Can you breed Harlequin and merle?

Merle Great Danes are often produced while breeding Harlequin Great Danes. They only genetic difference between the two is the gene that creates the grey coloring in Merles. While breeding two Harlequin Great Danes, litters will typically have one or two Merle puppies.

Can you breed a harlequin and a merle Great Dane?

Double Merles are 100\% preventable! Double Merles are a result of bad breeding practices, most commonly known as spot x spot breeding. For Great Danes this could be Harlequin x Merle, Harlequin x Harlequin, Merle x Merle, any Quin x Quin and any Quin x Merle breeding.

Can you breed a blue and a harlequin Great Dane?

Blue should not be bred to the Fawn/Brindle or Harlequin color family. Any variance in color or markings described above shall be faulted to the extent of the deviation. Any Great Dane which does not fall within the above color classifications must be disqualified.

Can you breed a white dog with a merle?

A single merle gene can produce results as harmless as fur or eye color and as difficult as loss of eyesight or hearing. However, mating two dogs with the merle gene can produce offspring with a homozygous double merle gene, sometimes known as “lethal white” or “double-blue.”

Is Harlequin the same as merle?

What’s the difference between harlequin and merle? Harlequin dogs have white between the darker patches of merle. Harlequin dogs also have the merle gene. However, instead of the larger grey patches, their harlequin gene makes their base coat entirely white.

Can you breed a Blue merle with a Harlequin?

Merles LACK the necessary genetics on their own to produce harlequins: no one has ever documented a merle to merle breeding that produced harlequins. So by all reliable reports, merles as a group do not productively contribute to the harlequin-mantle gene pool.

What is the difference between merle and Harlequin?

What’s the difference between harlequin and merle? Harlequin dogs have white between the darker patches of merle. Merle dogs often look “marbled.” They have grey coloration alongside black spots. Harlequin dogs also have the merle gene.

Can you breed a harlequin Great Dane to another harlequin Great Dane?

Can you breed two Harlequin Great Danes? Even two perfectly marked and healthy harlequins cannot, or rather should not, be bred due to the risk of a resulting double merle gene.

What’s the difference between Merle and Harlequin?

Harlequin dogs have white between the darker patches of merle. Merle dogs often look “marbled.” They have grey coloration alongside black spots. Harlequin dogs also have the merle gene. However, instead of the larger grey patches, their harlequin gene makes their base coat entirely white.

What color is a Merle Great Dane?

Your merle Great Dane is one of a very small group of giant purebred dog breeds. The merle pattern is a pale to dark grey coat, covered in darker splotches. Some of the different merle patterns that exist are: merle, dilute merle, cryptic merle, harlequin.

What is a Harlequin merle?

For a dog to exhibit the harlequin pattern, he must inherit a merle gene and a harlequin gene from his parents. The merle gene is required for the harlequin color to become visible. The harlequin gene causes grey or marbled patches on a merle coat to turn pure white, thereby creating the harlequin coat pattern.

What is a ghost merle?

Dogs with cryptic merle (also called phantom or ghost merle) typically display little to no merle pattern and some may be misclassified as non-merles. The cryptic merle alleles occur in the lower end of the range (typically from 200-255, however, this range and designation varies by study).

Can merles breed with other breeds to produce Harlequins?

In other breeds which allow the merle (very few BTW), merles are not supposed to be bred to each other, to avoid the production of white merles: those defective, predominately white pups. Merles LACK the necessary genetics on their own to produce harlequins: no one has ever documented a merle to merle breeding that produced harlequins.

Can a dog with white markings have a harlequin pattern?

If it has white markings, the resulting harlequin pattern will simply lack dark spots where the white markings are supposed to be. A dog with the harlequin gene but no merle gene will have a normal coat colour. Harlequin can only be displayed if there is a merle gene present.

Can you breed two white merle dogs together?

Any time two dogs with the merle gene (incl. harlequins) are bred to each other, white merle (i.e. defective, dominant white) offspring are to be expected. The dominant whites that do survive to birth are normally defective & commonly deaf.

Would a Harlequin breed produce a mismarked black?

Would likely produce mismarked blacks when harlequins-bred blacks are used. Mantles & Blacks possible. Produces as does Mantle to Harlequin, except, since a Black lacks the white collar of the Mantle, expect more mismarks under the AKC standard to occur, both in Harlequin & especially in potential Mantle offspring.