Harlequin Collies
Storm (Calderas Farm Stormy Night) is a harlequin collie--specifically, she is a white factored, tri factored, harlequin sable merle collie. When I bought her, I had never heard of a harlequin collie and I thought she was just a very flashy, regular sable merle collie. Since then I've learned more about the harlequin gene, which is more commonly known in Great Danes. I have corresponded with researcher Dr. Leigh Anne Clark, who has studied the harlequin gene. Click HERE to read an article on harlequin collies by Dr. Clark.
Storm's harlequin gene has made each of her litters a crazy adventure--you never know what to expect. One thing I noticed about Storm is that every one of her merle pups has been harlequin. You can tell when a merle pup has the harlequin gene because the sable merles have white mixed in with their body color, and the blue merles have most or all of the blue merle replaced with white--resulting in a collie that is mostly black and white spotted. The article by Dr. Clark includes a photo of a collie litter which includes both regular blue merles and harlequins, so it seems that Stormy's harlequin has a different mode of inheritance than the harlequin carried by that collie. Storm has never had a regular blue merle pup!
Storm is retired now but there are still several harlequin collies here at Romany Collies.
Storm's harlequin gene has made each of her litters a crazy adventure--you never know what to expect. One thing I noticed about Storm is that every one of her merle pups has been harlequin. You can tell when a merle pup has the harlequin gene because the sable merles have white mixed in with their body color, and the blue merles have most or all of the blue merle replaced with white--resulting in a collie that is mostly black and white spotted. The article by Dr. Clark includes a photo of a collie litter which includes both regular blue merles and harlequins, so it seems that Stormy's harlequin has a different mode of inheritance than the harlequin carried by that collie. Storm has never had a regular blue merle pup!
Storm is retired now but there are still several harlequin collies here at Romany Collies.
