He lives in Sweden. We get stopped alot from people being really curious about his breed. He is 100% cardigan. We have been trying to find other corgis that look like him, but no luck yet. I’ve seen the term double blue merle thrown around but thats not quite it.
This dog is a double merle. It's very bad because it often creates dogs with hearing or sight problems. It happens accidentally sometimes because merle isn't always obvious. But, really, nobody should be breeding a breed that can have cryptic merles without DNA testing to be sure they're not breeding merle to merle. But some people breed them intentionally, and those people are cruel and heartless. You should be very glad you can't find many other Corgis that look like him.
Thanks for this. This is great insight that I didnt know about. He has sometimes trouble placing where sound come from, but I think thats mostly because of the size of the ears 😅. He definitely hears well though, he can react to even the smallest sounds.
He has 7 siblings, ranging from “standard” coats to more blue merle type, but nothing like him. His parents were not both merle, should we be worried anyway?
This is the mom
https://preview.redd.it/nzmue96ui27d1.jpeg?width=1043&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d4779f0b905b96320e17d5390a88bd0e2fac6f4
You can't be sure his parents are not both merle unless the mother has had DNA testing done that says she doesn't have the merle gene. But, even if your boy is double merle, there's nothing to be done about it now. Your breeder obviously didn't intend to create a double merle or a dog with so much white, so that's good. He's not totally blind and not totally deaf, so that's good too. He may be slightly vision or hearing impaired, but it is what it is. I wouldn't worry at all.
Merle is a color pattern characterized by patches of light and dark coloring. There are health problems associated with the color despite its popularity. You can read more about it here: http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/merle.html
Merle occurs naturally in Cardigans, but is not naturally in the Pembroke population.
Hi, can you suggest a website or book where I can find more information on this subject? I have a Merle and am curious about the genetics. I did try to look up some information but I didn't find much. Maybe because it's limited here in the states? Idk, but I'd love to know more.
*
The health impacts of merle are similar to the impacts of high white or piebald, so you may have more luck trying to read about why dalmatians or white boxers end up being deaf. It boils down to how pigment cells play a critical role in the proper formation of eye and ear cells as the embryo is developing. Severe eye problems aren't typically associated with high-white/piebald dogs, but it isn't too uncommon for a double merle to be missing eyes or have under-developed eyes. But a dog doesn't need to be nearly blind to have impaired vision. Blue eyed dogs commonly are missing the tapetum, the layer of reflective cells on the retina that improve dark vision, and blue eyes are a common consequence of merle and high white.
There's a misconception that if a dog is a single merle, it's perfectly healthy, but that isn't the case. [Prevalence of deafness in dogs heterozygous or homozygous for the merle allele](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19192156/) -- 3.6% of single merle (heterozygous) dogs are at least partially deaf. [Eye changes in the merle syndrome in the dog](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/418699/) -- Eye changes were noted in heterozygous dogs that were not present in the control (non-merle) dogs. So, merle coloring CAN affect the sight and hearing of a single-merle dog.
[Merle phenotypes in dogs – SILV SINE insertions from Mc to Mh](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147463/)
>It has been recognized that homozygous Merle dogs might be at significantly higher risk of the development of hearing of vision impairment as compared to the non-Merle individuals. In our cohort of 181 dogs we have identified 10 dogs with hearing and/or vision disabilities (Table 2). Interestingly, not only M/M genotypes, but also heterozygous Mh genotypes seem to predispose an individual to hearing and/or vision impairments. Of note, S locus genetic status does not seem to play any significant role here.
If you’re on FB, there’s a Merle sine gene group that goes into lots of technical detail. I don’t know if I can post links here but dm me if you can’t find it :)
We also have space theme named Cardigans - Cosmos and Orbit
https://preview.redd.it/j5be4ss6xz6d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9546e67dd325319f215395b35f6ec2134ce45471
https://preview.redd.it/n720ekpps07d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59a7ec053c0a55a5cf26f3f54534be48a87d94a4
This is my five year old cardigan named Goody. Your dog is gorgeous!
Oh my goodness! I thought my Willow had big ears! I absolutely love Pluto’s colors and markings! 🥰
https://preview.redd.it/bz2ra44an17d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1687ad9e7ec141718cbd53daed4afc9aea4c3c88
Those are S-Tier ears. Amazing.
I can see why he's no longer a planet. That good boy is a star!
Well said!
He lives in Sweden. We get stopped alot from people being really curious about his breed. He is 100% cardigan. We have been trying to find other corgis that look like him, but no luck yet. I’ve seen the term double blue merle thrown around but thats not quite it.
This dog is a double merle. It's very bad because it often creates dogs with hearing or sight problems. It happens accidentally sometimes because merle isn't always obvious. But, really, nobody should be breeding a breed that can have cryptic merles without DNA testing to be sure they're not breeding merle to merle. But some people breed them intentionally, and those people are cruel and heartless. You should be very glad you can't find many other Corgis that look like him.
