# Blue Merle Poodles...?



## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

No, they aren't, and as accepting of Parti Poos as I am, I'd steer as clear of merles as possible. The Merle gene is proven to be genetically linked to some serious health issues in dogs, especially in a homozygous form. With breeds that do accept merle, like Collies and Australian Shepherds, for instance, reputable breeders will never breed merle to merle. That can cause what's considered a double merle, which looks very flashy (the colors are washed out twice over, so a double red merle will look like shades of bright cream, and double blue merle will like bright silver, both will have lots of white and usually white eyes), but unfortunately those same genes often carry defects like blindness, deafness, and other fairly serious health problems. I have heard of some double merles not developing normal internal organs, missing significant sections of intestine, dwarfism, hydrocephaly, etc. And even if you do get a double merle that doesn't have these issues, they'll still have a really hard time in bright sun and snow because the have totally pink skin, pink noses and eyerims. They're highly susceptible to melanomas, even if you slather them with sunscreen.

Granted, normal merles generally don't have these problems, it takes a double whammy of the gene. But of course, BYBs just _love_ to make money off of "rare" flashy colors, and the flashier the better. So an uninformed BYB will happily breed merle to merle and be excited by the flashy double merle pups that result, causing a huge new problem.

Don't get me wrong. I love merles in the breeds that have them, but I can't respect breeders who don't know or care about health issues this serious. The genes for phantom and parti in poodles don't have such severe consequences, at least.

Wow. I sound like I have a huge chip on my shoulder.  Australian Shepherds are extremely popular in my area, and I've seen too many BYB double merle ones with major health issues. To think of that happening in Poodles is horrifying. Our breed has enough problems!


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## frostfirestandards (Jun 18, 2009)

Michelle said:


> I browse puppyfind when I'm bored and look at all the poodle pups *(I know good reputable breeders don't advertise on there, so they're byb)* and I've been seeing more and more merles. From what I know they aren't a recognized poodle color? Can someone please explain?


Not all of the breeders who advertise on puppyfind are byb, however there is a stigma regarding advertising pups. If good breeders don't advertise along side the byb's how will people who are looking to purchase a pup be able to weed out the good from the bad. 

you can find pups from titled,tested parents on advertising websites, you just have to be able to seperate the wheat from the chaff.  


RE: merle poodles- it is not a recognised color, and many people think that somewhere along the line poodles were breed to something that carried merle genes. 

Many people think that Izzy is a merle, but really she is a silver, who tends to be itchy and scar her coat color, so she is silver with black spots lol


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

frostfirestandards said:


> you can find pups from titled,tested parents on advertising websites, you just have to be able to seperate the wheat from the chaff.


I've noticed this a lot in the standard puppies advertised. I'd visit the website given and look at their dogs and they are beautiful. But looking at the toys and minis I don't see it as much and thats where I have been seeing the merles. Heck, I found Atticus' breeder on puppyfind after I got him, I originally found her randomly looking at poodle websites and loved her dogs, and was surprised she had 2 puppies listed there. But she is a fabulous breeder with beautiful dogs, so I have nothing against it


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

When I wanted a nice puppy not too far away I went directly to the AKC website to search from there. They have a puppy finder. I found three litters from reputable breeders within a couple hours from me.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

This is all fine and well, and I am happy you found litters that excite you, but remember not all good breeders advertise there either, and not all good breeders are members of breed clubs, so you don't always find better breeders where you might expect to.


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## frostfirestandards (Jun 18, 2009)

i have a friend who got a toy from a breeder that advertised on akc, you still have to be careful, her puppy ended up having LCP...with any advertisement you have to do thorough research. akc does not mean quality nor does it guarentee it 

any breeder who advertizes blue merle poodles is one to be wary ofreally
there will be more byb poodles in the smaller varieties simply due to the fact that they are easier to keep in herds and they are more marketable


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

outwest said:


> When I wanted a nice puppy not too far away I went directly to the AKC website to search from there. They have a puppy finder. I found three litters from reputable breeders within a couple hours from me.


I nearly always find BYB results when I use the AKC puppy finder.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

ChocolateMillie said:


> I nearly always find BYB results when I use the AKC puppy finder.


Yes, there were those on there, too, but I was at least able to find the websites to look at. Starting from scratch I thought it was a lot better than a cold internet search. If I couldn't find anything I wanted there, I would have gone to a show and asked people there. That is how I found my last puppy.


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