Atlas Terrier??

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Kashmir- ♥ CGC

Boxer Beach Bum

Barked: Wed Jun 13, '12 8:31am PST


	Well i did a the dog selector quiz from www.dogbreedinfo.com and the #1 dog that came up suited for me was the atlas terrier. I have never heard of it. It looks like merle JRT and is super cool looking. Has anyone ever hear of this?

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Tanuk, CGC

Sherpa Tanuk of- Everest

Barked: Wed Jun 13, '12 9:07am PST


	Considering that the only links I could find on it were from dogbreedinfo.com and yahoo I'm going to lean towards it being some kind of designer/made up type breed.

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Kashmir- ♥ CGC

Boxer Beach Bum

Barked: Wed Jun 13, '12 10:07am PST


	Thats what i belive Tanuk. It seems to be some terrier mix or something along that lines.

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Wyatt

RATS, give me- RATS!

Barked: Wed Jun 13, '12 11:51am PST


	It is a terrier mix.

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Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie"

My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3

Barked: Wed Jun 13, '12 11:57am PST


	Let's call it a merle Jack Russel and call it a day, lol..

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Lucille

I am the Sock- Bandit!!!

Barked: Thu Jun 14, '12 6:52am PST


	Terrierman sums it up pretty well here (along with a bunch of other odd terrier mixes trying to claim breed status: http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2005/02/dubious-terrier-breeds. html Personally, I would stay very far away from anything merle, no matter how cool they look. It's a mutation that can carry a whole host of problems in just about any dog breed in which it occurs. ETA: Charlie, you hit the nail on the head. Edited by author Thu Jun 14, '12 6:53am PST

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Member Since
01/04/2009

Barked: Fri Jun 15, '12 6:20am PST


	Lucille, what "host of problems" does merle have? Coming from a breed that has merle as a common color and not seeing any of these "hosts of problems" myself, I'm curious? My dog is in fact a blue merle and she has no color or health related issues. It's actually a known thing that blues have harsher, more correct coats then blacks in my breed. They also shed more, but that's life. Her coat is correct: wonderfully dense, double, harsh, and water proof, so no issues there with her skin. We do a plethora of dog related sports and she has no structural issues... She has all of the drive of her black brothers and sisters and probably more. We do have fluffies in our breed, but they come in multiple colors, from brindle to red to black... There are some known issues with the color "pink" in our breed, but I've never ever heard anyone complain about merle, OTHER then the fact that you can only breed to black. Per our breed history, the original Cardigans from Cardiganshire in Wales were actually red and merle...we didn't get other colors until farmers started combining them with the brindle herder (giving us red and brindle) and maybe the scotch collie (giving us black). I'm honestly curious here. Also, piebald, which is another white modifier, does cause issues with deafness and blindness, at least in my breed. But, the piebald gene is completely seperate from merle, which is actually a mask like brindle is also a mask. We don't see any merle issues unless someone is creepy enough to have a merle/merle litter. Edited by author Fri Jun 15, '12 6:28am PST

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Lucille

I am the Sock- Bandit!!!

Barked: Fri Jun 15, '12 7:36am PST


	The health issues merle can carry depends on the breed and wether or not a line has been overly bred purposefully to create more merle dogs, wether or not it's a double merle, single merle etc. Merle is very tricky because it has varied penetrance, semi-dominant. It can be associated with deafness, problems with the eye etc. The same genes that regulate coat pattern by limiting a cell's ability to produce pigment can also impair the function of cells regulating blood supply to ear and eye tissue. Iris hypoplasia, coloboma where part of the eye is missing, Congenital Corectopia, cochlear abnormalities are all genetic defects. In some breeds those problems are not as prevalent because breeders have selected for more than just coat pattern. In others, it's sadly a very big health issue. In some terrier lines, I'd stay away from it completely. Particlarly in a supposed breed like this Atlas in which they're selecting for merle only. In Catahoulas, it's a lot less likely to produce health issues, as breeders are very unlikely to select for coat pattern above other traits, they don't tend to breed for the ring. IOW, breeds where you're more likely to have a heterozygous merle as opposed to a homozygous merle.

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Member Since
01/04/2009

Barked: Fri Jun 15, '12 9:41am PST


	Interesting. The only issue I've ever seen from merles come from a merle/merle breeding, and then yeah, you get deafness and corneal issues. The aussie community is well versed on double merles, although I think they call them "lethal whites" which is actually a horse term for something completely different. I've honestly never seen a merle dog from a normal litter having any of the issues you've talked about. Now, we do have some puppies ending up with an entirely white ear and typically if the face is white, the eye will be blue, but that's the piebald gene. That has nothing to do with merling. Sometimes, you'll see entire litters of brindles being born with white heads and looking back in the pedigree, there are no blues at all. Can you tell me what breeds you see these issues in?

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