A White Sheltie?
They are known by different names: Double merle, double dilute or homozygous merle are all common names for white shelties. They are often born deaf and sometimes visually impared, but still have the ability to live the life of any other dog that can hear or see. They can still chase balls, bark and be housetrained. Some have even earned Canine Good Citizien standing, are certified therapy dogs and participate in agility.

A White Sheltie? It's Gotta be a Mixed Breed!
White shelties are not something that natually occur. They are typically the result of a blue merle to blue merle breeding, but can appear in breedings of other colors. They cannot be shown in the confirmation ring. We'll leave the science of sheltie genetics to the experts, but we can fill you in on the interesting lives that these dogs lead. We also do not condone any breeding to intentionally produce double merles. 

A White Shelte Website?
We've developed this site to raise awareness of the fact that double merles are regular dogs that require unique care and training, but not beyond the capabilities of the everyday pet owner. This is in no way meant to be a thorough owner's manual for the double merle. Please take the time to look around the site, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.