Talk:Merle (dog coat)

Lyrics

About the introduction of the article: I thought the Led Zeppelin lyrics of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp refered to Robert Plant's (the vocalist) dog "Stryder" (not Jimmy Page, as stated). --83.226.121.54 (talk) 15:41, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

That’s wrong because they are pit bulls not am bully’s ~2026-29996-18 (talk) 16:20, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

Neither breed naturally comes in merle, and Strider was a collie anyway. Sumanuil. _{(talk to me)} 01:40, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

etymology

Where does the word come from? —Tamfang (talk) 19:57, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

According to Merriam Webster, the origin is unknown, but it was first used in 1911. Collins English Dictionary says that it comes from mirlet or mirly, meaning speckled. — anndelion (talk) 20:16, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

(14 years later) Are we going to add the etymology of this word to the article soon? It's not very encyclopedic to not have this basic information (which anyone visiting this article would expect to find here), and looks very bad to have neglected this for 14 years! ~2025-31208-44 (talk) 21:54, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

External links modified

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111121225810/http://www.gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/Permanent/BCColors_Merle/BC_ColorBlueMerle.html to http://www.gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/Permanent/BCColors_Merle/BC_ColorBlueMerle.html
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111007114652/http://www.ashgi.org/color/aussie_eye_color.htm to http://www.ashgi.org/color/aussie_eye_color.htm
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110303120251/http://perfectpekskennel.com/MerleCoat.aspx to http://perfectpekskennel.com/MerleCoat.aspx
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120701125634/http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4303 to http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4303

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Cleanup

There were many redundant statements made that I have removed. There was also an incorrect comparison with merle and dilute, while I can see the confusion and thinking they are similar, they are quite different, in fact a merle can also be a dilute, but merle itself is not similar to a dilute. Blue is often used to refer to a dog who is the color black and also merle, but it is not the same as a blue dilute. This is even addressed in "Description". A dilute merle is still typically called "blue" or "red" registration wise, and it is up to the owner whether or not they want to label them correctly as being dilute blue merle or dilute lilac merle. Merle is a pattern, not a color, the color prefaces the pattern, "blue" merle, the color is "blue"/black, the pattern is merle. Red is genetically different to merle- all colors are different from merle because of it being a pattern and not a color, this may have been a typo meaning red is different from chocolate and this is what my edit reflects. Pea scheme image was lacking neutrality so the description was edited (see: Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view), I also made it the forefront of the genetics portion. Moved second Australian Shepherd homozygous eyes to health issues, fits quite nicely with the other picture. I also added a bit more information on cryptic merles, including a new identifier "atypical merle" or "Ma", whose polytail A is longer than cryptic merle "Mc" but shorter than true merle "M". I have heard of some very interesting things going on with the merle gene in the Australian Shepherd breed, but most of it has no reputable sources and is anecdotal. Removed Boston Terrier merle comment and replaced it with a neutral blanket statement that it is being introduced to many purebred dog breeds. Someone may want to make a separate list later of breeds where it has been introduced but it is not recognized. I could not verify the statement about some breeders thinking merle Pomeranians and Chihuahuas are mixed breeds, I have seen similar sentiments personally myself but do not have a verifiable source to back this up, so it has been removed. The blanket statement mentioned above may still suffice for that though. Removed breed specific references and tried to make a blanket statement for them. If we go through how each and every breed treats merle differently (American Cocker, Pomeranian, Chihuahua, etc), it's going to be a massive cluttered article... Best to link references to the blanket statement I added ("may or may not be recognized depending on breed, may have more requirements in standard"), and/or add the article as an external link at the bottom, for those to do further reading.

Thanks for reading and improving this page! --ItsWolfeh (talk) 10:27, 20 April 2018 (UTC)