Anyone else with Maltese blue shelties? Are they healthy?

Sunny · Oct 11, 2016

Hello, I have a new pup that I believe is a Maltese blue. She has a dark gray nose and is slate gray with white markings (bi-black diluted to blue with no apparent merleing). I have been reading about cyclic nuetropenia aka Gray Collie Syndrome. According to several sites dilute gray collies don't live past age 2-3 due to recurrent infections. I was wondering if anyone on here has any experience with this color in shelties? Can I expect a normal lifespan with her? Or should I get her DNA tested for CN?

Thanks in advance.

Caro · Oct 11, 2016

Can you post a picture of the pup? You'll need to post a picture on an image sharing site and then put the link in a post here. Often the coat colour is hard to tell when they still have a puppy coat.

If the Sheltie is a Maltese blue, it is a blue merle with solid grey coat. They aren't any more prone to health problems than any other Sheltie colour, it's just not a recognised colour in the show ring. You might find this article useful for explaining this http://www.colliehealth.org/COLLIE KALEIDOSCOPEphotos.pdf

I've never heard of Grey Collie Syndrome in Shelties, but that's not to say it doesn't happen. Maybe someone else here has experience with it. I imagine that a registered breeder would've noticed if they had an affected puppy as they are quite sickly little things.

Sunny · Oct 12, 2016

Thanks, I was trying to figure out how to post a picture.

Hopefully this works, there are a bunch. I included a couple pics of her next to my black tri for color comparison. http://s86.photobucket.com/user/Equinehugger/library/Facebook/Untitled Album

So she is a variation of bi blue merle? Her color is not a separate dilution gene? She has a gray nose.

Jess041 · Oct 12, 2016

My dog's dam is a carrier of the dilution gene. The dam had a littermate that was a dilute bi-black, and I know that littermate had a couple dilute pups. My dog's dam produced a dilute bi-black in her first litter. As far as I know, there have been no health issues.

corbinam · Oct 13, 2016

I don't believe there are any health issues associated with dilute shelties. I know of a couple around here -- one is an active agility dog probably around 3-4 years old.

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Anyone else with Maltese blue shelties? Are they healthy?

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