What Dogs Have Green Eyes?

What Dogs Have Green Eyes
1. American pit bull terrier – The American pit bull terrier is the only purebred dog that tends to have green eyes, although they can also have blue, brown, or hazel ones. Pitties are smart, sociable, and make loyal guardians. And while they might look tough, they’re giant softies (- as proved in these adorable pitbull pictures !) In addition to their notable peepers, they’ve got a muscular build and a glossy coat that can come in colors like brown, black, brindle, and white. Salameh dibaei/Getty Images

What does it mean when your dogs eyes are green?

What’s Wrong With My Dog’s Eye? “This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.” Dear Dr. Chris, I have a 10 M/O Lab/Wiem mix. I am worried that she may have an eye problem. Her right eye looks normal but her left appears to have a very bright greenish reflection from the back of her eye.

It does not seem to cause her any problems but worrisome none the less. Brian, South Carolina Hi Brian, Having a 10 year old Weim/Lab mix can be quite an adventure. I’m sure there is no shortage of energy or entertainment in your house right now! The green reflection you are seeing in the back of your puppy’s eye is called the tapetum lucidum.

This is a normal part of the anatomy of the eye and is what is causing the green reflection you are seeing. What Dogs Have Green Eyes See the green reflection? The tapetum lucidum is a reflective layer that causes the retina (the back of the eye) to appear green or yellow, or some color variation in between. This layer helps animals see better at night as it magnifies the amount of light and is most often noticed in animals that are nocturnal.

The tapetum lucidum may not be present in an eye that has a blue iris (pupil). This is normal and causes no harm.The tapetum lucidum may be more obvious in one eye if the pupil is abnormally dilated. If the pupils are the same size this isn’t a concern. If the pupils are a different size, then your canine friend should be evaluated by your veterinarian right away.Your puppy may have tapetal hypoplasia, a genetic defect where the tapetum is missing or underdeveloped.In some dogs (typically older dogs), there can be some serious causes such as progressive retinal atrophy or even a tumor, that may cause the eye to appear different.

If this is a recent change, your puppy should be examined by your veterinarian or a veterinary ophthalmologist. If she has always been this way, it is most likely due to a genetic variation which won’t affect her quality of life unless she is a hunter, foraging for food at night!

I hope this answers your question and keep taking good care of your puppy!Sincerely,Dr. Chris Smith Your dog’s favorite veterinarian

What Dogs Have Green Eyes , : What’s Wrong With My Dog’s Eye?

Do border collies have green eyes?

Border Collie – Originally bred as herding dogs, the Border Collie is one of only a few dog breeds that have a genetic predisposition for two different colored eyes, also known as heterochromia. It is not unusual to find a dog of this breed with one blue eye, while the other may be green or brown. What Dogs Have Green Eyes Border Collie’s are sometimes found with two different colored eyes, otherwise known as heterochromia. Larry Ellis/Getty Weimaraner Weimaraners, otherwise known as “Silver Ghosts”, were originally bred in Germany as a gundog to handle big game like deer and bear. Today, these family-friendly dogs are better known for their alluring green eyes, unique silver-grey coat and long velvety ears. What Dogs Have Green Eyes A Weimaraner looks out from its bench while competing against hundreds of other breeds at the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, England. Matt Cardy/Getty A six month old Weimaraner puppy guards his master during Slovakia’s national canine all breeds competition in Banska, Bystrica. JOE KLAMAR/Getty Australian shepherd This smart, work oriented and loyal dog was originally intended to herd sheep and other animals and is still used by farmers tending to livestock. What Dogs Have Green Eyes Cody, an Australian Shepherd, poses at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York City on October 20, 2012. John Moore/Getty Labrador retriever Purebred labradors can only have brown, black or yellow eyes. However, some mixed-breed chocolate-colored labradors can be born with hazel, green or yellow-green eyes. What Dogs Have Green Eyes This beautiful mocha brown Labrador with lime green eyes was the first pet of former president Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton. Buddy is pictured staring out into the distance in Washington, on December 14, 1997. Getty

Which animals have green eyes?

