Coat Color

Question
Hello.
I have a male pomeranian that I adore. He is 5 years old and is still intact. He has never had puppies before, and I am certainly not a breeder. However, I love him dearly, and I would really like him to produce offspring. I have talked to my considerably large family about this, and everyone already wants one of the puppies! We would not be selling any of the puppies to the public, and all would be spayed/neutered. I only want one litter, just so I can have another boy (or two) similar to mine.
My question is about coat coloring. I want the puppies to look like my boy. He is a blue merle. I have a 2 year old female cream pomeranian as well. My sister has a 14 month old white malti-poo. Both are sweet girls that came from great breeders. With which female would I have a greater chance of getting merle puppies?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Leigh.  Many non-breeders, just like you, breed their dogs for the very same reason as you.  They have a pet that they adore and want to "re-create" them for family and friends.  

This is very understandable, however; it is not a guarantee that your dogs offspring will have his same temperment.  Each dog/puppy is unique and the genetic pool is very large.  

Unless you know the temperment of his parents, grandparents, and so on, you can never fully know the size, color, or temperment of the offspring.

When people ask me to see the parents of my puppies, so that they can determine what size, color, and temperment the puppies will be when they are full grown I laugh and give them this example:  I am 5ft 2 inches and my husband is 5 ft 10.  I weigh 150 lbs and my husband weighs 180.  Both my husband and I have dark hair.

All three of our grown children are 6ft tall.  My daughter has dark red hair and my two sons have sandy blond hair.  My husband and his father have very thick hair, and my youngest son, at age 26 is already showing signs of "Male Pattern Baldness".

On both sides of our family (mine and my husbands) we have all been big meat eaters - my husband is Italian, and his family owned an Italian restaurant while he was growing up.

Our daughter is a vegetarian!   Well, I think by now you get my point.  Their is really no guaranteed  way to determine the color, size and temperment of your dogs offspring.

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com