Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wrote here exactly one year ago regarding my unusual but beautiful sable pup Rev. Rev passed away in October, and I was devastated. He got out of the house and I someone mistook him for a coyote and shot him. no one admitted it, but one of my neighbors claimed they shot at a coyote not a dog on the night he died. I never let him out off leash, i was always with him. Hew just got out on accident. He was the love of my life. I was so upset about it that I ended up in the hospital for days with a high heart rate and BP of 200/120. They diagnosed me with a severe panic attack. About two weeks after he died, my friend called me up and offered me a boxer. I took him home, but I just couldnt bond with him. He was a beautiful pup and I have always loved boxers, but it just wasnt meant to be. I gave him back. Two weeks later, my friend called me and told me about some aussie pups in seguin texas. It is a 6 hour drive from me, but i decided to go. She had two red merles pups that were totally filthy. One of them seem to take a liking to me so I took him. Once Gauge (my pup) and I got home, I bathed the filthy little thing and I noticed that again I had me a very unusual marked guy. He is a red merle with a red nose, but he has too much white. His eyes are barely surrounded by color, one ear is half red and half white and the other ear is white with brown spots. His collar is white that extends past his shoulders and down his front legs. His back is colored except for two white spots on his back that extend down to his stomach. His stomach and back legs are white. He has what looks like 3 diluted spots on his back. All of his colored areas have a mixture of dark liver spots, lighter colored red spots and the diluted spots. I saw the parents, one was a black tri and the other was a red merle. They were marked normal. His brother was a red merle but looked like he was normal. I tried to research what color he is but there arent too many pictures. He is either a harliquin or a tweed. He doesnt have any vision or hearing problems. I doubt he is a result from a merle to merle breeding. I saw pictures of his siblings and none of them had too much white. Any ideas on what color my description fits?But he really is the most beautiful aussie I have ever owned. He is so gentle too. I bring my 3 year old patient to my house once in a while and Gauge (who weighs almost 20 pounds more than my patient) will crawl on his belly up to my patient and lay his great big head in my patients lap and roll over on his back so my little patient can rub his tummy.At first I didnt think I was going to be able to bond with him, but he finally won me over. He is six months old now and is the best behaved dog I have ever owned. He is unusually layed back and gentle. He never jumps on anyone.When I talk to him he will turn his head side to side like he is trying to figure out what I am saying. When I ask him if he needs to go potty, he will run to the kitchen and pick up his leash in his mouth and sit patiently by the door until I get my shoes on. He is also a monster. He is HUGE. At 5 months old he weighed 47 pounds. He is even bigger now. Until what age will he grow to? I really do adore him. He will never take the place of Rev, I doubt I will ever allow myself to love a pet that much, but I really do love him. He really did help me to heal. Well I hope you all can help me in figuring out what he is, a harlequin or a tweed. Luckily I am not looking for a dog to breed, only a good pet, and he definately is a wonderful pet. I hope to have him until he is a ripe old age. thanks
danielle

Hi Danielle, sorry to read of the passing of Rev, those events are never easy on us. I don't think I can help you with the color description of Gauge but he sounds beautiful. I would love to see him if you could post some pictures that would be terrific.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Sounds like Guage came into your life at the right time. It's tough to loose a pet.

I have no idea about the color, but if you could take a picture, I'm sure there are people here who could help out.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

So sorry to hear about Rev. Poor baby (and you).

Gauge is what is called a red harlequin merle. They usually have excessive amounts of white, their merle patches are different colors, and the base color is usually very light.

Forgot to include this in the last post. Gauge's color was probably from his red merle parent. Some merle dogs carry the harlequin gene, and approximately half of them are normally colored. Gauge will probably keep growing until about 8 months, and during that timethe rate he's growing at will become slower.

Hope this helps.