I am considering purchasing a particular blue merle Aussie puppy that is about 6 weeks old. This puppy and one other from the litter are normally marked merle puppies. The mother is represented as black tri with mostly copper on her face. The father is a blue merle. My only concern is that three of the other pups in the litter have excessive white. Two of them are completely white except for merle markings on the face and ears. The other is completely white with a few black spots here and there. Should I be concerned that the puppy I want to buy will be able to pass on excessive white if he were bred even though he doesn't have too much white?

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Simple answer. Have him neutered and enjoy him for the wonderful creature he is.

I'd be suspicious of who the mother is. Did they have two litters at once and the Tri became the surrogate? Eitherway, to answer your question- if the female that you were to breed him to didn't have excessive white, odds are they'd be normally marked. If you breed him to a dog with a lot of white (full collar, big blaze, lots of white on legs) the puppies would probably have a lot of white as well. I'd say it's 3/4 what he looks like and 1/4 of what's in his lines.

sounds like merle on merle breeding was done some where down the line and no do not breed him.

Yes. The genes are there, even if they don't show up in your particular pup and could certainly be passed on. Get this dog as a pet and have a wonderful addition to your household, but don't breed her/him. If you decide to become a breeder in the future, do a lot of research on whatever breed you are dealing with. Aussies can be very difficult to breed due to color genes etc. and there is a lot of information out there that you need to learn before you try your hand at breeding. Sadly, with the new popularity of this breed, far too many people are breeding and don't know how to properly go about it. Good breeding requires a lot of time and money, and the only reason to breed a dog is to improve the breed. At 6 weeks, you don't know the personality, health, or confirmation of the pup you're getting. And a breeder's guarantee is really no guarantee. How long has this breeder been breeding Aussie's? A very important thing to know.