Questions about an odd color pup.

A long time fiend of mine (who wants to remain nameless) has had a nice, proven yard for quite a good while now (15 years), and has always had exceptional dogs. Well, long story short 9 months ago he had a litter of 6 pups born from a breeding of 2 of his most prized game dogs. 2 red dogs, 2 brindles, 1 black...... and one red bitch that appears to be red merle. The question is about the red merle. She looked a little odd when she was young, but now at 9 months, you can kind of see the darker red spots. Also, she has light amber eyes. Myself, I have never seen one like this. The question now is should she have been culled, or should she be good to go if proven. Even if proven (big if there), should she ever be considered in part of a breeding program. I have no reassurance for my dear friend, as these are questions I personally cannot answer. It is coming to the point that he is wondering if he even wants her associated with his yard! Any enlightenment will be greatly appreciated guys.

 

Seen a "liver merle" male that was good and produced better...

 

Thanks guys. Here is a couple pictures of the female in question. If you look close you can see the darker red spots coming through the older she gets, and the eyes are noticeable right off. Also we were talking about genetics. We don't know if this is dominant or recessive, but unfortunately if line bred back it will more than likely show up again. That is the biggest cause for concern.

 

Dont see any ticks or merle there?Sometimes young pups play tricks on us and grow out of a certain look...

 

treezpitz, I was just told to keep the owners anonymity, not to post the ped #. Also, the fear of people buying dogs with similar peds to create a "designer dog". He thinks there are enough "blues" out there that the world surely doesn't need an abundance of red merles haha. Sorry brother. Odd isn't she? I can't say I've ever seen this before. Eyes seem to cut you into when she looks at you.

 

Awesome! So she is not merle? That is good to know. I've seen lots of reds, and owned a couple, but the darker, rusty looking spots on her through us for loop. The eyes made it more than odd. If this is common then there shouldn't be any cause for alarm then huh?

 

I hope so.

 

I agree definitely not Merle color

 

That dog looks ok to me. Are you sure she isn't red brindle? This is my red brindle and white pup. She has similar eyes to the one you're talking about.

 

Here is some info about merle from ADBA:
American Dog Breeders Association
This paragraph in particular is helpful in your friend's situation.
"Knowing that the allele that produces the merle color pattern is dominant, when we see a merle dog, we know that one of its parents must be a merle. Knowing that the merle gene is dominant, breeding a merle dogs to a dog that does not have the affected merle allele (mm), the resulting litter would have the probability to produce 50% merles (Mm) and 50% unaffected pups (mm). Breeding two merle dogs (Mm) the resulting litter would have the probability of being 25% unaffected (mm), 50% merle (Mm) and 25% white (MM)."

Knowing that the merle color is dominant, I would say that at least one of the parents of your friend's red pup would have to be merle in order to produce the color and 50% of the litter would probably be merle if that was the case. Since only this one red pup had a weird coloration, and both parents are normal in color, I would say she is not merle.

 

Funny you should say that, as her Dam is a red brindle. Her Sire is black with really light eyes.

 

Thank you TDK and Lone wolf, I appreciate it.

 

Thank you! I will be sharing this with him tomorrow! I appreciate the information. I would also like to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread as well. You guys have done us and the pup a great justice. Will post you guys some more pictures of her markings when I go to see them. The photos above are just ones I had when I was considering pups from his yard (if he were to be so kind as to sell me one!). Thanks again!

 

This dog is behind all of my dogs


I've often wondered about his color.

 

Good looking dog you got there. Odd pattern/ticking aswell.

 

CH BUSENBARK'S RATTLER ROM , was his name. He's behind my dogs, not one of them.