Dog Colour Genetics: Part 5 - Merle and Harlequin

Finally, here's part 5 of the series to one of the most pretty patterns in the dog colour series.
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[@PoM-MoM]

@2:19 "AND the Pomeranian" I have had a royal akc red Pomeranian, a Spitz size Pomeranian and most recently the Merle Pomeranian. My Merle was the result of a 5 pound silky red female Pomeranian a 7 pound pure black Pomeranian. My Merle Pomeranian had Amber eyes and a solid brown nose, a freckled tongue and gums and her paws and even her toenails were white, pink and black. She was freckles throughout her fur. I say WAS because she recently passed of Lymphoma cancer. The DVM oncologist said this cancer is common amongst all Merle breeds of dogs. C.H.O.P. chemotherapy and TANOVEA treatments did nothing, she never went into FULL remission. I miss ALL of my Pomeranian's terribly. They are alot of maintenance but they are smart, protective, loyal dogs ❤ 🐕

[@misspinkpunkykat]

Do dog collars work like the cat ones in this universe? Where once they get married, they get collars with their wedding colors? Kinda like wedding rings with humans?

[@bluecollarden]

Yes it is

[@OG-MAUL]

You forgot bulldogs

[@TC-lo3uc]

Question if I'm adopting a puppy is it best not to adopt if it's merle?

[@bluecollarden]

You can definitely adopt a Merle!! It's just bad breeding practices to breed two Merles together.

[@kqqon3339]

Don’t forget Yorkies, my dog Mollie, has the gene.

[@yeyes9557]

I have a Siberian husky with blue and brown eyes. he also has the black mask that not all huskies have around his face.

[@bluecollarden]

A lot of huskies don't have masks around their face, so yours is a special one. And there's something about huskies where they can easily have blue and blue/brown eyes! It's so amazing!

[@yeyes9557]

allissajoanne4 Yeah, normally when we walk him or bring him to the park he attracts a lot of attention haha.

[@kedamono8616]

I'm getting an Australian Shepherd puppy

[@febreezepelt7699]

Hi! My dog is a beagle and his colour is a little odd. He seems to be agouti with red markings and white spotting but some parts of his fur look like they have been spray painted black or red (it looks like a snowflake appaloosa horse)

[@bluecollarden]

Interesting!! Is it possible for me to see a picture of it? Just so I can get a better look?

[@febreezepelt7699]

allissajoanne4 of course! It's difficult to see on picture though, do you know where I could post it? :)

[@bluecollarden]

Ummmm.... google+ or DA?? Or do a video and upload it on your channel?

[@febreezepelt7699]

I'll post one on my DA called Hollyscorch :D sorry if you can't see it well

[@bluecollarden]

Saw it. He's adorable btw! I see what you mean with the spray pain, especially on his tail. He has a saddle, but his white spotting makes it look like it's not a saddle. And as a result of saddling and the way his white spreads, his tail and back will give an agouti appearance. :)

[@art4doggo635]

I own a Merle French bulldog he’s a dark grey with powder blue Merle

[@rosa79797]

merle frenchies are gorgeous! idk what the controversy is about them, they're very handsome dogs!

[@personanon2879]

You have a mutt

[@kpina2081]

Frenchies don't come in merle. Your dog had another breed mixed in, and by buying him you supporter a backyard breeder.

[@Bon_Bon1113]

I got a question about my collie dog she got blue and green eyes and her nose is pink?

[@bluecollarden]

What colour is her fur?

[@Bon_Bon1113]

black,orange,and white

[@bluecollarden]

It's possible she may be merle, but you can't see it.

[@Bon_Bon1113]

oh ok

[@cawrumin]

): I want more

[@JessicaSantos-gb8ht]

I have a blue merle yorkie with blue eyes. What Dam other than merle can I get to mate him to increase the opportunity of puppies with blue eyes? Wonderful your teachings of genetics! Gracias!

[@bluecollarden]

To increase blue eyes? Not really. If you want to keep with yorkie breed standards, having your merle dog mate with non-merle yorkies is really your best bet for potential blue eyes. While it's possible to get blue eyes from double merle, it is very risky and usually irresponsible to get a double merle, as listed in the video. The other ways to possibly get blue eyes are: high white around the eyes (which I'm assume yorkies don't really have white on them?), albinism and the rare possibility of finding a female with blue eyes (a separate gene). This gene is super rare and is only sometimes appears in border collies and more visibly in Siberian huskies. The only way you could possibly increase your chances of having pups with blue eyes is to find a female with the rare blue eye gene.

