Blue merle dogs will have areas of solid black, and other areas of gray (although the gray may be made of several shades, it is gray, not a mixture of black and white). Ticked dogs will have white and black hairs intermingled, with no intermediate color.
Is Ticking the same as merle?
When is Ticking not Ticking? The answer is: when it's on the base of a merle. The diluted areas on a merle are often described as being "ticked", however this is not the same as T locus ticking and is just a natural part of the merle pattern.
What does a ticked coat mean?
The ticked tabby coat essentially masks any other tabby pattern, producing a non-patterned, or agouti tabby (much like the wild type agouti coat of many other mammals and the sable coat of dogs), with virtually no stripes or bars. If the ticked allele is present, no other tabby pattern will be expressed.
What kind of dogs have ticking?
Some dogs have spots on areas of white fur, commonly called “ticking”. While this is a characteristic of Dalmatians, many breeds can be spotted, such as Border Collies and American Staffordshire Terriers. Sometimes these spots can even “hide” in pigmented areas, and are not seen until the next generation.
What does ticking look like on a dog?
Ticks come in many sizes and shapes, but generally they're small, flat, black and an oval shape. Once they've gorged on blood, ticks usually expand to the size of a small coffee bean. They can look like a wart in a dog's fur, but on closer inspection you'll be able to see their eight legs.
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