What Dogs Have Green Eyes only around 2% of mammals have green eyes. The rest have brown or hazel eyes. Green eyed animals include; Frogs, Lemurs, Monkeys, Chameleons, Turtle, Egyptian Mau, and American pit bull terrier.

How rare is a green eyed dog?

Is it rare for a dog to have green eyes? – It is! Although there are no official statistics about the number of dogs with green eyes, only two breeds tend to have them: the American pit bull terrier and the pomeranian husky. Green eyes are somewhat more common in puppies. MarioDias/Getty Images

What kind of animals eyes glow green?

Identifying Nocturnal Animals – Folks seem to go back and forth about the best type of bulbs to use for eyeshine and, in the past, it was incandescent all the way. Now, with the advances in LED technology, it seems you can use both. Light ratings will vary between animals, but for many, the sweet spot seems to be between 160-230 Lumens, or 40,700 to 58,525 candlepower.

Reflective color Shape of the eyes Eyelid shape over the pupil Pupil slit orientation

If the pupil is in a parallel pattern to the eye oval and is glowing red, you’re probably encountering a wild canine such as a coyote or wolf, which means you may want to turn tail and vamoose! Red fox eyes are more akin to cat’s eyes with a perpendicular pupil and a red glow.

Foxes can be recognized apart from other canines based on their pupil and their angled oval shape, which is a sharp contrast to the rounder curved oval eye shape of dogs. Felines, both big and small, will have a heavy upper eyelid, and a pupil that is perpendicular to the shape of the eye. The eyes of cats will grow green in light at night.

Deer, on the other hand, will have a larger and rounder, less oval, shape. As the light reflects their eyes, you will most likely see a red or green reflection almost absent of pupils. If you happen to see large round eyes set closer to the ground, you have encountered a black bear.

Black bear’s eyes are nearly pupil-less and glow red or green. Finally, if you’ve encountered large pupils set in glowing yellow eyes somewhere in a high branch or rafter, you’ve definitely spotted an owl! Spotting nocturnal wildlife by their eyeshine can be a fun adventure, but also one you should take very seriously.

You should always be prepared, especially if you happen to encounter a dangerous animal while on one of your nighttime excursions. Right now, we’re offering 20% off all items in our store, so there’s no better time to buy a quality flashlight, get out there and identify some animals!

Can dogs get pink eye?

What Is Pink Eye? – Pink eye, known as conjunctivitis in the veterinary community, is quite common in dogs. Like pink eye in humans, conjunctivitis in dogs typically causes red, inflamed eyes. This gives the disease its nickname, “pink eye.” The scientific name, conjunctivitis, quite literally means inflammation of the conjunctiva.

Do Huskies have green eyes?

Huskies eye color is one of the most striking features, Huskies are so well-known for having light-blue, green or mis-matched eyes that mix-breeds are often labeled a “Husky cross” solely based on one or two blue eyes. Today we want to explore why Huskies show this great variation, which eye colors are the most common and most rare and if Huskies can see as well from blue eyes as from brown eyes!

Can dogs have blue eyes?

Paths to Baby Blue – Blue eyes are found in a number of dog breeds, including Old English sheepdogs, border collies, and Welsh and Pembroke corgis, Irizarrypoints out. But for these breeds the blue-eyed trait is inherited as a recessive trait, meaning that two mutated copies of the gene are required for the blue eyes to occur.

In humans, he says, blue eyes are caused by a genetic variation between a pair of genes called HERC2 and OCA2 in the human genome.
According to Irizarry, the mutation of the ALX4 gene in Siberian huskies seems to result in decreased pigment production in the eye.
The lack of pigment causes the eye to appear blue.

