Kennel Club bans Merle colour

[ArcherDog]

In great news the KC is no longer allowing Merle coloured dogs to be registered in most breeds.

The Merle allele can cause health problems in dogs and irresponsible breeders were just using this ‘pretty’ coat pattern to hike up the price of a puppy, with no thought to the consequences.
This is particular relevant in poodles (and their crossbreeds), French bulldogs, whippets and chihuahuas.

There are a few select breeds where it will continue to be allowed (Australian Shepherd, Beauceron, Bergamasco, Border Collie, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Dachshund (colour known as dapple), Great Dane, Long Haired Pyrenean Sheepdog, Rough Collie, Shetland Sheepdog and Smooth Collie)

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media-centre/2020/january/registration-of-dogs-of-merle-colouring/

On another similar but different note - should breeding of all-white or predominantly-white be banned because of the risk of deafness?
I have often thought of this question, dilute colours too.
From what I have read,
Merle (through Merle x Merle creating doubles) is linked to:

• blindness
• eye deformity
• deafness
• sun sensitivity/skin cancer
• immune dysfunction
• heart abnormalities
• reproductive abnormalities
• Skeletal problems

White (NOT albino) is linked to

• Deafness
• sun sensitivity/skin cancer
• allergies and skin problems

Dilute is linked to

• colour dilution alopecia
• allergies and skin problems

From what I’ve heard, double Merle pups are often born still born and a high percentage die within two weeks of birth.
As far as I know, this isn’t a known issue in white dogs and dilute dogs.

It's pretty common in collies
So are doubles.
I have a collie (not a merle) and I know a person who purposely bred her two merles.
She wasn’t the first and she won’t be the last.
It doesn’t add anything to their work ability so why is it necessary?
I would like use to see an end to their breeding.

KC registration of merle French Bulldogs has been banned since 2013 but the Gumtree Greeders are producing them now because they can charge the gullible and/or uncaring more (much more) for them.

Merle whippets have been refused registration since 2019; you do see a lot of whippet/collie cross lurchers about, though.

Double merle-bred dogs are often known as 'lethal whites' for a very good reason. Blindness and deafness are most common but many dogs suffer terrible deformities and malfunctions of their whole systems.

It's so cruel.

Gumtree Greeders are producing them now because they can charge the gullible and/or uncaring more (much more) for them.

This is a good point that occurred to me after thinking about this thread - banning forced breeding is a goof thing but actually it could have the opposite effect, with puppy farmers being able to charge premium prices for unusual markings. Not everyone - in fact the vast majority of people - do not buy a pup because it is KC registered. We really need strategies that better inform people about these issues. Public pressure can change more than the KC can. And much as I hate to say it, better information may inform the bad breeders more. I would prefer that they are stopped altogether - but that isn't going to happen, so knowing, for example, that breeding two merle Border Collies does not increase the chances of merle offspring but risks your litters being not fit for sale, might mean that at least some o these poor pups don't have to go through all this. Ideally, we all know that genetic testing is the ideal, but expecting good practice or care from these sorts is pointless, so perhaps we need to "appeal" to their greed.

Good - not goof. Fat fingers!

Surely vets, when meeting these dogs, warn their owners about breeding from Merles and particularly cryptic Merles?

I dont know the vets would know? I have a dog and clearly didnt do enough research - even though i thought i had. His father is a merle. He had all the genetic testing for his breed recommended so i didnt know merle was anything other than a coat colour and might need more tests. My dog must be cryptic as he isnt merle. He has seen the vet a few times and the vet didnt say anything. I wont be breeding so its not going to get carried forward.

Having one Merle parent doesn’t make the dog Merle. If your dog doesn’t show Merle markings he is most likely not a carrier of the Merle gene (that is he got a normal copy of the gene from his father, who has one normal and one Merle copy).
In a litter with one Merle parent around half the puppies will be non Merle.
The reason people breed Merle to Merle is to increase the amount of Merle puppies in the litter...

What is really needed is a campaign explaining the dangers of double Merle to the potential buyers. It would also help to explain the mechanics of this “unique” coloring (I think inability of some cells to migrate to some areas in the embryo- and those are not always just the cells responsible for fur color, hence the deafness and blindness) that will change the perception of these dogs from something uniquely beautiful to possibly having a genetic defect.l (of course I know that most Merle dogs are fine - it’s just an issue of public perception).

