merle gene. In lines with responsible merle breedings, all offspring will be healthy and live a long life.