Merle,Doublemerleand"lethalwhite"

ByLaurenLeighWinnettonSaturday,January11,2014at3:49pm

MerleisaDominantgeneprovidingamottledcolorationwithvaryingdegreesofdilutionacross thecoatsometimesresultinginareasofcompletelackofcolornottobeassociatedormistaken withthewhiteextensiongenes(irish.mantle,pied,extremepied)andnottobeassociatedwith ticking.identificationcanbedonebylookingatthepatternofhowthecolorfallsoverthebody.

can2irish/mantlemarkeddogsproducepied?Yes. can2solidcoloredanimalsproducepied?YesSolidcolorationisdominant.

merleinitselfisNOTalethalgene.Lethalimplyingdeath.

amerledogbredtoamerlestandsthechanceofproducingwhatiscalleddoublemerle.which isNOTnecessarilythedogwiththemostwhiteoutofthelitterbutispossible.Doublemerle pupswillpossiblyhaveeye,earorneurologicalhealthconcerns(varyingdegreesofdeafness oreyedeformitiesandblindness).

soifitsnotLethalwhyaretheycalled"LethalWhite"whentheyaredoublemerle?

becauseofthebeliefthatitwillbethewhitepupthatwillhavethehealthconcernslabelingita doublemerleandthusthewhitepupisculledmakingit"Lethal"howevernotgeneticallyso.

whatarethechancesofadoublemerle?

Legend: Mm/MM=expressingmerle(MMdouble) mm=nonmerle

MMXMM=MM100% (alldoublemerle)

MmXMM 50%doublemerle 50%singlemerle

MmXMm 25%DoubleMerle 25%nonmerle 50%singlemerle

MMXmm

100%singlemerle

MmXmm 50%singlemerle 50%nonmerle

sowhatdoesitmeanifyoubred2soliddogsandproduceamerle?youhaveaVERY rareoccurencecalledCrypticmerleandunlessthedogsarefromthesamelineitisunlikelythe pupisdoublemerle.

whatareotherexplanationsofhighwhitecontentonthecoat? thewhiteextensiongenewhichoperatesseparatelyfromMerle.

irish/mantleisusuallyawhitepatternlikeyouwouldseeonabostonterrierormantlegreat dane.thisisnotalways"cleancut"markingssomehavewhatiscalled"wildirish"and"icing" thismantledane(irishsequence)carriesforbutdoesnotexpresspiebald.

Piebald,isawhiteextensioncodethatcanberecessivetoothercodesSolidnonwhitebeing dominanttoothersthatallowwhitethrough.Piedcanbestbeidentifiedascolorpatchesoverthe majorityoftheheadandatthetailbasethedogmayhaveastarorblazebutbothearsare coveredandgenerallybotheyes. thedogsontherightarebothpiebaldandshowcolorovertheirheadsandrear.

 Piebaldisnottobeconfusedwith"Extremepiebald"alsoknownas"Falsewhite" somebelievethisiseitherANOTHERvariationofthewhitegeneORadoublingupofthe piebaldgene. extremepiedcanlookVERYsimilartosomedoublemerleshavinglittletonocolorinno particularorder.

extremepiebaldNOmerlegeneinvolved.

 extremepiedwithtickingnomerlegene

thisdogiseitheradoublemerleORamerlewithextremepiebald(thoughtthestarbursteye mutationsaysdoublemerle)

canmerleandpiebaldbothbepresentinoneanimal?YES,irishmerle,piedmerle,and extremepiedmerledoexistandareNOTnecessarilydoublemerleanimals.

istickingorroaningrelatedtopiedormerle? no,howevertickingandroaningareoftenmistakenlycalledmerleandpiebaldandbythesame tokensoismerleandpiebald.duetothefactthattheycanbothproducesmallpatchesofcolor. HOWEVERthedifferenceisintheshapeandsize,theedges.

tickingandroanarecompletelydifferentandagainworkindifferentgenessotheoreticallyyou couldhaveBOTHonadog.

thisisaliverroan.roanbeing."Amixtureofcolouredandwhitehairs.

TickingmoreresemblesthemarkssowellknowntodalmatiansHOWEVERagainnotworking inthesamewayandindifferentareas.TickinggenerallywillappeareitheralloverORtheneck andorlegs.

thefollowingdogisPIEBALD,NONMERLEandNothavingTicking.butFalsetickingpiebald spots.

canmerlerandomlyappearinabreed?noandyes,merlewasamutationyeshoweveritis farmorelikelyabreedthathashadNOoccurancewithmerleinitshistorywouldhavea"merle like"mutationratherthantheexactsamemutationORevenmorelikely,wasmixedasthisis becominganevergrowingtrendthatmanybreedersarefightingtokeepout.

thePomeraniangroupwerevastlyagainsttheconceptastheirbreedisalreadyatargetofbad breedingpracticesandthusfoughttheAKC'sapprovalofithoweverwerenotabletovetoit allowingthemerlecoatintothestandard.thestandardexiststotryandhelpmaintainthebreed butcanbemanipulatedinwayssuchasthistoharmorhelpabreedinthiscasethe pomeranianpartybelievesitwillcausemoreharmwhenthosewithunethicalbreedingpractices decidetobreedforthefadcoloration.manyhaveknownandorheardofthegreatdanesborn withouteyesinbredforthecolorationandthechihuahuadeformedbeyondbeliefduetounethical breedingpracticesinbreedingandmerletomerle.thesewerenotshowandorworkbreeders assomewouldlikeyoutobelieve.

inbreedingvslinebreeding:

inbreedingisthebreedingofcloserelationsexample(fathertodaughter,mothertosonect) linebreedingisbreedingfurtherapartinabloodline(mothershalfbrothertomothersdaughter)

closeinbreedingcausesconcerns. linebreedingcananddoesoccurnaturallyassomeanimalsdonotleavethegeneralvacinityof their"homerange"andthusreproduceinthatareaslowlybranchingouthowevertheydonot deferentiatebetweenrelationsbutatsomepointtheyarealwaysbreedingbackintotheirown bloodlinesuntilsomeoneventureseithertooorfromanotherarea.

agoodlookatitwouldbetheleuisticor"whitesquirrels"theyappearedinaparkandwerefed theycontinuedtoreproduceandreproducepassingontheirgeneticmutationsoontheentirecity wasoverflowingwithwhitesquirrelsthathavebecomeatouristattraction.theyareallrelatedto somedegreeandnewbloodhastobeaddedinonoccassionhowevertheymanage themselvesforthemostpart.

ontheflipsideonanislandthereisapackofwolvesthatmayhaveseentheirlastbirth becauseofhumaninterventionandextremegeneticisolationprohibitinglinebreedingand promotingexcessiveinbreeding.

indogsusuallytheCOI(inbreeding)increasesbyhowlargeyoumakethepedigreeifyouare lookingat20genetationsdontbesurprisedtoseeaHighCOIscoreHOWEVERifyouare lookingat46generationsandseeahighscorebeabitconcerned.thereshouldnotbeahigh COIinashortpedigreethatisasignthatinbreedingdepressionwillsoonhithardunlesstheline

isbredoutwardoncemore.