Price of Beauty: Exploring the Merle Gene in Cocker Spaniels

Abstract

Domesticated dogs have become part of everyday life for people around the world.These dogs come in all shapes, sizes, temperaments and breeds. Some things are common across all breeds like disease, grooming needs and coat color. In terms of coat color there is a silent but beautiful threat that is unknown to most dog owners and breeders. That threat is the merle dilution gene mutation (Rugg & Saks, 2010). Merle dilution is a mutation in the genes of a dog that results in the dilution of the dominant coat color. Merle also results in light blue eyes and produces a unique appearance for the dog. Merle is also considered a pleiotropic gene, that disrupts sensory organs( eyes and ears), stomach and reproductive systems as well as other congenital and developmental incapacities( Yousha, 2006). A pleiotropic gene is gene that affects two or more unrelated traits, in this case it influences several unrelated organ systems. This makes the dog extremely marketable and profitable for pet store owners but there are many other health issues accompanied with this condition. As stewards of our pets we are responsible for being educated on topics such as merle. Having a merle dog myself, I am aware of the various limitations they experience and the lack of knowledge about the condition by pet store owners and vets. Pet store owners and breeders have a degree of responsibility as well. This paper aims to examine merle dilution, provide information and dissect the protocols,if any, implemented for breeders and store owners in terms of merle.