can i can i breed a blue merle with a red merle border collie?

Question
I have a border collie cross rough collie (Cruz) he is a blue merle and i was wondering is there would be any problems with his pupps if i bred him to a red/gold and white border collie?

Answer
Breeding merle is a crap shoot. When you double up on the merle gene you risk several health problems mostly commonly known in Collie's as Lethal White.

At birth most homozygous merles appear mostly white. Besides hearing problems typically associated with the lack of pigment around the ears and eyes, the lethal white has a high probability of having serious eye defects such as Collie Eye Anomaly, blindness, cataracts and more. There are also high reports of heart and liver disorders in merles.

It should be noted that only the homozygous merle puppies in a merle to merle breeding are known to be affected in this way. Non-merle and heterozygous merle puppies from the same litter are not affected.  Also, not every merle to merle breeding will produce a lethal white.

It is all about knowing and understanding the lines on both sides of the sire and dam you are considering and weighing the risks. Also, you should be prepared to cull the litter hard.

Good luck.