[@eciv2006]

You didn’t name the alaphaha bulldog but a stafforshire terrier? 🤔🙃

[@donnar4261]

The music is awfully annoing 😣😣😣

[@backwoods7022]

I have a harlequin American Bully and her name is Harlequin(:

[@anoushkavcolella3170]

We’ve just had a litter from my blue Merle border collie bitch - with a black Tri border collie stud.. they had 5 black tri pups…? Can anyone explain why? And what went wrong?? Where are the Merles?

[@bluecollarden]

It just so happened that all 5 of your pups recieved the non Merle gene, which was a 50% chance for each pup. Just bad luck if you were wanting a Merle.

[@MR_RN_NYC]

Don’t forget Mini Schnauzers. I just got a red Merle Mini Schnauzer.

[@kpina2081]

Schnauzers don't come in merle, your dog had another breed mixed in.

[@sacred-spring]

I never heard of the H-Lokus but the things you describe are affected by the length if the merle gene the dog carries

[@lpsmainecoon181]

fox genetics!

[@tatjanabaker3521]

Excellent information! Thank you!

[@scarlingdarIing]

Surprised french bulldogs are not included in this video. I guess due to the age of the video? Though it is considered against "breed standard" for french bulldogs, Merle is considered to be one of the most desirable coats by most! The Merle gene really interests me - and I also really wonder where the double Merle data (that insists double Merle puppies will very likely be born deaf/blind) comes from, we are always hearing about this but has anyone ever actually SEEN this?! In the Frenchie community, I haven't found anyone who can personally attest to the accuracy of this... 🤔 (& I know the prevalence of this problem varies between breeds)

[@damnyourlemons8108]

i'm confused about the genetics of the harlequin. Great Danes can have something called a merlquin, what is that genetically? could it be that the modifyer dosent turn all blue coloring's to weight, or is their something else happening to create the "merlquin"?

[@bluecollarden]

I've personally never heard of merlequin, it never came up in my research for the episode. I just looked it up now, and from what I can tell, Merlequins are the Great Dane version of double merles that have no harlequin.

[@sacred-spring]

3:17 that dog is not e/e (red), that colour does not appear in Shelties. It is a sable dog which also often do not overtly display merle when adult.

[@theenglishbullterrier7372]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on coat colours, very easy to follow.

[@Gatorgetfresh]

Hubby situations

[@mulherenascentista]

My dog is a mutt and I have no idea of what breeds are mixed in him, but he is spotted and I still have no idea if it's categorized as Harlequin or Ticked, it seems like he has both??

[@elliewhitney1425]

Is there an episode about dog eye colors?

[@fleridanfox6150]

Okay, I kinda wanna see a series on horse genetics now! :P

[@bluecollarden]

It will be after corn snake genetics and rabbit genetics. Don't worry, those two will be shorter than you expect :)

[@Blazesong]

i'd be interested in the rabbit one ,i tryed learning it a while ago but got confused (i was trying to learn it for a zootopia thing i was doing). i can't wait for the horse one, i do know horse genes but being able to show people it in video would be awsome

[@bluecollarden]

THIRD!

[@CrewH01]

I have a full chocolate Merle American cocker spaniel

[@chelsiepelfrey8718]

So, ik this video is a little older, but I was wonder if m (merle) locus interacts with s (spotting) locus. Will breeding an extreme pied to a merle cause defects in the dog????

[@bluecollarden]

As far as I know, it shouldn't cause too much defects. Defects happen when the Merle is a double Merle (homozygous MM instead of Mm). Sometimes high white spotting can cause some defects, like proneness to skin cancer and deafness, but if both Merle and white spotting are together, it shouldn't (inherently) cause defects. Just be aware of the risks of high white more than anything and don't breed two Merles together.

[@chelsiepelfrey8718]

Okay, thank you for quick reply...

[@dobermanwhitepuppies1033]

I know quite a bit aboutGenetics in this video has me a little confuse can you or someone on here please clarify what is the difference there between a double merle being high white with the gray patches and a pied that is high white with the gray patches thank you in advance

[@bluecollarden]

I'm not exactly sure if I'm on the same wave length, hit normally double Merle's have pink or pink and black noses and blue or brown eyes that could be tiny due to birth defects. High white with grey (is it due to Merle or due to dilution and being blue) will have a black/blue nose and normally Brown eyes. My apologies, I'm a bit confused.

