TO LEARN ABOUT MERLES
A lot of people are asking what is the " merle".
The merle is not the name of the dog, a merle is not a color.
It is the term used to describe the unique markings
of the coat.
The merle gene is a diluting gene that effects the dark coat
colors normally seen in dogs. This strong gene will combine
with the solid colors and create the merle pattern
- patches all over the dogs body.
In order for a dog to be a merle,
it MUST have one merle parent.
The dog with the merle gene may have blue eyes, or can
have one blue and one brown or even part blue and part
brown in one or both eyes.
NEVER breed two merles together, because there is 25 %
chance to produce a defective, homozygous double merles.
Their coat will be diluted twice.
A dog with a double merle gene will be white,
or may have a few merling spots.
These puppies can have a defective organs, and their
hearing and sight are almost always impaired,
or they  have no eyes at all.
The safe breeding for a merle is a non- merle mate,
and the best  is to use dark colors.
This breeding will produce all healthy puppies and
about half of them will be a merles.
Responsible merle breeding program can be very exciting
and good luck to all of you who want to try it...