i have a blue merle working collie bitch who is ISDS reg and I would like to get red merle pups from her, whats the best way to breed them? should I mate her with a red and white dog and if I do, what percentage of red pups am I likely to get? or can you only get red merles by breeding from another red merle? I dont want to mate two merles together incase of health problems

Theres no gaurentee you can get any red mearls out of her.  If you do want a red merle, why not buy one in? Colour gentics will take some time to get to understand, you will have to see what is behind the stud dog and your bitch to know what colours will come out.  But well done for knowing not to breed merle to merle!  If you really want to mate your bitch, talk to collie owners who know about the colours.  One day I will be able to understand the colours, but at the moment I don't and will not pretend to know!!!

If you have an ISDS bitch you will need to join the ISDS if you wish to register the puppies Also your bitch will need to be eye tested & over 2  years old & I would also advise getting her x rayed for hip dysplasia

If you bought your bitch from a breeder(who will have been a member of the ISDS as your bitch is registered)I would suggest going to your breeder for them to suggest the bloodlines to breed to

I must add you may or may not get the colour you want & that ISDS dogs are bred to work & not for colour & you can get all sorts of colours in litters & it is very difficult to predict what colours, ear carriage or coat type you will get.

Edited to add ditto  to Ice Queen re buying in a puppy being the only way you can guarentee you will get a red merle puppy-another reason to contact your bitches breeder

Red in Collies is contolled by the brown gene, the same as chocolate in Labradors.  If your bitch has black pigment she will be genotype BB or Bb.  She can only produce red pups if she is Bb. Mated to a red dog (bb), each pup born will have 50:50 chance of black or red pigment.  If you use a red, non-merle dog (highly recommended of course) each pup born also has a 50:50 chance of being merle (Mm) or non merle (mm).

So this pans out as -

25%  black pigmented merle  - Bb Mm (aka blue merle)
25%  red pigmented merle - bb Mm
25%  red - bb mm
25%  black - Bb mm

If your bitch has a red parent or has produced red in previous litters, she will definitely be Bb but even so, each pup born has only a 25% chance of being red merle so you could still end up with none in the litter.

Julie

Julie