Having one Merle parent doesn’t make the dog Merle
True
If your dog doesn’t show Merle markings he is most likely not a carrier of the Merle gene (that is he got a normal copy of the gene from his father, who has one normal and one Merle copy)
In a litter with one Merle parent around half the puppies will be non Merle
True, there is a danger though that some of those Merle puppies will be cryptic Merle, those puppies will have Merle markings somewhere on their body but as most of the puppy is non merled it is easy to assume they are non Merle as the areas of the coat showing merling can be very small and easily missed.
If that dog is then bred to a merle the result is double merle.
The reason people breed Merle to Merle is to increase the amount of Merle puppies in the litter
True, breeding a double merle to a non Merle is another way of doing this as a double merle only produces merles

In a litter with one Merle parent around half the puppies will be non Merle.
The reason people breed Merle to Merle is to increase the amount of Merle puppies in the litter...

Yes people might stupidly breed Merle to Merle to increase the amount of Merle puppies. But (in Border Collies, at least) it doesn't work anyway! If you breed a Merle to a non-Merle each puppy has a 50/50 chance of being a merle. But if you breed two merles you do not change that 50/50 chance - you simply increase the risk of abnormalities.

My boy was one of eight pups, the other seven sisters, and only him and one girl were merles. That was by a responsible ISDS breeder.

Yes people might stupidly breed Merle to Merle to increase the amount of Merle puppies. But (in Border Collies, at least) it doesn't work anyway! If you breed a Merle to a non-Merle each puppy has a 50/50 chance of being a merle. But if you breed two merles you do not change that 50/50 chance - you simply increase the risk of abnormalities
As you say, many people don’t realise this.
They think it will be the same as breeding tri x tri getting all tris or black/white x black/white getting all black/whites

No, no, come on - in a Merlexmerle litter 3/4 will be Merle or double Merle.
This is basic probability/genetics for you :)

So yeah, it does work (i think we all agree it is disgusting).

Btw the cryptic Merle dogs are usually not that cryptic if you know that you need to look (I think).

Usually there would be some mottling or dilution somewhere.

But if you go to pets for homes, dozens of litters there with Merle pups being sold for a few hundreds more than their standard litter mates. I am pretty sure people are actively trying to get a Merle parent for their litters at the moment. This is sad...

“But if you go to pets for homes, dozens of litters there with Merle pups being sold for a few hundreds more than their standard litter mates. I am pretty sure people are actively trying to get a Merle parent for their litters at the moment. This is sad...“

Sellers on sites like that usually charge more for Merle anyway - because they can, it’s like “rare” colours

Cryptic merle is actually the wrong term - cryptic merle has a scale of 200-230 on the length of the merle allele and it both presents AND breeds as non-merle. The term you are looking for is minimal merle.

There is no issue with merle dogs in breeds where they should appear, as long as they are only bred to non-merle dogs, which requires both conscientious and knowledgeable breeders (and therein can lie the problem, I give you).

Although I quite clearly think that any merle x merle mating is absolutey despicable, even the double merles such as the studs that Wyndlair and other kennels have been so pleased with are not in themselves genetically problematic to breed from to a dog that you know is DEFINITELY non-merle.

I don't know how people can live with doing it though, and are happy to do the matings in the hope of producing a dog that will produce 100% merle pups to tricolour bitches. I am very happy that we are well past these days in the UK, although some kennels did have them in the dim and distant past.

The UK KC do not allow merle x merle matings in my breed, although disappointingly they do allow sable x merle matings where the merle can be particularly difficult to identify - and even worse, they do not facilitate the correct colour registration for such pups.

The UK is actually in a reasonably good place on merle in Roughs, compared to the USA. Merle is complex, but in itself with a single version of the merle gene it is NOT a health issue for responsibly bred dogs.

The whole French Bulldog/Chow/insert other fashionable breed thing where puppy buyers are lining up to buy merle pups is beyond belief really. Merle cannot be 'carried', so no puppy can be merle if one parent is not merle. In breeds where this is not a natural colour, all it guarantees is that people are queuing up to pay more for a mongrel.

