Post by twistedcaduceus » Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:54 am

Actually blue merle or merle colorings is not that uncommon in most breeds and species of canines. It is in actuality a heterozygous DOMINANT gene, however it is an incomplete dominant gene. Because of this fact many merles have a more pronounced manifestations of defects and disorders mainly the deafness and blindness trait. When a merle is bred with another merle, the litter has a 25% chance of producing a double merle pup. Dogs with double merle gene, meaning instead of just having 1/2 of the merle gene, they have both alleles in the pair are more susceptible to the above defects. This is the reason why merles, not just in Chows, are frowned upon in most kennel clubs around the world as well as reputable breeders that bred for not just kennel club standards but mostly for health and temperament. As misguided as organized kennel club standards might sometimes be, there is a very valid reason why merles are not accepted in conformation rings or even to be registered and that is the association of merle gene with deafness and blindness. Breeders that wanted to produce merles but wanted to minimize the risks of congenital defects usually breed merles with non-merles. However this does not guarantee a merle free of the said defects. It does minimize the risk but not by a lot since the actual merle gene is speculated to code for both deafness and blindness traits as well.



Therefore, for the sake of the future puppies and the hearts and emotions of the family that WILL get blindsided by this "RARE" coloring, neuter both your merle Chows. Worst case scenario is that the pups will end up in a shelter or worse get dumped on the streets because of the defects they might get. This is a loss for both the future pups and owners. The only one gaining anything from this is you, the unscrupulous BYB that is just in it for the money (seriously $1,500 ?). I hope I am wrong about you and will do the right thing which is to neuter your dogs.



Just my 2 cents.