Merle Design Guide

Merle causes eumelanin to lighten in uneven patches. At a minimum a hound must have at least 3 merled patches, covering at least 15%. At maximum a hound must have 3 unmerled patches, and the merle may cover 85% of the hound. Patches may be large or small. Lightening may be uneven and somewhat patchy, but should clearly be all the same colour. Lightening may be quite extreme or produce a close to tone-on-tone effect.

 

Merle does not interact at all with phaeomelanin. Merle will merle eumelanin in any pattern, which can result in a broken up look when combined with other patterns such as brindle and sable.