Erle French Bulldogs (AKA Merle Frenchies) are the latest trending breed of dog due to their unique and striking coat markings and their characteristic blue eyes. It's not surprising that the appearance of this breed, paired with their lively and easy-going personality, makes them highly sought-after! However, prospective owners must know about the dangers to health associated with the gene merle, mainly double Merle Frenchies and the ethical concerns about this breed.
What Is A Merle French Bulldog?
The Merle French Bulldog carries the merle gene, which results in mottled patches with different color and patterns that appear on their coat and affect the color of their eyes and pigmentation of the paws and the nose. The designs that appear on the coat are either piebald or solid, and the most commonly used colors are red merle and blue merle.
What Makes A Merle French Bulldog?
Merle is an inherited pattern in the coat of a French Bulldog that reduces the color of certain coat sections into lighter shades, leaving areas with the initial color when the French Bulldog carries the "M" Merle allele and an opposite "m" copy of the Merle allele. A Merle French Bulldog is (M/m).
It can be a problem if two French Bulldogs that are carriers of (M/m) are breeding together since there is a chance of 25% that each puppy born will have homozygosity (M/M) with the Merle characteristic. (M/M) Carriers are known as double merle, and many have severe hearing or vision problems.
What Does A Merle French Bulldog Look Like?
A Merle French Bulldog has a hairstyle with a pattern of dots, which can affect by skin pigmentation on their paws and noses and blue or odd-colored eyes. The two primary colors of the coat are red and blue merle.
Apart from changing the coat's color The merle gene alters the dark pigmentation in French Bulldogs' eyes, changing their eyes from partially to wholly blue or even odd-colored. For skin pigmentation, the merle gene may change the color of French Bulldogs' paws and noses to lighter pink.
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What Is A Double Merle French Bulldog?
Although they are beautiful and appealing looks, potential Merle French Bulldogs owners need to know that they result from breeding practices that are not optimal and could be deaf and blind.
A Double Merle (M/M) French Bulldog is a dog with two versions of the predominant "M" allele. These result from poor breeding practices since they suffer from hearing loss and ocular problems. They are also referred to as "lethal whites" because they lack color in their coats.
Double Merle French Bulldogs have created controversy in the dog world, with several official organizations refusing to recognize dogs born of merle-to merle breeding.
Are Merle French Bulldogs Purebred?
The answer is no. Merle French Bulldogs are not purebred because the merle gene does not naturally exist with this breed. Merle French Bulldogs are a result of selective breeding. They can be created by crossing the one French Bulldog with another dog that carries the merle gene, like the Chihuahua. The American Kennel Club does not recognize the Merle French Bulldog as a pure breed.
Double Merle (M/M) French Bulldogs will continuously transmit the same traits of Merle to their pups and shouldn't be crossed. Breeders that are responsible and want to create merle pups should mix the Merle (M/m) French Bulldog with an unmerge (m/m) French Bulldog. Around 50 Percent of the puppies are likely to be Merles, and none of them will make Double Merles.
Are Merle French Bulldogs Unhealthy?
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Yes, there is an increased chance of developing health issues in Merle French Bulldogs. Merle alleles increase the likelihood of hearing loss and blindness. The risk is increased dramatically when homozygous (M/M) French Bulldogs are sometimes called Double Merles since they have two copies of the M gene.
Common Merle Health Problems
- Hearing Impairment – up to complete deafness
- Vision Impairment – up to complete blindness
- Skin Cancer – an increased risk due to the lack of pigmentation on skin
- Micropthalmia – rare condition causing small and often non-functional eyeballs (high risk for Double Merles)
How Long Do Merle French Bulldogs Live?
It is believed that a Merle French Bulldog will typically live approximately ten years when they don't have any health problems or other issues. However, Merle French Bulldogs' genetic predisposition makes them at the risk of developing hearing and vision problems, particularly for double Merles. Factors like exercise and diet can also affect the life span of the Merle French Bulldog.
Merle French Bulldog Colors
The three primary colors used in Merle French Bulldogs consist of the blue Merle as well as Merle, and Red Merle as well as Isabella Merle. The Blue Merle and a Red Merle French Bulldog distinction are that the Blue Merle is a black Frenchie with Merle patterns, while the Red Merle is a blood (brown) Frenchie sporting a merle pattern. There are Harlequin merle and Tweed merle French Bulldogs; however, these are rarer.
Blue Merle French Bulldog
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Red Merle French Bulldog
What Is A Harlequin Merle French Bulldog?
The Harlequin Merle French Bulldog carries the merle gene and the co-dominate modifying gene associated with Harlequin. Harlequin merles have a predominantly white coat adorned with massive black patches with full coloration. The genetic mutation causes almost all the grey or marbled patches in the typical merle coat to be replaced by white.
What Is A Tweed Merle French Bulldog?
It is believed that a Tweed Merle French Bulldog is a dog that carries the Tweed modifier for merle that changes the grey that is present in blue Merle or the lighter brown in the red merle to various grey-brown, tan and grey shades. Some breeders claim that harlequin merle and tweed are the same patterns; however, some breeders believe the "true tweed" gene exists where the coat is not adorned with the white patch. It is, however, highly unusual French Bulldog coloring.
What Is A Cryptic Merle French Bulldog?
A Cryptic Merle French Bulldog (also called a phantom merle) is one of the French Bulldogs with tiny patches of merle or no merle whatsoever. These French Bulldogs seem to be non-merle but could carry the merle genotype and may produce the offspring of merle.
A cryptic Merle French Bulldog can have one copy of the Cryptic allele and only one copy negative of the allele of the merle (m/CR) or be called a Double Cryptic (CR/CR) carrying two copies of the Cryptic allele.
How Much Does A Merle French Bulldog Cost?
Merle, the French Bulldog, is among the rarest and most costly French Bulldog coat types, priced between $6000 and USD 15000 based on the breeder.
Why Are Merle French Bulldogs So Expensive?
The reason Merle French Bulldogs can be extremely expensive is that they need artificial fertilization and a caesarean section to give birth. In addition, the additional information about responsible and ethical breeding methods also contributes to the high cost. Responsible for Merle breeding by mating with a Merle (M/m) to non-Merle (m/m) and resulting in an unintentional litter of 50% merle. It is reflective of the rareness of the breed.
Are Merle French Bulldogs Rare?
Merle French Bulldogs are extremely rare because it isn't an inherent gene within the breed. It is believed that Merle French Bulldogs are a result of crossing breeding with the merle Chihuahuas to introduce the Merle gene to the species.
In addition, Merle French Bulldogs are very rare due to health problems because of their genetic condition, and a lot of breeders are reluctant to breed merle dogs due to this.
