08/28/2026
🐩 LET'S TALK ABOUT "MERLE POODLES"
I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers with this one, but that's okay. 😆😆😏
I keep seeing merle being advertised as a “rare Poodle color,” and lately I've even seen people trying to argue that merle naturally occurs in Poodles and has just somehow been hiding in the breed all these years.
Folks, merle is not a Poodle color.
And I'm not saying that because AKC doesn't allow merle in the show ring. There are legitimate colors and patterns in Poodles that are and aren't accepted in AKC conformation. That's an entirely different conversation. I'm saying it because there is no credible evidence showing that the merle allele historically existed in the Poodle gene pool.
Merle isn't just some funky variation of black, brown or parti. We actually know what causes it. Merle is associated with a specific insertion involving the PMEL gene, and the genetics behind it have been studied extensively. So yes, merle is real. Cryptic merle is real. Dogs can carry merle without looking like your stereotypical merle dog.
None of that proves merle naturally occurs in Poodles. And this is where I think people start doing some impressive genetic gymnastics. 😂
I've heard the argument that merle could have been hiding in Poodles for generations because cryptic merle exists. Okay... But something being possible doesn't mean it actually happened.
If I tell you there could be $10,000 buried somewhere in my backyard, that doesn't mean I now have evidence of buried treasure. Somebody still needs to find the damn money. 😂
The same principle applies here. If you're claiming that merle has historically existed within purebred Poodles, then show me the evidence. Where are the established historical Poodle lines producing merle? Where is the genetic evidence showing long-term inheritance of the merle allele within the Poodle population? Where is the historical DNA?
Where is the documented trail? Because pictures of spotted, mottled or strangely colored Poodles from 100 years ago don't prove anything about PMEL. You cannot genotype a dog from an old photograph. And finding merle in dogs being called Poodles today doesn't establish where the allele came from either.
That's actually the entire question. How did merle get into Poodles??? 🤔🤔🤔
The most reasonable explanation with the evidence currently available is an outcross somewhere in the ancestry to a breed that actually carries merle, followed by generations of breeding those descendants back to Poodles. And here's something people sometimes have trouble wrapping their heads around: You could breed that line back to Poodles for generation after generation until those dogs look completely Poodle. Eventually, they could be overwhelmingly Poodle genetically.
The DNA contribution from the original outcross could become so small, that ordinary ancestry testing might not even identify it anymore.
But if you deliberately retained the merle allele through those generations, that allele didn't magically become Poodle because everything surrounding it did.
That's👏 not👏 how 👏genetics 👏 works.👏
And papers don't change that either. (Read that again for all you papers hangers. Read it 20 fuggin times).
A registration certificate tells you what was recorded in a registry. It isn't a time machine and it isn't genomic proof of every dog behind that pedigree. This is also why responsible poodle breeders do not like calling merle simply a “non-standard Poodle color.”
Parti? ✅ Historically documented in Poodles.
Sable? ✅ Historically documented.
Brindle? ✅ Historically documented.
Merle? ❌ Never 👏 never 👏 ever. 👏
We can argue all day about what should or shouldn't be accepted in various registries or in an AKC conformation ring. But, Merle has a different problem. Before we start debating whether merle should be an accepted Poodle color, somebody needs to demonstrate that it was a Poodle color in the first place. Even the Royal Kennel Club specifically states that merle is “not a coat colour recognised as historically occurring in Poodles,” and stopped accepting registrations of merle Poodles. Now, could somebody someday produce legitimate genomic or historical evidence showing that merle existed naturally in the old Poodle population? Sure! And if that happens, I'll read it.
That's how science works. But until then, “maybe it was hiding” isn't evidence. Cryptic merle isn't evidence of historical merle Poodles. An old picture isn't a DNA test. A modern merle dog that looks exactly like a Poodle isn't evidence of where its merle allele originated. And a scientific paper explaining how merle works is not evidence explaining how merle got into Poodles. Those are two VERY different questions.
And NO, I and not a single one of my respectable peers is going to start calling merle a “rare Poodle color” lol because people have successfully bred merle dogs back to Poodles long enough that we can't see the original outcross anymore. That s*t will never happen.
You can breed away the evidence of the outcross.
You cannot breed away the history of the allele you intentionally kept. And unless somebody eventually produces some pretty extraordinary evidence to the contrary, this is one hill I'm perfectly comfortable sitting on with my Poodles. 😂
MERLE IS NOT A NATURALLY OCCURING COLOR IN POODLES. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200.
And it certainly won't be one at Mercury Standard Poodles. THAT I CAN I PROMISE YOU. 🐩❤️
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30071510/
https://www.royalkennelclub.com/about-us/resources/media-centre/2020/january/registration-of-dogs-of-merle-colouring/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/poodle-right-for-you/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6147463/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
