Working Merle Health

[Kate@JIm]

I've heard stories of blue merle border collies having health issues. I'm not talking about hearing problems, or merle/merle breeding , conformation lines or poor breeders now. These are all respectable working lines.

This goes back 20 years or so, maybe no one has any answers here?

 

I've "heard lots of tales" and I'd like to figure out if they were that, just tales.

( not talking the color or different stigma attached to merles )

 

There were a few blue merles trialing back then, two dogs that I knew, came from good working lines.

Now both of these dogs had health issues, sever bowel problems, autoimmune problems. The two dogs I knew didn't live past 8. They were not directly related. Recently a friend of ours put down their 7 year old blue merle ( all working lines - no one wanted this dog. ) He had a whole host of health problems. His littermates are healthy. I knew of two blue merles that competed in obedience trials in the 80's, had health issues as well. They were from all working lines, and not related.

 

Right now there is one merle trialing in open in my area and is in fine health, but he is young, and this is just one dog I know of here. I've heard of a few others, but I don't know them directly.

 

Now, was this just a coincidence, or is there something there?

Some working friends of mine said they'd never own one, even from the finest breeding. ( I'm not talking at all about the stigma related to color, health issues only)

 

 

Are they tall tales, or maybe no one really knows for sure?

 

I was going to post over at the working sheepdog website, but I don't think I'd get any serious replies.

This is just a curiosity question, something I've observed for the last 20 some years.

 

---I'm not interested in getting a merle, and I don't breed, I've become a little complexed / curious after my friends dog that just passed.

 

Too many coincidences?? Or is there something to the "tales"?

[juliepoudrier]

Kate@Jim,

I hope you don't think folks are ignoring your question--I suspect no one has an answer. I personally have not heard of merles (not inlcuding double merles) have more (or fewer) health issues than other colors, but then I certainly don't know very many folks with merle dogs either. Did you ask your working friends what health issues concerned them? Like you, I'd be curious about the evidence out there, even if it's just anecdotal. I suppose it's possible for odd health conditions to pop up if the breeder is breeding for that color and therefore using inbreeding and line breeding (sort of like CL in conformation-bred dogs). Especially in working lines, since merles are rather rare, it might be that certain deleterious genes that just happened to exist in one or more merle dogs were doubled up on and so expressed = the health problems you've heard about. But I have no facts to support this, only supposition.

 

J.

[SoloRiver]

Deficiencies related to depigmentation are more common in "normal" merles than in solid-colored dogs. Not as common as they are in homozygous merles, but still.

 

If you go back in the "Politics and Culture" forum and find a thread titled "merle explosion" there's some discussion of working merles there.

[jdarling]

Thanks, Julie, for bumping this thread. I didn't see it.

 

I have a couple of working merles. (knock on wood) I haven't had any problems. However, there was a very interesting discussion recently called "Merle Explosion" that has a lot of good information in it.

 

Jodi

ETA: Melanie, looks like we had the same thought ...

[juliepoudrier]

Hmmm...I thought that thread had a lot of good information on why merles are underrepresented in the working population and the like, but I don't think it actually addressed the questions being asked by the OP here, who seems to be looking for evidence that there is some link between the merle color (merle genetics) and particular health issues, bowel problems, autoimmune problems, and other unspecified problems. I don't remember any of that sort of thing being discussed in that other thread, but then I am getting old and forgetful!

 

J.

[Kate@JIm]

yes, I read that other merle thread, ( merle explosion) not what I was addressing though.

 

Thanks, anyway.

[zenotri]

I have 2 merles from the same family, one is 4YO, the other 18mths. Neither have any health issues and I am not anticipating any since I know 4 generations of their family & have not seen any of the issues you mention. I realise my experience with merles is limited.

[laurie etc]

I've heard stories of blue merle border collies having health issues. I'm not talking about hearing problems, or merle/merle breeding , conformation lines or poor breeders now. These are all respectable working lines.

This goes back 20 years or so, maybe no one has any answers here?

...

Now, was this just a coincidence, or is there something there?

Some working friends of mine said they'd never own one, even from the finest breeding. ( I'm not talking at all about the

 

Too many coincidences?? Or is there something to the "tales"?

 

Totally anecdotal response...I have a healthy 7.5 year old working merle - and I happen to know a lot of people in the "agility world" with ABCA working line merles (as opposed to conformation lines). A much higher percentage of the agility population of working line Border Collies is merle than in the actual working population, due to a preference of some competitors and breeders for "pretty"; so there's an opportunity to see a concentrated population of "oddballs". I've been to agility trials where I'd swear the reds and merles outnumber the black and whites. Never the less, I don't see an over abundance of illness in merles- any more than in the black and whites. I do know a couple merles with epilepsy, and one with pancreatic insufficiency - but then, I know some traditional Border Collies with those problems, too. I wonder if what you are hearing is simply a reflection of the fact that a sick merle stands out in someone's mind more than a sick black and white border collie. Plenty of people have written to these boards about their dogs with immune problems, irritable bowel disease, pancreatic insufficiency, allergies, epilepsy, reproductive issues. I know dogs that have died early from liver disease, kidney failure, immune problems. I just don't recall any of them being merles, specifically. I know there have been studies done about internal problems in homozygous merles, but I haven't seen it in the heterozygous population that I'm familiar with. Laurie