“There’s no blue pigment. It’s about the way the light enters and exits the eye, creating the appearance of blue, the same way the sky looks blue but outer space is not blue,” says Irizarry. The type of mutation found in the study—in this case, the duplication of a snippet of genetic information—is also how tri-colored Australian shepherds sometimes end up with blue eyes, a phenomenon unexplained before this study, says one of its authors,Embark Veterinary, Inc.

Are blue green eyes real?

Everyone has brown eyes and there are no blue or green colour eyes in real sense, an optometrist has said. There is only one pigment for eye colour, brown. – What Dogs Have Green Eyes Eye colours like blue, green, hazel, etc are what people might call an optical illusion, say experts.(Shutterstock) Everyone has brown eyes and there are no blue or green colour eyes in real sense, an optometrist has said. There is only one pigment for eye colour, brown.

Eye colours like blue, green, hazel, etc are what people might call an optical illusion. Pigments in our body are determined by something call melanin. “Everyone has melanin in the iris of their eye, and the amount that they have determines their eye colour,” said Dr Gary Heiting, a licensed optometrist and senior editor of the eye care website All About Vision.

“There’s really only (this) one type of pigment.” Pigments in our body are determined by something call melanin. Irises are made up of a miniature version of melanin called melanocytes, which only come in one colour, brown, CNN reported. Even though all eyes are technically brown, the amount of melanocytes varies from person to person.

There’s really only one “shade” of melanin – and it’s brown!, Heiting said. However, people with lighter eyes have less melanocytes allowing light to be more easily absorbed and reflected, making their eyes appear lighter in colour. Brown-eyed people have more melanin, less light. The opposite is true for people with “blue” eyes.

Those with less melanocytes cannot absorb as much light, so more light is reflected back out of the eye, Heiting was quoted as saying by the report. This is called scattering – and when light is scattered, it reflects back at shorter wavelengths. On the colour spectrum, shorter light wavelengths correspond with the colour blue.

Is green eye rarer than blue?

Green Eyes Trivia – 10 Fun Facts About Green Eyes –

The less melanin in the iris, the more light scatters out, which makes the eyes look green. Ever heard from someone that their eyes change color? Turns out, it’s somewhat true. Changes in light make lighter eyes look like they are changing colors, sort of like a chameleon. Where in the world are the most green eyes? The highest concentration of people with green eyes is found in Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe.

In fact, in Ireland and Scotland, more than three-fourths of the population has blue or green eyes – 86 percent! What Dogs Have Green Eyes Many factors go into having green eyes. Sixteen separate genes have been identified as contributing to eye color. So, no matter what eye color your parents have, yours could end up being just about any color. Green eyes naturally occur in all races of people. Liqian, China is a hot spot for green eyes. There is a village in China called Liqian, in which two-thirds of all inhabitants today have green eyes and blonde hair. Green eyes and blonde hair are a rare combination. The high concentration of green-eyed, blond-haired people in Liqian is thought to be linked to their ancestry. What Dogs Have Green Eyes Can green eye color affect personality? This particular topic may all be in the eye of the beholder (punny, huh?). There is no scientific data to prove that eye color is a factor in determining personality, and we will go on record as saying eye color does not affect personality.

However, just for fun – here are some personality traits that have historically been associated with green eyes in fables and folklore: intelligence, passion, mysteriousness, creativity, jealousy, and great leadership skills. Grab your shades. Because green eyes have less melanin than brown eyes, people with green eyes are more likely to be extra sensitive to UV rays.

The more melanin, the better protection from the sun – eye pigment literally protects the retina. Like blue-eyed people, those with green eyes are more sensitive to sudden increases in light. What Dogs Have Green Eyes Green eyes are popular in pop culture. Green eyes may be the most rare of all natural eye colors, but you’ll see green peepers all over the silver screen. Green eyes are also incredibly popular in books. Some well-known green-eyed characters in books and movies include: • Harry Potter – from the Harry Potter book series by J.K.

