WHY MERLE NEEDS TO BE ERADICATED

Firstly, I would like to clarify that Chintaro does not breed merle Chihuahuas. In fact, we conduct DNA testing on our dogs to ensure that they do not carry the merle gene.

In Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, a merle chihuahua cannot be legally registered with any state body.  The gene does not occur naturally in the breed, so a merle chihuahua is nothing but a crossbreed no matter what some might claim.

How does Merle express itself?

As a very basic statement.  Merle is a problem in how it works to express colour as it lightens and whitens, which affects the pigment inside the ears and eyes.  This can lead to deafness and blindness as the nerve endings atrophy and die off.

According to Idexx, (global leader in pet healthcare) health problems associated with the merle allele both heterozygous merle (Mm) and homozygous double merle (MM) may exhibit auditory and ophthalmic abnormalities including mild to severe deafness, increased intra ocular pressure, ametropia, microphthalmia and colobomas.  The double merle genotype may also be associated with abnormalities of skeletal, cardiac and reproductive systems.

• Heterozygous – means one parent only is merle.
  Homozygous – means both parents are merle.
• Ophthalmic – relating to the eye and its diseases.
• Occular pressure – is a build-up of fluid that flows throughout the inside of the eye.
• Ametrophia – is a state where refractive error is present or when distant points are no longer focused properly to the retina.
• Microphthalmia – is where the one or both eyes don’t develop properly.
• Colobomos – when part of the tissue that makes up the eye is missing.

Because of the horrendous health issues that lie within merle, back in 2009 the Kennel Club of England banned any registration of ANY progeny produced with the goal of eradicating this gene in its entirety.  The Canadian Kennel Club followed suit, along with South Africa, Germany and Mexico (where the Chihuahua originates from!).  Australia and New Zealand have NEVER allowed merle to be registered as a pure-bred Chihuahua.

Unfortunately and due to backyard breeders merle has been touted as a “rare designer colour” and has become somewhat popular as pet owners think they are buying a “rare” type of dog.  In fact, nothing can be further from the truth as they are purchasing something with a limited lifespan and a whole heap of health issues.  

The sole purpose of these so-called breeders is only to make a profit, with little to no concern of the health of these poor dogs. 

The only way you can make sure you are not buying a puppy with the merle gene and its lifelong problems is to ensure that your registered breeder’s papers are certified Mains or Limit from Dogs Australia.

Please be careful of private organisations like “The Master Dog Breeders Association” which is purely a profit-making website, set up for the sole purpose of making cross breeds look legit by providing “papers” they print themselves.  None of these papers are authorised by Dogs Australia.

Dogs Australia is a not-for-profit organisation advocating for the preservation of the purebred dogs through ethical breeding.  It champions the highest standard of animal welfare through education and fostering dog-loving communities. 

Dogs Australia is internationally recognised and was established in 1958 as the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC), the organisation which promotes responsible dog ownership; maintains the ORCHID* heritable canine diseases database; funds research into canine diseases; and supports state and territory-based member bodies. Dogs Australia promotes breed conformation shows and community sports for dogs that fulfil a breed’s natural instincts.