# Border Collie with TWO blue eyes?



## JESSJAME5 (Nov 2, 2011)

Hi guys,


So I think I've finally found my perfect puppy, he's as cute as a button. His dad is a Border Collie & his mum is a Border Collie x Cattle Dog. 

Just curious though, he seems to have two dark blue eyes. I could be wrong though, this could be normal at his age (5.5 weeks atm) to have eye color like this. His whole litter has the exact same colored eyes. All of them have two blue eyes. Stuff I was reading said you have to be careful about deafness/blindness when having one blue eye, but what about two? 

I'm sure I'm probably over reacting, but just wanted to be sure. He's a two hour drive, 4 hour round trip away so I can't go visit really unless I was certain to be getting him when I go up. Not until he's 8 weeks old then. But if I wanted to claim him, now is the time.

This is him.. 
Sorry the picture doesn't come up very large, not enough to see his dark blue eyes properly..


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

It's normal for pups that age to have blue eyes. If they're dark blue, they'll most likely turn brown eventually--most dogs with permanently blue eyes have more of a light blue color.

The blue eye/deafness link usually has something to do with white markings. Most colored dogs with blue eyes can hear fine.


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

The issue is blue eyes with no white around the ear. Deafness is connected to pigment (weird, huh?)

This dog is ok, because the eyes are blue, and the face is white, but the ears are black:









But markings like this (note the one solid white ear) are cause for concern:









The puppy you posted won't have such an issue, and is likely to have brown eyes,


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## LoveCWCs (Oct 21, 2011)

Xeph, sometimes excessive white markings can be an indicator of a double merle, but not always. 

Piebald markings are very common in cardigans. A friend of mine bred her blue girl to a black boy, and one of the puppies (a blue merle) has so little merling that you would think she was a double merle if you didn't know differently. 

One of her ears is completely white; in fact, more then half of her face is white and she only has the slightest marking against one eye. She has some merling on her back and on one ear. Her eyes are a bright blue. 

My rule of thumb is to look very closely at the eyes- if one or both eyes are very small, or, if one eye looks significantly different from the other (maybe the pupil is deformed, there are odd striations) then you may have a double merle on your hands. 

Or, if both parents are double merles, then for sure 25% of the pups will be double merles; the others will likely be normal or black and white. 

Sometimes, cryptic merles are born, and those are dogs that have such a small amount of merling that its almost impossible to tell.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Blue eyes are fairly common in BCs and unlikely to be a problem, especially in a dog marked like he is. However, most 5.5 week old puppies have dark blue eyes. If he was going to keep blue eyes they would probably be light blue.


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## JESSJAME5 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks guys. Didn't realize most puppies had dark blue eyes, interesting! I'm guessing from everything you've all said that he should be fine hearing & sight wise (from his eyes/markings anyways). One of his brothers has a half white mask, kind of like the second dog in the pictures above that Xeph posted. With one white ear, one black too. 

Haven't seen the parents yet, but as far as I'm aware they're not merle as the owners didn't mention it. Could a BC x cattle dog still end up being a merle as well? Or would only a full BC?


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Xeph said:


> The issue is blue eyes with no white around the ear. Deafness is connected to pigment (weird, huh?)
> 
> This dog is ok, because the eyes are blue, and the face is white, but the ears are black:
> 
> ...


It's possible that the first dog isn't even a homozygous merle (I don't see anything but black and white) but a color headed white or extreme piebald. And, it's possible for a dog to have color surrounding ears and still be deaf, because it is the pigmentation INSIDE the ear which carries sound.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

JESSJAME5 said:


> Thanks guys. Didn't realize most puppies had dark blue eyes, interesting! I'm guessing from everything you've all said that he should be fine hearing & sight wise (from his eyes/markings anyways). One of his brothers has a half white mask, kind of like the second dog in the pictures above that Xeph posted. With one white ear, one black too.
> 
> Haven't seen the parents yet, but as far as I'm aware they're not merle as the owners didn't mention it. Could a BC x cattle dog still end up being a merle as well? Or would only a full BC?


A cross could be merle if the BC parent is merle. (It's not a color ACDs come in)


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

JESSJAME5 said:


> Haven't seen the parents yet, but as far as I'm aware they're not merle as the owners didn't mention it. Could a BC x cattle dog still end up being a merle as well? Or would only a full BC?


A BCx Cattledog could be merle but that dog is clearly not merle. Merle is dominant so you only need one copy of the gene to make your dog merle. 

CWC, the pied coloration can also have issues with deafness in highly white marked dogs. You're not going to see the deformed eyes and things like that but there's a reason a lot of breed standards require color around the ears. It just depends on where the pigment falls inside the ear.


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## LoveCWCs (Oct 21, 2011)

Oh, I didn't know that! That does make sense though, as I read while researching double merles that a lack of pigment inside the ear canals causes deafness.


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## KotaBoy88 (Jul 28, 2020)

Xeph said:


> The issue is blue eyes with no white around the ear. Deafness is connected to pigment (weird, huh?)
> 
> This dog is ok, because the eyes are blue, and the face is white, but the ears are black:
> 
> ...


 So I have a Border Collie that is the traditional black and white, with double blue eyes, he is about 5 months old and






he is going to keep both blue eye, when we got him we were told he would. The breeder had both parents and the mother was also black and white with blue eyes (like my dog). Should i be concerned for deafness or an onset of blindness, also, my vet never mention a eye test I could have done for him.... Ive attached a pic.


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## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

Old thread, but....

Since your dog has good pigment and dark markings around the eyes and ears, the odds of him being deaf are greatly reduced. However, if you do have any concerns, you can ask your vet about having a Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test done to determine if he has any hearing loss. 

Cute pup.


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