Rowling • Mary Jane Watson – The Amazing Spider-Man comics • Batgirl – DC Comics • Catwoman – DC Comics • Loki – Marvel Comics • Petyr Baelish – A Song of Fire & Ice by George R.R.
Martin • Scar – The Lion King • Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte • Rapunzel – Disney’s Tangled • Asami Sato – Legend of Korra Green eyes don’t affect LASIK candidacy.

No significant link has been found between eye color and quality of vision. Green-eyed people can have myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism, or hyperopia (farsightedness), just like people with any other eye color. Green-eyed people can also have LASIK vision correction,

Your Eyes Deserve the Best We hope you enjoyed our top 10 trivia facts about green eyes. Whatever your eye color, you’ll no doubt agree vision is one of the most treasured senses. Your eyes are your window to the world. That’s why you shouldn’t settle for anything less than your best vision possible.

If you’re currently dealing with the nonstop hassle of foggy glasses or uncomfortable contacts, give our world-class experts a call.
Ugler Vision has been voted Best of Omaha #1 LASIK provider for four consecutive years, and we’d love for you to come in and see the Kugler Vision difference for yourself.

Book your EyeAnalysis assessment today online, or call us at 402-558-2211 to learn about your LASIK options. See you soon! What Dogs Have Green Eyes Lance Kugler, MD, is a specialist in LASIK and vision correction surgery and CEO of Kugler Vision, A proud Omaha native, he is passionate about improving lives through clear vision. Dr. Kugler serves on several national boards, and his practice is recognized internationally as a center of excellence.

Dr. Kugler is one of the original founders of the Refractive Surgery Alliance, an international organization comprised of over 350 of the world’s leading vision correction surgeons; he also served as its first president. In 2019, Dr. Kugler was selected as a TEDx speaker, and delivered a talk in Omaha about the worldwide epidemic of nearsightedness and refractive solutions.

Dr. Kugler is an Associate Professor of Refractive Surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Truhlsen Eye Institute, has been published in many medical journals, and participates in numerous clinical studies to advance the field of vision correction surgery.

How rare is a green puppy?

HELENA, Ala. — An Alabama dog owner recently welcomed a rare arrival destined to spark envy, if only briefly. >> Read more trending new Mark Ruffin, owner of Big Rajah Bullies, showcased for WBRC one of two puppies born to his French bulldogin Helena, Alabama, because the newborn bully is green. Ruffin told the TV station that the pups’ mother was scheduled to deliver her litter via cesarean section, but when he went to check on her, he discovered she had birthed two puppies naturally, one of which was green. A rare baby! A dog owner in Helena is celebrating his French bulldog’s unique addition to her litter. The French bulldog gave birth to a green puppy! 💚 https://t.co/q0hBpYSR0w — WBRC FOX6 News (@WBRCnews) September 26, 2022 According to ” Today,” green fur in puppies is extremely rare and is believed to occur when pale-colored pups have contact in their mother’s womb with a green pigment called biliverdin, the same pigment that causes bruises to sometimes appear green. The effect is also temporary, with the color fading as the canine ages, ” Today” reported, Earlier this year, one of seven puppies born to a bulldog in Nova Scotia, Canada, also entered the world green, WKRC reported. Another case of the rare phenomenon was recorded in Italy in 2020, ©2022 Cox Media Group

Is a blue-eyed dog rare?

The “blue eye” variant – Many people associate blue eyes with the Siberian Husky, And that’s not a coincidence. Huskies are more likely than most pups to carry a variant in the ALX4 gene that causes blue eyes. Because this is a dominant trait, dogs with just one copy of the variant may have blue eyes. What Dogs Have Green Eyes Genetic variants may cause only one eye to be blue. Why do some dogs have only one blue eye? Genetic variants don’t always affect both eyes. As a result, dogs can end up with one blue eye and one eye of a different color. This trait is called heterochromia iridis, but it goes by many other names—including “odd eyes,” “split eyes,” and “broken glass eyes.”

