WeeSmall Chihuahuas

Below is an outline describing merle coloring, traditional coloring and brindle coloring, along with photo examples of each.

THE MERLE CHIHUAHUA:

Merling is a dilution gene which can express itself on dogs in a most creative way. It looks rather splotchy like acid being splashed on a dogs' coat, that acid diluting the existing color.

It is unknown how the merling gene came into the Chihuahua lines though some attribute the genes incorporation to a different breed being secretly bred in; while others maintain that the gene was in the genetics all along without being recognized as "merling" by breeders who either didn't know what they had or who didn't appreciate the coloring and bred away from it. Still others think it was a genetic mutation probably brought on by severe inbreeding. Science is tending to prove the latter.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Chihuahua Club of America (CCA) have accepted merling as a viable color in Chihuahuas. This is significant because AKC and CCA are the dog husbandry groups in charge of preserving the Chihuahua breed.

Breeding a merle-expressed dog to a merle-expressed dog is hazardous to the puppies and won't be done in THIS house. I am not a geneticist and I will not pretend to be. But I will educate myself continuously on the merling genetics.

I don't hand out Chihuahua breeding rights to just anybody and I am breeding quality dogs into the merle lines to improve the lines to the standard of the more traditional Chihuahua colors. I have a merle line, a brindle line and a traditional line; three separated lines.

WEE DO HAVE MERLE-FREE AND BRINDLE-FREE PUPPIES SHOULD YOU WANT THAT.

My main concern is to breed quality Chihuahuas to the best of my ability, and to continue my ongoing Chihuahua education. If a tiny size comes from that breeding, that is a bonus, though not the goal. If a few merle or brindles can be added into my lines in a healthy, educated fashion, then that, too, is a bonus, though not the focus.

I have attached photos for your comparison; photos which will be improved as time progresses.

Isaiah and his mother, Oddysey, the first day in West Virginia. Isaiah and Oddysey, as well as deKay (above) are blue, white and tan merles.

Below is Toffee, a fawn merle.

Any color on the dog could be "merled". The merle could also fade away, called a phantom merle or a cryptic merle. AKC asks us to note the merle markings on all AKC papers when you register the dog with AKC, even if the merling phantoms out.

TRADITIONAL COLORING:

Black Tan and White (called Tri), Black and Tan, and fawns are the most common colors. These two fawns have black masks too, though their sabling faded.

Traditional colors of Chihuahuas tend to fall into these colors...fawn, tri which is a black and tan with white markings, black and tan, and black with white markings. They could have a black facial mask or black hair across the back called sabling, be ticked, or be a white dog with black spots.

Less frequent colorings of red, white, cream, and blue can also be found, though they are more rare, not usually as "refined" in the preferred Chihuahua features, and usually more expensive.

A blue-eyed dog is as rare as are all-white dogs. And there are 20% more males born than females which would explain why breeders usually charge more for females.