~*~Weimaraner and Great Dane Official Club!~*~ - Page 5

Is that common in weim's?  just curious I know our Freckles can hear.....especially when I come with a whistle for dinner time!!!

Revel's not a weim, he's a dane, and it is common in white danes. Actually it's because he is a double merle, caused by breeding merle to merle (or harl (a variation of merle) to harl in his case), your Freckles is a merle, if you bred her to another merle she could produce deaf (and visually impaired) pups.

I have never understood breeding merle to merle. Why would breeders do this?  Genetically, you would be able to get merle puppies if mixed with fawn or any other different color as long as one parent is merle?  It breaks my heart.  Same with double merle Aussies and double dapple dachsunds.   All of the birth defects and vision/hearing loss :::Shaking head:::. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eyeheartquail 

I have never understood breeding merle to merle. Why would breeders do this?  Genetically, you would be able to get merle puppies if mixed with fawn or any other different color as long as one parent is merle?  It breaks my heart.  Same with double merle Aussies and double dapple dachsunds.   All of the birth defects and vision/hearing loss :::Shaking head:::. 

There is a really simple reason why breeders do it.....because they CAN.  They want merle pups because they sell for good money and they figure merle to merle is the fastest way to get merle pups.  And they also get pups like poor Revel who's deaf. That just makes me so mad.  I am so glad Revel is going to have a good life, in spite of his disability. 

So sorry I though Revel was a weim..... ..... shows how much I know lol lol !!!  That is sad....I know deaf animals can be trained and overcome but it must be very difficult to do.  I could never have one here with that kind of handicap.....it would surely get run over even though we are rural and I let my dogs run.  We are going to get freckles fixed as soon as she is old enough.  I want to wait until she grows a lot more but before or right at her first cycling.  Puppies are just too hard to rehome around here.......well not to mention we have a male intact mini schnauzer too!!!!!  That would make some really odd looking pups lol.

It was the ears.....they kinda look like Freckle's ears!!!

Here are the recent pics of Freckles.....taken today.....the other dog is Buddy, our mini schnauzer, he is 5 years old.

Still super cute!

In danes breeding merles is a no no, but harl to harl is considered completely acceptable, even though you get the same odds for harl puppies if you breed to a mantle, and NO double merles. The belief is breeding harl to mantle will result in heavier marked harls, lighter ones are prefered. I don't know if that's even true, there really is no 'good' reason in my opinion. But I'm not complaining, I've got my pup and I'm happy!

And no training a deaf dog is not really that hard. And not necessarily more likely to be run over. Their other senses are more heightened and more then make up for their lack of one.