Are blue-eyed dogs deaf or blind?

Congenital deafness in dogs (or other animals) can be acquired or inherited. Inherited disorders most commonly can be caused by a gene defect that is either autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, sex-linked, mitochondrial, or may involve multiple genes (more on this later).

It is usually impossible to determine the cause of congenital deafness unless a clear problem has been observed in the breed, or carefully planned breedings are performed.
In this article I will discuss what is currently known about the genetics of deafness in dogs so that breeders can make the best informed decisions possible when attempting to reduce or eliminate deafness.

Congenital deafness has been reported for more than 100 dog breeds, with the list growing at a regular rate (see list ); it can potentially appear in any breed but especially in those with white pigmentation of skin and hair. Deafness may have been long-established in a breed but kept hidden from outsiders to protect reputations.

The disorder is usually associated with pigmentation patterns, where the presence of white in the hair coat increases the likelihood of deafness.
Two pigmentation genes in particular are often associated with deafness in dogs: the merle gene (seen in the collie, Shetland Sheepdog, Dappled Dachshund, Harlequin Great Dane, American Foxhound, Old English Sheepdog, and Norwegian Dunkerhound among others) and the piebald gene (Bull Terrier, Samoyed, Greyhound, Great Pyrenees, Sealyham Terrier, Beagle, Bulldog, Dalmatian, English Setter).

However, not all breeds with these genes have been reported to be affected. The deafness, which usually develops in the first few weeks after birth while the ear canal is still closed, usually results from the degeneration of part of the blood supply to the cochlea (the stria vascularis).

The sensory nerve cells of the cochlea subsequently die and permanent deafness results. The cause of the vascular degeneration is not known, but appears to be associated with the absence of pigment producing cells known as melanocytes in the stria. All of the functions of these cells are not known, but one role is to maintain high potassium concentrations in the fluid (endolymph) surrounding the hair cells of the cochlea; these pigment cells are critical for survival of the stria and the stria is critical for survival of the hair cells.

A different form of congenital hereditary deafness is seen in the Doberman, which is also accompanied by vestibular (balance) disturbance; this deafness results from a different mechanism where hair cell death is not the result of degeneration of the stria but is instead the primary pathology.

Deafness may also occur later in life in dogs from other causes such as toxicities, infections, injuries, or due to aging (presbycusis); most of these forms of deafness do not have a genetic cause in animals and thus do not present a concern in breeding decisions, but a newly-identified form of adult-onset hereditary deafness is now recognized in Border Collies and Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

The prevalence of congenital deafness in different breeds is seldom known because of the limited number of studies (see table ). In the Dalmatian, where the prevalence is highest, 8% of all dogs in the US are bilaterally deaf and 22% are unilaterally deaf; rates are lower in Europe.

In the English Setter, English Cocker Spaniel, Australian Cattle Dog, and Bull Terrier, where fewer numbers of dogs have been hearing tested, the prevalence appears to be about one third to one half that of Dalmatians. Unilateral or bilateral deafness is found in 75% of all white Norwegian Dunkerhounds, but the prevalence in normal-color dogs is unknown.

Other breeds with a high prevalence are the Catahoula and Australian Shepherd. The prevalence of all types of deafness in the general dog population is low, reported to be 2.56 to 6.5 cases per 10,000 dogs seen at veterinary school teaching hospitals, but these data predate the availability of hearing testing devices and so are much lower that actual values.

Recognition of affected cases is often difficult, because unilaterally deaf dogs appear to hear normally unless a special test (the brainstem auditory evoked response, BAER) is performed; facilities to perform the BAER are usually only available at veterinary schools (see list ). It should be noted that a unilaterally deaf dog can be as great a genetic risk for transmission of deafness to its offspring as is a bilaterally deaf dog, so BAER testing of puppies from affected breeds is important.

