What Does The Term Merle Mean?

Are you curious what a blue merle Chihuahua is? Keep reading, you will learn all about the merle Chihuahua and what a blue merle Chihuahua is. You may have heard the term merle when someone described their Chihuahua and wondered exactly what they mean. Chihuahuas come in virtually any color combination and a wide variety of patterns.  Common colors are fawn, red, cream, chocolate, brown-white, and black.

Merle is a montage of beautiful spirals of color in a winding pattern and no two are alike. The merle pattern is actually a genetic mutation and doesn’t come naturally in a Chihuahua breed.

The Merle Chihuahua

Although many describe a “merle” Chihuahua as only a pattern, DNA testing identifies the “merle” gene but not the variety of colors and patterns seen in the coats of dogs with the gene. But unless you are talking to a geneticist, when people describe a dog as a merle they are referring to their coat pattern.

Merle is also called dapple (usually in dachshunds). It is a pattern of dark pigment that is randomly overlaid over a lighter shade of the same color.

Merle is very common and popular in the Australian Shepherd breed and relatively common among Collies and Shelties. But there is some controversy among Chihuahua owners and breeders as to whether it is a risk for Chihuahuas.

 

How Does A Breeder Get A Merle Chihuahua?

I am not and never have been a breeder, however, I know some responsible breeders that tell me that all merle dogs have one merle gene and one non-merle gene. So, if a breeder breeds a dog with a single merle gene and a dog with no merle gene you will likely get a litter that results in half of the puppies with the merle gene and the other half without.

Merle is a genetic pattern that can be in a dog’s coat. … There are two general types of colored patches that will appear in a merle coat: black (blue merle), and brown (chocolate merle). A brown on brown merle is generally referred to as a “liver” merle because it has a more “reddish tint”.

 

Blue Merle

Blue merle is a merle pattern that occurs in a dog with a white and black pattern rather than a brown on brown or a black on brown. This can happen even in dogs that are not a “double” merle. At first glance the “merle” in a blue merle Chihuahua gene is dominant however, it is incompletely dominant.

A dog that carries the double merle gene is not a pure breed. The “double-merle” dogs are white with a few merle-colored spots. The only way you can produce a “double-merle” is by breeding together two merles. This statistically will produce a litter that is ¼ solid-colored, half will be simple merles and ¼ will be double-merles.

The merle gene not only alters the base coat color but also modifies eye color and coloring on the nose and paw pads. The merle gene occasionally changes the dark eyes to blue.

Health Issues:

A merle Chihuahua is as healthy as any other Chihuahua. The problem comes when unscrupulous breeders breed a “double” merle. Many breeders will not breed a merle Chihuahua at all. There are a few, however, that responsibly breed merle Chihuahuas.

 

Health issues can occur for a merle Chihuahua when there are two copies of the merle gene. They have a higher risk of being deaf. Recent research indicates that the majority of health issues occur in dogs carrying both piebald (spotted with two colors, usually black & white) and the merle gene.  Dogs who are “double-merle” may be deaf, blind, or both and can carry ocular defects in blue or colored eyes, causing blindness.

Don’t shy away from getting a merle Chihuahua. Just be sure that if you get one from a breeder that he or she is a responsible one. I have a list of responsible breeders in the “resources” tab at the top of each page. A good breeder knows how to produce healthy merle Chihuahuas. But you must be careful.

 

Should you happen to get a Chihuahua that is deaf, blind, and those that are both, they can have good lives when cared for properly. There are a variety of internet groups that are dedicated to supporting caregivers of such dogs.

Don’t miss: What Is A Brindle Chihuahua?

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