[@dobermanwhitepuppies1033]

Blue Collar Den thank you for your reply. Are there any more videos like this that you found helpful that you could recommend particularly on pied?And I think you might be confused because of the way I worded the question so my apologies there was a picture in a video where sheSo as a dog with the gray and black patches or spots And she calls it double merle I said it has a lot of white but then on a pied dog that has the same gray and black color spots or patches She gave it a different name. On a high white dog with those same color patches that is referred to as a pied, what is the difference between a high white dog with a gray and black Merle Markings and a highway dog would bring a black merle markings that is called a double merle I don’t know what the difference is from the video

[@bluecollarden]

@@dobermanwhitepuppies1033 well funny enough, pieds was supposed to be the next video in the series, and then I got burnt out. I can try and work on it again.

[@dobermanwhitepuppies1033]

Blue Collar Den omg really, dang is to bad you got burned out . I would really love to See your video on pied if you finish it it would be a humongous favor right now I have Harlequin min pin One of which is pied The other is a Texido and I have questions about both. These dogs are also known as Harlequin Pinscher

[@bluecollarden]

@@dobermanwhitepuppies1033 I will try to get around to it. I've got a little toddler who keeps me busy now (this video was finished before I became a mom) however if I can plan things accordingly with my other projects, I could go one before the year is over.

[@tomcreaniceman7426]

Great work, really enjoyed it👍🇮🇪

[@luckybubblegum39]

SECOND!!!!

[@saraallen137]

I have a goldendoodle merle. The merle must have come from the poodle. Do you have any information on how merle has been introduced into the poodle breed? Is there a problem mixing a merle with a parti? Will you consider adding information on partis?

[@bluecollarden]

I'm not too familiar with poodles as a breed and I do not know how it got introduced. As far as I know (I have not done a lot of research on partis, as I had to look it up), a parti is just the poodle name for white spotting, so anything said in the white spotting video should apply to partis. I could be wrong though.

[@lpsmainecoon181]

wolf genetics

[@bluecollarden]

Lps MaineCoon wolf genetics can't be made into a series. they're not varied enough like dogs, cats, rabbits, horses and corn snakes. I'm sticking to domesticated animals due to more available research done on breeding.

[@lpsmainecoon181]

maybe Fox genetics since they do have a lot of variation especially for fur farming

[@bluecollarden]

Lps MaineCoon I don't really know anything about foxes to do a series on. and when I researched it, very little came up, just red fox mutations and Russian domesticated, which can somewhat be explained through regular dog genetics. that's not enough to do a series on. I need multiple sources about dominant and recessive genes before I can do a series, which cats, dogs, rabbits, horses and corn snakes have, or I might make some major mistakes and say things that are not scientifically and genetically accurate.

[@lpsmainecoon181]

😿

[@ChaosCarl97]

I suspect that my amstaff puppy is a carrier of this gene. His coat is brindled grey/Brown and he has green eyes, and from what I've read online green eyes are extremely rare. Brindled coat and green eyes are supposed to be correlated to the gene according to what i read. Should i ask a vet or does anyone have some useful insight on this issue?

[@bluecollarden]

Carloe115 I've actually never heard of that!! A vet is a good person to ask, but perhaps a breeder that specializes in brindle dogs could give you the answer too.

[@patriciamuszynski1328]

Thanks for the video. I always felt the more white merles with little to no coloring on their faces where just off. Now I know those dogs are double merles.

[@ramcharge2704]

I encountered a dog that was deaf as a puppy. Found out years later she might of been a double Merle

[@somnieus9326]

I have a question about my dog my dog is a mutt, we know she has lab in her but not sure what else but the weird part is is that the bottom half of her eyes are brown and the top half are really light blue do you know what that is cause I have no idea

[@bluecollarden]

Huskies and any of the breeds mentioned that can have merle have a larger chance of having blue or partially blue eyes. It's possible that your dog could have one of those breeds and could possibly even have merle (that is depending on the colour of your dog). But, blue eyes can happen to dogs even when they aren't a specific breed or have merle. Blue eyes are recessive, even partially blue eyes, so if it's not due to your dog also having the other breeds in her, she could just have a mutation in her eye.

[@somnieus9326]

my dog is mostly black, her muzzle, chest, belly paws and very top of her tail have white she is about 2-3 feet tall she almost never runs out of energy, the only time she really runs out of energy is if she had been playing outside for a while or just got done a long walk she has short fur and soft floppy ears she can get a bit noisy if she sees an animal in or near our yard or if my family encourages her to bark and howl with us a few times I've seen her point when she was younger but I don't see her do it anymore now also she is about 3 1/2 years old currently

[@littlethings5642]

My Frenchton is a tweed Merle.

