Double Merle Shelties

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PatchesMommy

Forums Novice
I have a million questions about my new double merle sheltie. I can tell you I adopted him from a private family, NOT A BREEDER. Their 2 dogs, one a full merle and one 1/2 merle, snuck & got together despite the owner's many precautions. I love my little guy and it does not change the fact that I love him dearly and I'm up for the challenge of a possibly blind and deaf dog--He's just 8 weeks and the vet tested him, but said it was really too soon to tell.:eek2::eek2:
 
Is he completely white, or does he have some color? Color around the eyes and ears is good because it decreases the chances of him being blind and/or deaf. I think the vet should have been able to tell if his eyes at least looked normal, and not underdeveloped.
 
There is no such thing as half a merle. A merle is a merle.

You can have the puppy BAER tested this young, I would highly recommend that. It will let you know exactly what you are working with there. The earlier you know, the earlier you can formulate a training plan.

This is not going to be an easy dog, and I think you should find some local resources that are knowledgeable in handling severely disabled dogs.

And since the dog did not come from a breeder, no health testing has been done at all, so that now falls on you. I would recommend the MDR-1 and vWD tests. Both are simple swabs that go in an envelope back to the labs. Easy-peasy. MDR-1 is probably the most important, if the dog is vWD affected, you'll know it almost immediately.
 
If you would like to post a link showing us the pup and the mom and the dad we can understand better the breeding and the situation. Not that we are judging, but we want to be sure we understand. Just post a link to any photo site and make sure the setting are public.

What is a half merle? Do you mean a color headed white or do you mean a solid color dog with one merle parent?

Pix would help for sure.

If you pup has sight and hearing, there should be no problems.

Now as mentioned, doing the MDR1 test is a great thing to make sure there is no drug sensitivity. Von Willibrand is a good test to do too. Those sure help your vet in treating the pup life long.

Welcome.
 
There is no such thing as a half merle, a merle is a merle, does the pup have any coloring on him? Or is it all white? If it has pigment on its ears/and or eyes it may have both sight and hearing. Or it may not, its one of the dice rolled with a double merle breeding.
 
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