The only slight benefit to the disgusting business of the ridiculous colour breeding in these breeds is that they do seem to DNA test for colour, so at least you'd hope they're wise to not doing merle x merle matings.

Are white coats in dogs caused by Waardenburg syndrome? I know it is in cats and in people but the syndrome causes the whiteness and the deafness.

I was at uni with someone with Waardenburg, she is deaf but the syndrome has given her stunning looks, a white streak of hair and a blue eye.

I didn't used to know merle colouring was a bad thing, just different. I now know better. Our girls aren't merle, one of them is tri bit the breeder now seems to be collecting merle coloured bullies. Makes me think lesser of them now I know they can have extra health issues. I assume they know it's a bad thing rather than just pretty.

@Kishkashta

No, no, come on - in a Merlexmerle litter 3/4 will be Merle or double Merle. This is basic probability/genetics for you :)

So yeah, it does work (i think we all agree it is disgusting).

No seriously, you are wrong. It isn't probability at all - it's genetics. I cannot comment on any other breed (they are probably the same, but I cannot swear to that because I don't know much about other breeds of merles), but when it comes to Border Collies I am 120% positive. Where the merle gene exists it has a 50/50 chance of being passed on. Breeding two merles in no way whatsoever changes that probability. Past the genetics of the gene being present, it is literally serendipity that determines how many pups have the merle colouring. It could be all. It could be none. Given the 50/50 probability, it is usually some. That's all you can predict.

Breeding two merle Border Collies won't do anything for colouring but will inevitably cause deafness and eyesight problems / blindness. So yes, we all agree that it shouldn't be done for any of them.

@GooodMythicalMorning

I didn't used to know merle colouring was a bad thing, just different. I now know better. Our girls aren't merle, one of them is tri bit the breeder now seems to be collecting merle coloured bullies. Makes me think lesser of them now I know they can have extra health issues. I assume they know it's a bad thing rather than just pretty.

Please do be clear - if they are bred properly, within certain breeds at least, there are no health problems associated with merles per se. My merle boy is an incredibly fit and handsome lad, ISDS registered and at stud he is carefully matched to appropriate ladies - but actually not for his colour but for his intelligence (which is all ISDS registration cares about). The fact that some of his pups may have a nice merle colour is incidental to their intelligence. Not a requirement.

but when it comes to Border Collies I am 120% positive. Where the merle gene exists it has a 50/50 chance of being passed on. Breeding two merles in no way whatsoever changes that probability

Yes - ish

Each merle has a 50/50 chance of passing it on. Non-Merle 0 chance

Call the genes M (merle) and O (non)

Scenario 1 merle (M/O) with non-merle (O/O) could produce
M + O, M + O, O + O, O + O
Expect 50% of puppies to be merle, 50% non-merle

Scenario 2 merle (M/O) with merle (M/O) done the same way:
M + M, M + O, O + M, O + O
75% of the puppies have jerked - still 50% merle, but also 25% double merle, and only 25% non-merle

*jerked = merle (don't know what happened there!)

My personal opinion on breeding merle to non merle is that it is undesirable because by doing so you increase the proportion of merle dogs in the breed, which then limits the amount of dogs you can breed to each other. This is because, with the current colour fashion, there appears to be a definite trend favouring merle dogs, so a push towards say merle studs being used in favor of black and whites, by all kinds of breeders.

So in a few generations we might end with a population of collies with say 30 percent being merles which then will grow even further unless we place some restriction on their breeding.

The fact that it is a dominant gene is actually problematic. I think this might be the underlying reason why some old farmers had a prejudice against merle dogs - this wasn't of course grounded in their working ability but rather that you want to limit the spread of the gene in the breed.

This is all just my speculations though, I am not actually involved in the breeding world, and my collie is a very ordinary black and white.

My personal opinion on breeding merle to non merle is that it is undesirable because by doing so you increase the proportion of merle dogs in the breed, which then limits the amount of dogs you can breed to each other.

Have I read this incorrectly? By NOT breeding merle to non-merle, you restrict the gene pool immediately, rather than the possibility of doing so in the future ...