WEBSITE TOPIC: Health risks of the Merle pattern being added into the Miniature Schnauzer breed and other breeds.

Brief Merle Pattern Introduction: In simple terms the Merle pattern has a host of health problems. The debate is not about the charm and beauty of Merles as I think we all agree it is quite striking. To reiterate it is indeed a unique pattern and eye catching (this website is not about the dislike of Merles). Unfortunately for Merles being beautiful and healthy are two different things. There are severe eye and hearing issues caused by this mutated gene at birth and later in life for many Merle offspring. Another cause for concern is the possibility of a defective immune system and the hidden merle. This lethal gene also causes many puppies to be born dead, have missing eye lids, and a host of other health issues. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this mutated gene is to a dogs overall health and quality of life. There is no ethical purpose in breeding this pattern into a dog just for a 'unique look'. Every time a Merle pattern is bred into a dog, the breeder is gambling between healthy and unhealthy. Meaning, how many in this litter will be healthy and how many in this litter will be unhealthy at some point in its life. There are lethal health risks with the Merle pattern in any dog breed therefore it should not be added to breeds where the pattern does not already exist! This is NOT the same as "I am just creating a new dog breed like many have done in the past" which is the premise of all breeders taking this risk. This mutated gene is faulty and lethal. Which makes it very difficult to manage safely. This is why Merle is banned in many countries.



This picture represents the mutated gene at its worst. Sometimes in order to get peoples full attention, they need to see with their own eyes the worst of a reality. Another graphic picture of a merle to merle breeding is on the hidden merle and cryptic merle page.

What is Merle: it is a PATTERN in a dog's coat, though is commonly incorrectly referred to as a color. The merle gene creates mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat, blue or odd-colored eyes, and can affect skin pigment as well. Health issues are more typical and more severe when two merles are bred together, so it is recommended that a merle be bred to a dog with a solid coat color only. Merle can affect all coat colors. The merle forms of brown and black are usually called liver (or red) and blue, respectively. Dogs who are recessive red can still be affected by merle, but the patches are either hardly seen or if the dog is a clear recessive red, it is not visible at all.  Combinations such as brindle merle exist, but are not typically accepted in breed standards.

In addition to altering base coat color, merle also modifies eye color and coloring on the nose and paw pads. The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes, occasionally changing dark eyes to blue, or part of the eye to be colored blue. Since merle causes random modifications, however, both dark-eyed, blue-eyed, and odd-colored eyes are possible.[4] Color on paw pads and nose may be mottled pink and black.[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_%28dog_coat%29

Blue-Eyed Miniature Schnauzers should NOT exist but they do because of the merle. 

Blue Eyes are dominannt once they are bred into a dogs bloodline. It is not a complicated process to isolate a blue eyed dominate gene and then breed the Schnauzer back into the lines to breed true. In the last 100 years there have been NO blue eyed Schnauzers as this dominant gene would have been there from the very beginning. A dominant gene does not just pop up one day. Within the last 10 years we suddenly have AKC Blue Eyed Schnauzers from the same breeders that introduced the merle pattern to this breed. What a coincidence... See for yourself. http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/eyes.html 

would also like to point out how genes can be isolated with this Boxer website that used a Corgi's natural bobbed tail to isolate the gene for a natural bobbed tail in Boxers vs needing cropped. Then they bred the Boxer back into the mixed Corgi and Boxer lines. http://www.boxberry.net/page4.asp

It's such a different world today then when I started to raise, train and place dogs in loving homes.

It used to be we breeders were doing great ethical work, producing the very best of our breed and everyone knew if you wanted a purebred, go to an AKC Breeder....... but the powers that be, the PETA's and the HUMANE SOCIETIES, and POUNDS have tried to put us out of business. They don't like pets and would like to see a world without our wonderful furry friends. Unethical breeders selling mixed breeds as "special" or "rare" are making it difficult for we that actually do ethical breeding.