YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post - is there such an existing color for yorkie called merle

McheleM · 09-21-2012, 02:53 PM

Actually, akc doesn't offer Merle or blue as a color for chihuahuas. At one time they had to have been bred to a breed that commonly carries a Merle gene.
Shelties, dachshunds, heelers and other breeds carry this blue and liver colored dappling. Chihuahuas, yorkies and other dogs are not supposed to be "blue". Breeders breed for this (not reputable breeders) for $$$. They call them rare, jack up their price and don't give a damn that the dogs will suffer.

M-Locus
Merle
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The merle phenotype is treated as a dominant but is actually a incomplete dominant or a gene with intermediate expression trait, with heterozygous dogs presenting a coat colour in which eumelanic regions are incompletely and irregularly diluted, leaving intensely pigmented patches. Merle is found throughout the body except on the pheomelanic regions of the black and tan coat colour.

The Merle gene has been successfully identified on canine chromosome 10 and located on the "pmel" gene.

The merle phenotype is very old, with the merle coat colour being reported in old books from which drawings of merle dogs have been selected and reproduced.

mm - Non-merle

Mm - Merle - This is another dilution gene, but instead of diluting the whole coat it causes a patchy dilution, with a coloured coat
becoming patched with a lighter color. IE. - black to Gray, blue to lighter blue, Red to lighter Red, Brown to lighter brown.
The lighter areas are the actually merling and not the darker areas as many seem to say.

Eyes of an Mm dog are sometimes blue or merled (brown and blue segments in the eye

MM - Double Merle - Considered to be SEMI-LETHAL as 1/4th of all MM puppies are born dead or have such severe

abnormalities that they die shortly after birth. A MM is a double dilution of the merle gene spotting the same

area causing that given area to actually turn white. Thus double merles are a mix of 3 colors.
Double Merles are often confused with the Merle/Piebald combination.

Merle appears to act as a minus modifier, in addition to its effects on coat color.

M: Merle series
homozygote MM - Double Merle - produces double marked merle areas of white - possible health issues.
heterozygote, Mm - Merle
mm = no merle

One parents has to be merle to produce merle offspring as it is not carried recessively.

09-21-2012, 02:53 PM	#21
McheleM Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Mesquite, TX Posts: 2,659	Actually, akc doesn't offer Merle or blue as a color for chihuahuas. At one time they had to have been bred to a breed that commonly carries a Merle gene. Shelties, dachshunds, heelers and other breeds carry this blue and liver colored dappling. Chihuahuas, yorkies and other dogs are not supposed to be "blue". Breeders breed for this (not reputable breeders) for $$$. They call them rare, jack up their price and don't give a damn that the dogs will suffer. M-Locus Merle ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The merle phenotype is treated as a dominant but is actually a incomplete dominant or a gene with intermediate expression trait, with heterozygous dogs presenting a coat colour in which eumelanic regions are incompletely and irregularly diluted, leaving intensely pigmented patches. Merle is found throughout the body except on the pheomelanic regions of the black and tan coat colour. The Merle gene has been successfully identified on canine chromosome 10 and located on the "pmel" gene. The merle phenotype is very old, with the merle coat colour being reported in old books from which drawings of merle dogs have been selected and reproduced. mm - Non-merle Mm - Merle - This is another dilution gene, but instead of diluting the whole coat it causes a patchy dilution, with a coloured coat becoming patched with a lighter color. IE. - black to Gray, blue to lighter blue, Red to lighter Red, Brown to lighter brown. The lighter areas are the actually merling and not the darker areas as many seem to say. Eyes of an Mm dog are sometimes blue or merled (brown and blue segments in the eye MM - Double Merle - Considered to be SEMI-LETHAL as 1/4th of all MM puppies are born dead or have such severe abnormalities that they die shortly after birth. A MM is a double dilution of the merle gene spotting the same area causing that given area to actually turn white. Thus double merles are a mix of 3 colors. Double Merles are often confused with the Merle/Piebald combination. Merle appears to act as a minus modifier, in addition to its effects on coat color. M: Merle series homozygote MM - Double Merle - produces double marked merle areas of white - possible health issues. heterozygote, Mm - Merle mm = no merle One parents has to be merle to produce merle offspring as it is not carried recessively. __________________ "You've never learned to live until you've done something for someone for which they can never repay you."~Ralph Hall.