# Important information about merle « poodles »



## Charlie's Person (Dec 9, 2018)

Dechi said:


> I found this on Facebook. I don’t know this breeder but I found her post very informative.
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> I get asked about Merle often. I seen this and I’m sharing so others can be educated on this dangerous gene introduced to our poodles.
> ...


Does anybody have experience with Hessler,s Standard Poodles? Sounds like a thoughtful breeder

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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

Great post! I would like to add something else that I'm aware of from the border collie breed in which merle is a naturally occuring color.

The ee coloration gene is a component gene responsible for red, apricot, and cream colored dogs in poodles. The ee gene _masks_ merle coloration. Because of this, you can have a dog with a copy of the merle gene that is visually a non-merle dog. The dog may or may not have blue eyes but when it does, you know for sure it has a masked merle gene. Sometimes these dogs have slight indications of merle color when born, but it always fades to adults that lack merle pattern. The original post makes it sound like this probably only happens in pale dogs but it's not limited to pale dogs. It happens in normal dark reds as well.

Why is this a big deal? Because even if you have an educated person who knows that merle-merle breedings cause deaf/blind dogs, they will not think their ee red dog is merle because it doesn't _look_ merle. So then they breed it with a merle dog or another masked merle dog and surprise! Severely compromised puppies with deaf/blind impairments.

I have _SEEN_ this with my own eyes. Recently somebody posted a photo of their soon-to-be puppy on one of the facebook groups. It was an apricot tuxedo marked puppy with striking blue eyes. 75% of the comments were from uneducated people talking about how _beautiful those eyes were_. And the other 25% were from educated breeders and owners trying very hard to explain why this was _clearly _evidence of a very poor breeder because the puppy had a merle gene masked by the ee locus.

See link below for good examples of ee red merle corgis that appear completely non merle








Why is it a dangerous practice?


Have a look at these dogs: What colour do you think that they are? Would it surprise you to learn that both of these dogs are merle? The one on the left is genetically a red merle, the one on …




bluepembrokewelshcorgis.wordpress.com





Here's more for Australian shepherds which don't typically come in ee red but it can happen.


E Locus Yellows



If you have a breed of dog with a lot of ee red colored dogs, introducing merle is a terrible idea. It's a gene that requires very responsible breeding. When you look at Australian shepherd rescues, you will see so many double merle blind/deaf dogs in them. Because aussies are a very trendy breed and there are so many backyard breeders that don't know to not breed merles together. Or they have cryptic merles and aren't doing the genetic testing to know they're cryptic. We really don't want to see this same situation in poodles.

This article has more great info on this problem with the ee red coloration and its masking ability:





Masks and recessive red- The E series |


Eumelaninistic masks (black on the muzzle and sometimes the ears) are caused by the Em allele, which is found on the E locus.




champagnekennels.com


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Raindrops - that's scary, especially considering how many breeders I see who do multiple "unusual" colours, like red, apricot, parti, sable, etc. I think most of us know about breeding double merles, but I had never heard of hidden merles! Also scary if they can be hidden through multiple generations. I really hope CKC, AKC, and UKC take similar measures to the UK kennel club and deregister merles and (potentially ) ban breeders found to be deliberately breeding them in non Merle breeds. 






Registration of dogs of merle colouring | Kennel Club


We will no longer register merle-coloured dogs where there is no documented evidence of the colour being well established over a sustained period.




www.thekennelclub.org.uk


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Raindrops - that's scary, especially considering how many breeders I see who do multiple "unusual" colours, like red, apricot, parti, sable, etc. I think most of us know about breeding double merles, but I had never heard of hidden merles! Also scary if they can be hidden through multiple generations. I really hope CKC, AKC, and UKC take similar measures to the UK kennel club and deregister merles and (potentially ) ban breeders found to be deliberately breeding them in non Merle breeds.
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> 
> ...


They sort of already ban it. Because you cannot register a poodle as "merle." But what you can do is register it as black and white. I do not know how they can prevent this false registration.

Hidden merle is a pretty tough issue for breeds that have both ee red and merle. But it would be super bad for poodles because of how trendy those colors are and how most are poorly bred.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

This is scary. But thank you for sharing it Dechi as it is important information. This is why I prefer my poodles in one color only, black with beautiful dark brown eyes.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)




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## FloofyPoodle (May 12, 2020)

Countryboy said:


> View attachment 468500
> View attachment 468500


Any chance that the Pure Bread is still available? I've been searching for months to add one to our family. 😌 😂


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

FloofyPoodle said:


> Any chance that the Pure Bread is still available? I've been searching for months to add one to our family. 😌 😂


I'm sure there is a 50 person wait list. What with covid.


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

Raindrops said:


> They sort of already ban it. Because you cannot register a poodle as "merle." But what you can do is register it as black and white. I do not know how they can prevent this false registration.


Many European clubs demand a DNA test from the puppies to confirm that the registered mother and father are correct before confirming the pedigree. I find it very difficult to believe that it would be easy to get away with registering a Merle Poodle. The clubs dont just take the breeders word for what they are registering, they check, it was a bit of a problem during the shutdown actually. Doesnt the US do the same?


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