Border Collies

Red Merle

Blue merle is not a common colour these days, but red merle is really quite rare. The base colour chocolate brown is already pretty rare, so a combination with merle is seldomly seen. In order to produce red merle pups both parents must be chocolate brown or they must carry the gene and one of the parents must be merle.

Breeding merles can result in health problems when one doesn't watch out. The simple rules for this can be found at Blue Merle and in the genetics article mentioned below.

More information on the genetic background of coat colours can be found at Genetics of coat colour and other exterior properties.

Full size picture

Koda (owner and photo: Lonnie Olson) has rather dark patterns on his body and very light merle markings on his head. The chocolate brown base colour makes him an unusual appearance. Koda is working as a sled dog.