I have the most adorable and delightful Dane bitch puppy coming to classes at the moment. All legs, so gorgeous and a wonderful temperament too. I was asking her owners about her, she is a blue merle and according to her owners this is an undesirable colout in Danes. I thought (but may very well be wrong) that to produce Harlequin a dog needed to carry both the Merle and Harlequin gene. Is this so, and if so why is Merle undesirable? I know the issues of double merle and its semi-lethal nature but Merle is acceptable in many breeds, if it is unacceptable in the Dane why is this so?
No arguement here just one more small campagne in a lifetimes quest for knowledge of our canine companions.

SB

No idea - I stay away from the colour stuff! I'll ask GraceB to look in and answer this for you though. Both Grace and I love Blue Merles, but you are right, they are not desirable in show circles. Nor are Boston Blacks/Mantles (although I understand thats about to change)

C

C

What colour are Boston Blacks / Mantles?
I see very few Danes at classes and those I do see are such a pleasure and seem to have dedicated and capable owners.

SB

Hi

The are black with white paws and white bibs/faces - have a look here: Ravendane and scroll down (ignore the terrible music lol)

Danes are the best. They are so devoted to their owners. I have two, a blue boy, Willis (Ravendane) and a Brindle bitch called Phoebe, who Grace bred (Aticnemrac). Pics are on my website, click on my profile :)

C

Hi SB

I too think the merle Danes look very attractive and used to have a pet bitch myself. A good place to look about Dane genetics is
http://www.greatdanerescueinc.com/DaneGenetics.html as I'm not sure about the necessity of a merle gene to produce the harli
HTH

Grace

Grace's Link

Another Grace Link

Thank you all so much.

I think what the information shows is that Double Harlequin is lethal (prenatal), double Merle is semi lethal as in other breeds. Harlequin without Merle appears as black so that to get Harlequin you do need one Merle and one Harlequin gene. All of which makes it rather sad that such a very attractive colour as blue merle in such a lovely breed is undesirable. The blue merle in this young lady is particularly lovely as it is not the "marbling" often seen in Merle but a real grey dog with black patches, I am assuming this is typical.

I do appreciate your replies, today - as most days I have learned something new.

SB

All i can add is "I'm glad my Dane is a fawn" ;)

Sarah