The method of genetic transmission of deafness in dogs is usually not known. There are no recognized forms of sex-linked deafness in dogs, although this does occur in humans. The disorder has been reported to have an autosomal recessive mechanism in the Rottweiler, Bull Terrier, and Pointer, but these suggestions are not reliable because the reports were published before the availability of BAER testing and the ability to detect unilaterally deaf dogs.

Studies of the Pointer used a highly inbred research population (“anxious” Pointers), which can obscure the mode of inheritance.
Some references state that deafness transmission in most other breeds is autosomal dominant, but this is false, as will be discussed below.
Pigment-associated inherited deafness is not restricted to dogs.

Similar defects have been reported for mice, mink, pigs, sheep, horses, cattle, cats, ferrets, rabbits, llamas, alpacas, and humans. Deafness in blue-eyed white cats is common, first mentioned in Darwin’s Origin of Species, Blue eyes, resulting from an absence of pigment in the iris, is common with pigment-associated deafness but is not, in and of itself, an indication of deafness or the presence of a deafness gene; however, in several breeds (Dalmatian, English Setter, English Cocker Spaniel, Bull Terrier), dogs (and cats) with blue eyes are statistically more likely to be deaf.

Waardenburg’s syndrome, a human condition, presents with deafness, a stripe of white in the hair and beard, blue or different colored eyes (even in Blacks and Asians), no pigment behind the retina, and minor structural deformities around the nose and eyes. This is an autosomal dominant disorder with incomplete penetrance, which means that individuals that inherit the disorder may not show all components of the syndrome – i.e., they may not be deaf.

Incomplete penetrance of a defect greatly complicates the determination of mode of inheritance. At present there is no documentation that incomplete penetrance is a factor in any canine deafness, except perhaps that deafness can affect one or both ears.

In simple Mendelian genetics, each dog carries two copies of each gene, one from each parent.
The possible outcomes of breedings can be demonstrated with tables showing the genotype of both parents and the possible combinations in their offspring.
If deafness is carried as a theoretical simple autosomal recessive gene (d), the breeding of two hearing carriers (Dd) ( Table 1 ) will result, on average, in 25% affected dogs (dd), 50% hearing carriers (Dd), and 25% free of the defect (DD).

It must be emphasized that these percentages reflect average breeding outcomes and not necessarily every individual litter. The breeding of a carrier to a dog free of the defect ( Table 2 ) will result in no affected dogs but 50% carriers and 50% free.

The breeding of an affected dog to a carrier ( Table 3 ) will result in 50% affected, 50% carriers, and no free.
Finally, the breeding of an affected dog to a dog free of the defect ( Table 4 ) will result in 100% carriers and no affected or free.
If instead the deafness is carried as a simple autosomal dominant gene (D), the breeding of an affected dog (Dd) to a free dog (dd) ( Table 3 ) would result on average in 50% affected and 50% free.

Dogs with the genotype DD would be unlikely to occur unless two deaf dogs had been bred. All of the above assumes that incomplete penetrance is not acting. If more than one gene (recessive and/or dominant) is involved in producing the deafness, the possible combinations become much more complicated.

In humans more than 50 different autosomal recessive or dominant deafness genes or loci have been identified. The children of two deaf parents with two different recessive deafness can be unaffected but carry both genes. If deafness in dogs results from more than one recessive gene, the possible outcomes of breedings are more numerous and determination of the mechanisms of transmission will be difficult.

As stated above, deafness can be associated with the merle (dapple) gene, which produces a mingled or patchwork combination of dark and light areas overlayed on the basic coat color. This gene ( M ) is dominant so that affected dogs ( Mm ) show the pigmentation pattern, which is desirable in many breeds.

