A Question About Merle Coloring And Deafness In Aussies.

by Jean S.
(Yreka, CA)

I have heard that blue or red merle dogs with white completley covering one or both sides of the head and ears can be deaf. If the ears have color on them then they are probably safe. But I don't know if this only applies to dogs who are bred double merle,ie., both sire and dam are merle colored. But say, if a dog has a merle dam and a black tri sire and they throw a puppy with an all white head, will it still maybe be deaf? I hope this question makes since.

Dogs can be kind of hard to test for deafness. Does anybody have any ideas for how to go about testing a puppy, that one might be interested in getting to see if it is deaf?