Following on from the Labradoodle thread whilst having a surf came acroos the 'pomapoo' a poodle pomeranian cross. And lo and behold there was a blue merle one. Now I know for a fact that the merle gene isn't present in Poodles and think it highly unlikely that it is present in poms so we have to ask where does this gene come from.
Having said that read in breed notes that you now get merle German Spitz so wonder where that came from too (Shetland Sheepdog!)
And people fall for this!

Jesse

Try Here

I have been in Pom's for over 20 years and never in my life seen a Merle!!  I do have a black and tan girl though.  Poodles I would also think could have merles especially the parti-color ones as SWD's have a merle effect in some parti-colors which we try to avoid.

It happens in lots of these weird crosses, people then go all out for Merles too!  Of course you can get much more for a 'rare" colour.  We have absolutely no merle in Am. cockers, but a kennel in the USA is breeding them!  Most people think that sheltie has been used in the "ingredients"  of course, with these crosses, you can put anything you like in the mix.  Worrying, with the inherent merle problem, of course.
bye
Gwen

What I want to know is why they have suddenly appeared. As has been said, and as most of us know, Merle is a dominant gene so there must be a merle parent for the offspring to be merle. So if that is the case, and in view of merling being very 'pretty' then merles in these breeds should be far more prevelant today than they are. Personally I believe that another breed has been used in recent history.
I was sent the pedigree of a merle poodle and neither parent was merle!

Jesse