Barb Scott Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Just a question (WE ARE NOT BREEDERS AND NEVER WILL BE!): what are the health issues, if any, with breeding a red tri with a blue merle? Thanks, Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Not any more than breeding any other solid color to the merle (including a dilute solid). However, there are obvious issues with selecting from a much smaller gene pool when purposely doing such a cross (as in, waking up one morning and saying, "I think I'll breed my blue merle bitch to a red tri."). The one emphasized most here is, of course, that one is necessarily abandoning the principles that produce the most healthy and talented dogs (breeding for working ability without regard to appearance). But if the dogs that were the best match for each other and the most suited for the breeder's working needs, happened to be this combination, there's not an inherent problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 I know a local "breeder" who bred her red male to her blue merle female, under the assumption she would get red merles as a result. Le sigh. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted October 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Did she??? I know someone who bred red merle to blue merle and got heart problems. Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 No - red is recessive and both parents have to carry it for it to express in the offspring. So she got some blue merles and some black and white pups. RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiloh714 Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 The breeder where I got Abby from had one red boy, and the parents were both black. The lady said that the momma dog gets it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelliwic Border Collies Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 what are the health issues, if any, with breeding a red tri with a blue merle?Thanks, Barb S And I know someone who bred red merle to blue merle and got heart problems. Barb, is your original question regarding solid red tri as you wrote, or did you mean to imply red tri merle to blue merle? From the way you worded your second post, I wonder if you were initially asking about red tri merle? Solid color to merle carries no more risks than any other solid to solid breeding. Merle to merle is known to carry a high risk of problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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