hillfarm Posted August 12, 2007 Report Share Posted August 12, 2007 Just wanted to add a note to the article on Merle dogs and white factoring. It mentions the white factored Border collie as coming from two merle parents. I have a white factored Border collie who came from a breeding between a tri male and a Merle female and yes he has been deaf from birth. He is all white except for a black stripe on his head and blue merle ears. At nine years old his vision is still excellent and his herding ability has always been present, the sheep seem to respect him more than they do many of my b/w or red/white dogs. He has a stong eye and great balance you just can't use him for anything but putting the sheep away at night since you can't give him commands and his eye is so strong he watches only the sheep and completely ignores you! So I let him pen them at night or just move them around the arena on his own, he is a joy to watch just wish I knew some way to give him commands! Away from the sheep he is well versed in hand signals and does all the things a hearing dog does, he is a wonderful dog to have and I am so thankful his breeders asked us to take him instead of putting him down. Just be cautious if you do see that mostly white pup in a non two merle parent litter, it may be deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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