Blue-Eyed Tri

 

Many breeders believe that the Blue Eyed Tri is a single inherited gene that can be passed along to their offspring, thus making Blue Eyed Tri puppies more valuable. Many breeders and potential breeders pay excessive amounts for Blue Eyed Tri puppies with the belief that they will produce Blue Eyed Tri's. It appears from the articles available, that many factors are involved in the creation of the Blue Eyed Tri. One combination of male and female may produce the Blue Eyed Tri, and another combination may not. It is up to the individual breeder to decide whether or not to invest additional money in a dog that may very well not produce Blue Eyed Tri's, unless combined with another dog with just the right gene pool. It is also up to breeders to refrain from advertising the "blue-eyed tri gene", as it apparently does not exist.

 

The following information is taken from an article by the Australian Shepherd Health & Genetic Institute. You can find the entire article at Australian Shepherd Genetics Institute

 

"Sometimes Australian Shepherds which are not merle will have blue eyes. These eyes (sometimes one, sometimes both) are completely blue, or perhaps half blue/half pigmented. They are never flecked or marbled. This kind of blue eye has nothing to do with the merle gene, white trim genes or the albino gene. These eyes are completely sound. The mode of inheritance is UNKNOWN, but since the blue eyes can be single or a pair and an individual eye may be half-and-half, there is probably more than one gene involved."