The Magic Of Merle

The subject of merle. . . . . . Something that every fancier dreads to try to explain!

The merle gene is a dilution gene. What this means is that it can affect the black or brown coat in various ways. The way it affects the coat is by diluting the black or darker color that is present there. With the black dog this dilution turns the tricolor into a blue merle and the biblack into a biblue. With the brown dog this dilution turns the sable into a sable merle.

On occassion there will be the occurrance of the "Cryptic Blue." This dog, in all respects, appears to be a black but is proven, usually through breeding, to be a blue merle. The word "cryptic" indicates something that is hidden, not immediately apparent. Therefore, dogs displaying ANY merling at all would NOT be considered cryptic.

As you can see, there are two different types of merle. Those based on black and those based on brown. We will split these from here into the following categories: blue merle and sable merle. From here we will deal with these colors seperately.

The Blue Merle

Thanks to Jim and Pat Weale of Ridgelynn Shelties for this beautiful picture of their biblue bitch, Ridgelynn's The Princess Warrior "Xena".

Thanks to Mark and Maureen Merlo of Realities Shelties for this picture of their striking biblue puppy bitch, Realities Miss Chievous "Missy".

Thanks to Cynthia Toth of Lancien Shelties for these pictures of her two lovely biblue boys, A/C Ch Lord Lancien and A/C Ch McConnelly Square.

Am/Can Ch Lord Lancien

Am/Can Ch McConnelly Square

The Sable Merle

Sable Merle's are simply the sable with the merle gene added. As the merle gene acts as a dilution agent (somewhat similar to bleach), there may be both lighter and darker spots of sable. The coloring of the sable merle is obvious at birth but tends to fade out as the dog ages. This is not always the case, but this is the most common case. In this case, unknowledgeable breeders may not be able to distinguish the adult sable merle from the sable.

Examples

Thank you Amy Connor of Ruffian Shelties for allowing me to use this picture of Nelson. He is a beautiful and exceptional example of the sable merle.

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