However, when two dogs heterozygous with merle ( Mm ) are bred, 25% will end up with the MM genotype (i.e., Table 1 ).
These dogs usually have a solid white coat and blue irises, are often deaf and/or blind, and may be sterile.
Breeders in these dog breeds know not to breed merle to merle.
In this case the deafness is neither dominant nor recessive, but is linked to a dominant gene that disrupts pigmentation and as a secondary effect produces deaf dogs.

Piebald is a recessive allele of the S gene, where the dominant allele is expressed as a solid color. Three recessive alleles are recognized: Irish spotting ( s i ), piebald ( s p ), and extreme white piebald ( s w ). These gene alleles affect the amount and distribution of white areas on the body, with the three displaying increasing amounts of white in the order listed.

Genetic transmission of deafness in dogs with the recessive alleles of this pigment gene, such as the Dalmatian (which is homozygous for s w ), is less clear. Deafness in Dalmatians does not appear to be autosomal dominant, since deaf puppies result from hearing parents. It does not appear to be a simple recessive disorder, since we have bred pairs of deaf Dalmatians and obtained bilaterally hearing and unilaterally hearing puppies, when all should have been deaf if the disorder was recessive.

These findings might be explained by a multi-gene cause – the presence of two different autosomal recessive deafness genes, or a syndrome with incomplete penetrance. Further studies will be required to determine the mechanisms. Several candidate genes known to cause pigment-related deafness in humans or other species have been eliminated as the possible cause of pigment-associated deafness in Dalmatians.

Whole-genome screens will hopefully identify the cause in this and other breeds.
Recent studies have shown that deafness in Dobermans, which do not carry the merle or piebald genes, results from direct loss of cochlear hair cells without any effects on the stria vascularis.
Vestibular (balance) system signs, including head tilt and circling, are seen, and the deafness, which is usually bilateral, is transmitted by a simple autosomal recessive mechanism.

A similar pathology has been described for the Shropshire Terrier, a breed that may no longer be in existence. So what should breeders do when deafness crops up? The most conservative approach would be to not breed the affected animal and not repeat the breeding that produced deafness.

It is frequently recommended (i.e. Dalmatian Club of America ) that bilaterally deaf puppies should be euthanatized by breeders, since they can make poor pets, are difficult to train, can be prone to startle biting, may die from misadventure (cars), and require excessive care. There is considerable controversy on this point, and there is no question that many people have successfully raised deaf dogs.

For every story of a problem deaf dog there seems to be a story of one that was successfully raised. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how a deaf puppy will turn out. Unilaterally deaf dogs can make good pets but should not be bred. When deafness is uncommon in a breed, affected dogs should not be bred, but this does not mean that all related dogs are a risk and must be retired from breeding.

An understanding of simple autosomal recessive and dominant patterns, as explained above, can allow the breeder to make better informed decisions (even though we do not yet know the mechanism of inheritance) and likely avoid future deaf animals without sacrificing a breeding line that has been shaped over many years.

However, extreme caution must be used when line breeding of dogs related to deaf dogs, whether the deafness is unilateral or bilateral. To make these decisions in an informed manner for breeds with known deafness, it is important that advantage be taken of hearing testing facilities at veterinary schools.

Unilaterally deaf dogs cannot be detected by other means, and these dogs will pass on their deafness genes. For more details and a more technical discussion, see: Strain G.M. (2015) The genetics of deafness in domestic animals. Fronteers in Veterinary Science 2:29. ( https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2015.00029/full ).

This article is available on-line and is free.

What eye color is dominant in dogs?

Dog Coat Colour Genetics What Dogs Have Green Eyes

Eye Colours
The default eye colour for dogs is brown:
However, a number of genes can affect eye colour.

Amber Eyes Amber eyes usually occur when the eumelanin produced by the dog is diluted or modified by the recessive genes in the B or D series. In other words, all liver dogs (bb) have amber eyes, and so do blue and isabella dogs (dd). Amber eyes vary from light brown (overlapping with the lighter eyes sometimes found in black-pigmented dogs) to yellow, yellow-green or grey.

