Bernedoodle Colors
Merle Bernedoodles
Merle Bernedoodles available now, and everything about the color.
A merle Bernedoodle has a marbled coat, with soft patches of lighter color scattered over a deeper base. The best known version is the blue merle, a black dog whose patches turn silvery gray-blue, and its cousin the chocolate merle, built on a brown base.
Merle is a popular Bernedoodle color, and also the one that needs the most care to understand. The pattern is produced by a single gene with real health implications when it is doubled, so it is worth knowing how it works.
Merle Bernedoodles Available Now
What is a merle Bernedoodle?
Merle dilutes color in random patches, leaving the rest of the coat at full strength. The result is a mottled, smoky effect rather than clean stripes or spots. Eyes can be brown, blue, or one of each, and the nose and paw pads can be speckled pink and dark.
The base underneath sets the name. Black gives a blue merle. Brown gives a chocolate merle, sometimes called brown merle or liver merle. Merle can also join other patterns, so there are phantom merles and tri-color merles. See the tri-color page for that layout.
The same pattern looks different from coat to coat. A short clip shows the patches clearly, while long hair blends them into a smoky wash.
Where does the merle gene come from?
Merle is controlled by a single gene, and one copy is enough to show the pattern. Geneticists call it incompletely dominant. Bernese Mountain Dogs are not a merle breed, and merle is not recognized as a historic Poodle color either.
So a merle Bernedoodle has the gene because a merle dog entered the pedigree, which is the reason the pattern is an add-on rather than part of either parent breed. A DNA test for the merle gene is available from labs such as the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.
The test looks for the merle insertion, and some labs can report its length, which helps tell classic merle from the hidden forms.
Why is merle not bred to merle?
A puppy that inherits the merle gene from both parents is a double merle. Double merles are associated with deafness and with eye problems, from small or malformed eyes to blindness. Studies in other breeds have found hearing loss in a higher share of double merles than single merles, and no figure has been measured for Bernedoodles.
The standard advice is clear: never breed two merles together. A single copy gives the normal merle look, and the risk comes from doubling it.
The inner ear depends on pigment to work normally, which is why a lack of it in a double merle can affect hearing as well as the eyes.
Do merle Bernedoodles fade as they grow?
The merle gene itself does not fade. The base coat under it can lighten the way any black coat can, drifting toward gray or silver, which can make the patches stand out less. Puppy coats are also replaced by adult coat, so the pattern can look different at a year than it did at eight weeks.
Formal studies of merle Bernedoodles are thin, so treat reports of dramatic change as owner observations. A puppy photo is a fair starting point and not a final answer.
Pay attention to the eyes and nose as well as the coat. Pigment in those areas can be patchy or pink on a merle, and a vet can check that the eyes look healthy and that the puppy responds to sound. These simple checks say more than any color photo.
How big does a merle Bernedoodle get?
Merle does not alter size. Merles come as mini or standard like any other, and the full grown chart has weights by size. The mini Bernedoodle page covers the mid-sized option.
A merle's coat type is also independent of the pattern. Straight, wavy and curly coats all occur with merle, and the pattern shows differently in each, which is why the same dog can look more or less spotted after a haircut. See the grooming guide for what a trim does.
Is merle linked to personality?
No study has tied merle to temperament in Bernedoodles. Hearing and sight are the topics that matter, and a single-copy merle is a normal dog with a coat pattern. The temperament guide goes through what to expect.
It helps to separate the two ideas people mix up. Merle is a coat pattern, and the health concern attaches to a double dose of the gene, not to a single copy. A single-copy merle puppy has one merle parent and one non-merle parent, which is how the pattern is meant to be produced.
Where can you see merle puppies?
The available puppies from KK Doodles are listed with photos, and the colors hub compares every pattern.
Merle Bernedoodle Questions
01Can a Bernedoodle be merle?
Yes, if a merle dog is in the pedigree. Neither the Bernese nor the traditional Poodle carries merle on its own.
02What is a blue merle Bernedoodle?
A merle on a black base. The black dilutes to silver-gray patches on dark. The eyes are often blue or partly blue.
03Is a double merle Bernedoodle sick?
Double merles carry a higher risk of deafness and eye defects. Many are still loved pets, but responsible pairing avoids producing them.
04How do you test for merle?
A DNA test for the merle gene, offered by labs including the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, can find the gene even when the coat does not show it.
05Do merle Bernedoodles have blue eyes?
Often, but not always. Blue or partly blue eyes are common with merle and can be a hint, but other genes also cause blue eyes, and a merle can have brown eyes.
06Is chocolate merle the same as liver merle?
Both describe merle on a brown base, which is the color covered on the chocolate page.
The Other Bernedoodle Colors
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Phantom poodles photo: Andrea Brendemühl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