[@jessicarobinson8070]

hi! so i have a chihuahua who's mom is merle and 3 of my dog's siblings were merle but she is bllack and tan. if she were to have babies (dad would not be merle) would there be a chance that her babies could come out merle? i'm not familiar with how dog genetics work! thanks:)

[@bluecollarden]

First of all, beautiful snakes and lizards you have there! (I also have a corn snake, a gold dust morph. If you want, she's has a couple videos somewhere on my channel! Planning on getting a western hognose sometime after I have my baby) Secondly, if your chihuahua had puppies, unfortunately there would be no chance that any of them would be merle if the father is not a merle. Merle is a dominant gene, and non-merle is recessive. Your dog has the recessive gene. It would be a bit similar to two blondes trying to have a brunette child. The only way your dog could have merle puppies would be for the father to be a merle. But you don't want two merles mating, it can create a double merle, which can cause problems for the resulting offspring such as: small eyes, skin cancer, blindness and deafness.

[@jessicarobinson8070]

i'm pretty familiar with snake genes but not dogs haha. but thank you so much for the info!And i am aware for the double merles:)

[@bluecollarden]

Jessica Robinson good good. I do hope to make a corn snake genetics series in the future, once I finish the dog series and do a mini series on rabbit genetics.

[@jessicarobinson8070]

that's super interesting!

[@jay62984]

Merle can show up in French and English bulldogs

[@Marisa3577]

Todays Mathematics S yeah if it's bred in by shitty breeders looking for a pay day

[@lilly1542]

my friend's dog had puppies and the puppy she is keeping is like Harlequin kind of and he has like two sizes face one side is white with small tiny black bits and other side is like tan and black the rest of this body is a light tan we are going to be training him soon

[@lilly1542]

*sides

[@bluecollarden]

Very cool!! Keep a look out for those spots. If more of them appear as the puppy gets older, you may actually have a dog with ticking instead of Harlequin, as Harlequin needs more special requirements to happen. Feel free to keep me updated if this happens or not. :)

[@xeclipticwolfx8763]

fourth

[@chickenbatnana4600]

Does anyone know if double merle is the same as atypical merle?

[@bluecollarden]

Jolieke Louwers double Merle just means that their genotype is MM while a typical Merle is Mm. Double Merle causes a lot of health problems, so it's considered irresponsible breeding. Never breed two Merles together, always breed one Merle and one non Merle.

[@chickenbatnana4600]

Ah, thanks!

[@SushiOtterStudios]

First?

[@elliewhitney1425]

AT 1:48, there is an incorrect picture of an Australian Shepherds. Aussie's tails are only 3 in as an adult, but their fur usually covers it up.

[@bluecollarden]

Ellie Whitney I've never really know what is technically correct for an Aussie's tail. Is it actual breed standard to not have a tail? I just thought it didn't matter.

[@elliewhitney1425]

Yes, Aussies don't have tails.

[@bluecollarden]

Ellie Whitney well even if this isn't a true Aussie, it's just an image of an Aussie dog with Merle, which is the more important thing to help people learn. I personally don't care if an Aussie has a tail or not. They're still adorable no matter what tail they have. I'm not a fan of "pure bred" myself. I like boxers with tails, I like dobermans with floppy ears, I like bull dogs with longer faces and I like mutts.

[@Blazesong]

im pretty sure aussies can have tails (in countys with docking banned)

[@Gatorgetfresh]

Merl is showing up in bulldogs and exotics

[@meaganlewis3288]

Can't wait for your last one! Thank you so much for your help with understanding genetics! I hope your year has been great

[@extremekingbulldogs5675]

You Can See English Bulldog Merle's @ Extreme king Bulldogs on KZbin

[@Marisa3577]

Extreme King Bulldogs- yeah that's actually a big red flag. Never buy a merle bulldog. Breeders who sell them charge more and breed for that coloring instead of breeding to improve the breed.

[@extremekingbulldogs5675]

A lot of people prefer a Merle and my Merle's are very healthy, 🖕

[@Marisa3577]

Extreme King Bulldogs Since when is "people prefer it" a good reason to put an animals health at risk? Always breed to the standard or don't breed ✌🏼

[@extremekingbulldogs5675]

The standard changes as new desirable traits are breed and accepted by judges in the ring

[@AuraFerret]

I have a merle aussiedoodle with a half- sided face, and I am considering starting to breed pups with her

[@personanon2879]

Please dont

[@AuraFerret]

@@personanon2879 yeah yeah, decided on a big no