Thanks for that link - very interesting indeed, but I can't pretend to understand it all

Another really interesting link. I am going to forward them both to the comment maker in the original post.

Well I was trying to ignore that bit In fact, it isn't relevant to my original question, so I have deleted that bit.

If that were the case, shar-pei would all have Bette Davis eyes.

what a load of tosh!!!

Blue eyes in Siberian huskies are caused by a dominant gene that is inherited separately from the gene that controls coat colour.

they have blue eyes like humans not no pigment like some other breeds.

Poor dog, where is she Murf, is this Many Tears?

No, it is linked to the piebald gene they have.

Short answer - The white markings are where pigment doesn't develop. If a white marking falls across the eye (not always outwardly visible) then pigment doesn't develop in the iris and the eye is blue.

Not all piebald genes have this effect though, and there are different ones.

Deafness is more common in breeds which have no pigment around the ears, or white markings that can/could encroach on the ear area. The inner ear mechanism requires melanin pigment to develop properly, so if an ear is "white" inside caused by the piebald gene, it will be deaf.

Long answer - it's all to do with melanocytes [pigment cells] migrating from the neural crest during development in the embryo. Some piebald/white pattern genes interfere with this and "switch off" the pigment-making capabilities of the melanocytes, resulting in a white patch or marking.

Some genes turn off this ability before migrating, in patches - it means that no pigment cells will reach certain areas and if that includes an eye you get a blue eye - if it includes an ear you get a deaf ear.

Some genes turn off this pigment-making ability much later on, which means you don't get a blue eye or a deaf ear but you still get white patches.

It is very different in Huskies as has already been said.

No inbreeding in associated with blue eyes in ANY breed.... except as has been mentioned, the very unusual and visibly different blue eyes of a double-merle. And that double merle can have unrelated parents, so inbreeding isn't a cause either, just doubling up on a gene that has health issues inextricably linked to it in its double form.

BTW... Merlin's working sheepdog mum, black and white, with not much white - had one blue eye and one brown

One very famous Blue eyed black tri BC


He's not particularly closely bred

Are all pups born with blue eyes? And when do their eyes change colour (if they are all blue)?