just a proud mom posting

Hi everyone..

I just wanted to post about my daughters science project that she worked really hard on. She chose to do her project on the Merle color gene and its effect on dogs.

She took some photos of her board and i just wanted to share her hard work.

here is her short synopsis

I wanted to do this project on the merle gene because I
have always thought merle was a beautiful color on the dogs. But I never knew
anything else about it.


One
interesting thing I learned was that the merle gene originated from the African
hunting and wild dogs. This color is mostly scene in dogs from the herding group
such as the Australian Shepherd and the Collie.


Homozygous white, or double merle, is what you get when you cross two
dogs with the merle gene. So what’s the big deal you ask? Well
about one of four from that litter become Homozygous white, and with that the
those pups can get many birth defects such as, blindness, small or deformed eyes
or pupils, no eyes at all, or deafness. The pups that are Homozygous white will
be mostly or all white. Some times there will be color around the eyes and, or
on the ears in these cases they may not be effected, unless the dog has no eyes
in which case it should be apparent that the dog is bilind! On a happy not most
of the Homozygous whites live long and fulfilling
lives.


Merle isn’t a bad gene, it produces stunning and beautiful coat and eye
colors. Their eyes are usually marbled or striped with blue and brown, but
sometimes you can find a dog with one blue and one brown eye! Then you have
their coats they are so beautiful. Let me explain. If you were to take a lab
coat and cut holes in it all over, then put it on over your shirt you would have
a situation kind of like how merle looks!






Thanks for looking

Good job, little mindovermatter jr. Is that top white dog a Sheltie?

ty guys i am so proud of her !!

pitmamma,
the dog in the top right is a double merle collie.

thats awsome tell your daughter she did a great job

Duh, Collie is what I meant, lol. Very neat looking dog.

That is AWESOME - Many CONGRATS...

I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW...