# Hello- anyone with merles?



## Mrs Tiggywinkle (Apr 21, 2019)

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post. I'm hoping to get a cockapoo in the near future. Have found a responsible breeder and am thinkng of a merle puppy. Just wondering if anyone has one? I love the coat patterns but then started worrying when someone said " merles can have health problems". From my research however that seems to be when irresponsible breeders breed two merles together which is certainly not the case with the breeder I've found who is very experienced and has an excellent reputation. I'd love to hear from anyone and see some pictures too if you feel like showing off your lovely doggies.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

The health problems that double merles can have are so huge that personally I would rather see merle phased out altogether and not introduced into dogs such as cockapoos. Not all merles are obvious too and so you can have dogs carrying the gene who owners do not realise are merle which then increases the chances of two merles being bred together 

This is a double merle pup who was dumped on the streets as a baby with her litter sister. She was born deaf and mostly blind (she could just about see very bright light) and also developed a complex form of epilepsy which meant she was put to sleep before her first birthday. She is far from unique sadly


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## Mrs Tiggywinkle (Apr 21, 2019)

2ndhandgal said:


> The health problems that double merles can have are so huge that personally I would rather see merle phased out altogether and not introduced into dogs such as cockapoos. Not all merles are obvious too and so you can have dogs carrying the gene who owners do not realise are merle which then increases the chances of two merles being bred together
> 
> This is a double merle pup who was dumped on the streets as a baby with her litter sister. She was born deaf and mostly blind (she could just about see very bright light) and also developed a complex form of epilepsy which meant she was put to sleep before her first birthday. She is far from unique sadly


That's terrible and I wholly agree that double merle breeding is wrong.☹


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