the pic's of Ellie did not come through on the last one, so there they are again.

It's amazing that Borders can produce a dog with so much white and it not be deaf, Borders do produce merles but I think that they have been bred for the traditional black and white so long that maybe the merle gene has a lesser effect is that possible.
I do find it fascinating, she looks to have pigment around the eyes and black eyes is this the case.
I was speaking with a working Border breeder today and she mentioned that many Borders are born with half white faces, no pigment and half black face and yet they do not seem to get cancer from the sun.
I feel there may be other genes at work in the Border which counter balances the effects of the merle gene.
I wonder what effect this has had when breeders have used the influence of the border over the Koolie as they have done many times in the past in different bloodlines, might be interesting to follow that up, I know a station breeder in Mudgee who uses the border influence on his Koolies every four generations, he claims it quietens the progeny, he is not a member but has bred for his own needs for decades, he might have some input that could explain how the white or partially white Border can remain unaffected.
She is a very nice looking dog Royalla nice physical form for work, she look very agile, is she working?

yes Ellie is a fully trained trialing dog i think she has done 4 trials so far but she is just two years old and the presser was a bit much for her at such a young age at her last trial she did a turn around and lost a couple of points for it. for this her owner was going to shoot her i can't remember what his name was but he is a big trainer. the lady that gave Ellie to me worked her with Robert cox she was great to watch and Robert and i both seen her do the turn around once when she was getting a bit pressured but Robert said that she would not be hard to get her out of it with only light work and with trainers watching her for signs that she is starting to stress.