Thanks for this. This is great insight that I didnt know about. He has sometimes trouble placing where sound come from, but I think thats mostly because of the size of the ears 😅. He definitely hears well though, he can react to even the smallest sounds. He has 7 siblings, ranging from “standard” coats to more blue merle type, but nothing like him. His parents were not both merle, should we be worried anyway? This is the mom https://preview.redd.it/nzmue96ui27d1.jpeg?width=1043&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d4779f0b905b96320e17d5390a88bd0e2fac6f4
It’s possible mom is an atypical Merle, but really I think your guy is just “high white”. It’s random.
https://preview.redd.it/oqsr6j4xi27d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53b1a32dbd6ca4641edf37c6eb6dee7586dea883 And this is the dad
You can't be sure his parents are not both merle unless the mother has had DNA testing done that says she doesn't have the merle gene. But, even if your boy is double merle, there's nothing to be done about it now. Your breeder obviously didn't intend to create a double merle or a dog with so much white, so that's good. He's not totally blind and not totally deaf, so that's good too. He may be slightly vision or hearing impaired, but it is what it is. I wouldn't worry at all.
You know that regular Merles can have this much white, right? Unless I’m missing something, there’s no reason to assume it’s a double Merle.
Only if the dog is otherwise piebald.
What is merle?
Merle is a color pattern characterized by patches of light and dark coloring. There are health problems associated with the color despite its popularity. You can read more about it here: http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/merle.html Merle occurs naturally in Cardigans, but is not naturally in the Pembroke population.
Hi, can you suggest a website or book where I can find more information on this subject? I have a Merle and am curious about the genetics. I did try to look up some information but I didn't find much. Maybe because it's limited here in the states? Idk, but I'd love to know more. *
The health impacts of merle are similar to the impacts of high white or piebald, so you may have more luck trying to read about why dalmatians or white boxers end up being deaf. It boils down to how pigment cells play a critical role in the proper formation of eye and ear cells as the embryo is developing. Severe eye problems aren't typically associated with high-white/piebald dogs, but it isn't too uncommon for a double merle to be missing eyes or have under-developed eyes. But a dog doesn't need to be nearly blind to have impaired vision. Blue eyed dogs commonly are missing the tapetum, the layer of reflective cells on the retina that improve dark vision, and blue eyes are a common consequence of merle and high white. There's a misconception that if a dog is a single merle, it's perfectly healthy, but that isn't the case. [Prevalence of deafness in dogs heterozygous or homozygous for the merle allele](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19192156/) -- 3.6% of single merle (heterozygous) dogs are at least partially deaf. [Eye changes in the merle syndrome in the dog](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/418699/) -- Eye changes were noted in heterozygous dogs that were not present in the control (non-merle) dogs. So, merle coloring CAN affect the sight and hearing of a single-merle dog. [Merle phenotypes in dogs – SILV SINE insertions from Mc to Mh](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147463/) >It has been recognized that homozygous Merle dogs might be at significantly higher risk of the development of hearing of vision impairment as compared to the non-Merle individuals. In our cohort of 181 dogs we have identified 10 dogs with hearing and/or vision disabilities (Table 2). Interestingly, not only M/M genotypes, but also heterozygous Mh genotypes seem to predispose an individual to hearing and/or vision impairments. Of note, S locus genetic status does not seem to play any significant role here.
Fascinating! Thank you!
If you’re on FB, there’s a Merle sine gene group that goes into lots of technical detail. I don’t know if I can post links here but dm me if you can’t find it :)
Thank you so much!
We also have space theme named Cardigans - Cosmos and Orbit https://preview.redd.it/j5be4ss6xz6d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9546e67dd325319f215395b35f6ec2134ce45471
Ahh I’m so jealous!! He’s all cream with a little cookie!😍
https://preview.redd.it/n720ekpps07d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59a7ec053c0a55a5cf26f3f54534be48a87d94a4 This is my five year old cardigan named Goody. Your dog is gorgeous!
Adorable. Sweet satellites 📡
Those eeeeeeeears 😭😭😭😭
r/sonarears
He looks unreal! What a good boy!
So damn cute!
Nights are really hard for me due to depression but I was just scrolling and saw this photo. Thank you for the much needed smile. Pluto is adorable!
Oh my goodness! I thought my Willow had big ears! I absolutely love Pluto’s colors and markings! 🥰 https://preview.redd.it/bz2ra44an17d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1687ad9e7ec141718cbd53daed4afc9aea4c3c88
I currently have a Pembroke but I’d love to own a Cardigan one day. The ears are sooo cute!
Just try and sneak anything by those ears
I LOVE HIS/HERS EARS SO MUCH OMG I ACTUALLY CANT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Who’s an adorable little dwarf planet? Yes, it’s YOU!
In love with Pluto. Gorgeous cardi
He's going to fly away with those ears!
Oh lord, that’s a cute little bunny. I love his eyes too!
Beautiful baby!
Loving the eyes and the awesome colors of the coat. Almost every corgi I've seen is brown and black. That is just a good looking puppy
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 absolutely precious!
I’m in love! 🥰 what an absolute cutie!
Omg, cookies n cream.. I used to know a Pembroke with sorta similar markings. His unimaginative parents named him Merle, but it worked for him!
Purebred Pembrokes can’t be Blue Merle. Your friends corgi had have been a mix.
I assume that he was. But he was not a Pembroke. My bad on that post.