This English Springer shows very light amber eyes for a liver.
First photo submitted by Gitta Marancsik

Although amber eyes most commonly occur on liver and blue dogs, they can also occur occasionally on dogs with black pigment, The striking shade shown by the first dog here is often referred to as copper, The eyes of the second dog are paler and more of an amber shade.

Blue Eyes Genetically, there are four ways a dog can have blue eyes.
Three of these are linked with pigment loss in the coat.
The most common way is as a side effect of the merle gene,
Merle dilutes random parts of the pigment, including the eyes and nose.
This sort of dilution causes blue colour in the iris (contrary to common belief, animals with no pigment around their eyes do not always have pink or red eyes like albino rodents do – lack of pigment or very diluted pigment often results in blue eyes, as it does in albino humans).

Because of the random pigment loss, often merle dogs have “butterfly” noses (see page) and blue, wall or split eyes. Wall eyes, technically known as heterochromia, are when a dog has one blue eye and one brown or amber eye, and a split eye has some blue in it and the rest is brown or amber.

Split eyes vary from mostly blue to mostly brown or amber.
The more dilution there is in the coat of a merle (i.e.
The more grey/diluted areas), the more likely they are to have blue eyes or a butterfly nose.
A heavily merled dog (large areas of black or liver) is unlikely to have either of these traits.

Double (homozygous) merles are highly likely to have blue eyes and a completely or almost completely pink nose because of the combination of merle dilution and large amounts of white around the face (see below). This red (liver) merle Aussie has one amber eye (because of its bb liver pigment) and one blue.

If you look carefully you can see a sliver of blue in the amber eye. The merle Cardigan Welsh Corgi shown here has two solid blue eyes. The second way in which blue eyes can occur is when a dog has large amounts of white around its eyes, White areas on the coat are where the cells are unable to produce any pigment, so if these areas spread to the face then there may be pigment loss in the eyes and on the nose, making the nose pink and the eyes blue.

This only tends to occur on very high-white dogs with the extreme spotting pattern, such as Dalmatians. The third way is when a dog is affected by albinism, There are no confirmed cases of full albinism in dogs, however “white” Dobermanns have a very light coat (with the main coat appearing as a very light isabella colour and the tan points light cream), blue eyes and a fully pink nose, and this has been proven to be an intermediate form of albinism.

Hades the albino Dobermann () Lastly, blue eyes can be inherited as a completely separate gene, unaffected by coat colour. This gene is, however, rare. It occurs occasionally in the Border Collie and similar breeds, but mainly it’s seen in the Siberian Husky, Huskies can have one or both blue eyes, regardless of their main coat colour, ranging in shade from almost white to sky blue.

This is particularly striking when seen on black dogs. These two Huskies have almost identical coat colours, but one has two deep brown eyes and the other has one blue eye (eyes of different colours are known as “wall eyes”): As you can see, both dogs have full black nose pigment and black around the eyes (eye rims), so the only explanation for the blue eye on the dog on the right is that it is inherited separately to coat colour and pigmentation.

A Husky with two blue eyes. This mixed breed has wall eyes, but is not a merle (the greyish areas are roaned white). This means it must have the independent blue eye gene, which is thought to be dominant, Photos of Revy submitted by Leah Petesch This beautiful Pembroke Welsh Corgi is another example of heterochromia.

On a dog such as this (with no more than 50% black) it can be impossible to tell if a blue eye is due to the dog being a cryptic merle (i.e. one with very little visible merling), however in this case we can be sure that Revy is not a cryptic merle because the merle allele does not exist in the breed,

Photo submitted by Darlene of AlaDar Beagles
This beagle also has one blue eye, with an unknown cause.

** Please note that I am not a research scientist, and the information on this page comes from my own knowledge and observation of dogs, observational and testing data provided via e-mail by site visitors, any research papers linked on the page, and the information provided by Dr Sheila M.