hi! i met a double merle at work today (doggie daycare), and was wondering: do double-merles have a higher risk of GI disease?
vet-and-wild here.
Not really. Double merles have issues related to their eyes and ears, but the link with other issues is not really established. The theory is that people that breed double merle dogs tend to be irresponsible breeders, so they're also not bothering to health test or carefully select their breeding stock. That leads to more disease/genetic issues. So it's not necessarily the merle gene, but just bad breeding in general.
Breeder who just had her 2nd ✨accidental✨ double merle litter: Anyway it's no big deal. The double merle bitch I kept from last time produced several conformation champions. She doesn't know she's completely deaf and partially blind with underdeveloped eyes and needs daily eye drops for the rest of her life, so her quality of life is not affected. There is nothing wrong with this picture.
Playing with bubbles is one of the items on Cassie’s “before I go blind” list!
Reminder that you can still donate to her fundraiser until June 15th—not only would you be helping to raise money for homeless animals in northern Colorado, but you’d also be helping Cassie earn the title of fire marshal!
it is insane to me how normalized merle in any/all bully breeds has become. i cannot think of a single bully breed where merle isn't an instant disqualification in the breed standard. all of them are mixed breed lol