One More Dachshund

When this cute little guy came trotting up the trail to visit with Luna, I had to stop and think. "Hmmm...looks like a Dachshund," I said to myself. "But what about that Blue Merle coat pattern?" I had never seen it that breed. I learned from his human that on a Doxie, it is called "dapple." In July, I had another lesson in canine coat color on the trail, but with a beautiful White Merle Collie named Tashi, (MoriDog #97) so it was right to the internet when I got home to research "dapple." I learned that the genetics are similar to the Merle pattern in other dogs. As in the Merle trait, two dapples bred together produces a "double dapple, a dog with large white patches. When this happens, undesirable defects can occur, such as blindness and/or deafness. Whie Merles and Double Dapples are beautiful, but it causes me to reflect on the wisdom of intentionally introducing potential defects into the gene pool.  Happily, our MoriDog today is a single Dapple, and carries no increased risk.

Murphy, MoriDog #107

Murphy has recently recovered from hip surgery, and from the looks of it has made a complete recovery. In fact, it was difficult to photograph him, because he anxious to get on with his walk. Notice that even though his feet are still in this photo, the tail is clearly in motion. His human reports that he is a "Master Snuggler," and his only bad habit is that he somehow has developed a taste for cat poo.