Red Merle Vs Red Tri Australian Shepherd. There are two common tri color combinations seen in australian shepherds. Red merle tri aussie red merle white and solid red merle.
It is the presence or absence of the merle gene which dictates whether the coat pattern will be merle or solid. In fact once you learn about the incredible amount of genetic diversity that can go into dictating your dog s adult colors you will understand why it is quite unlikely any two red merle australian shepherd dogs will ever look exactly the same. Talking about copper marking it appears on the face and legs of red tri aussies.
The three colors of red tri australian shepherds are red white and copper.
The gene for red dogs is recessive so breeding a red to a red merle will produce all red or red merle puppies. Under red merle aussies there are three different color variations. Two recessive copies result in a dog that is not merle. Two dominant copies produce a double merle which will most likely have serious eye defects and may be deaf.
