Ive heard double merle dogs referred to as “lethal whites,” why is that?
I hate this term. It’s very inaccurate and misleading. First of all, if an organism is “lethal,” it is either stillborn, or dies shortly after birth, and there is no way to keep it alive. There are some genes like this present in horses (certain types of paint coloring). So, since most double merle dogs survive into old age in as good of health as any other dog, that’s wrong. There is no documentation (simply anecdotal evidence, and that won’t prove things either way) that double merle dogs suffer any more health problems (other than deafness and vision challenges) than other dogs of the same breed. Secondly, they aren’t “white.” While some double merle dogs are almost pure white, they can go the complete range all the way up to a dog that you would think is a just a normal merle (most fall somewhere in the middle). So the second part is not correct either. There are some people who like this term for its “shock value.” Frankly, it makes me cringe every time I see it. I feel it does th
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