I do breed Merle colored dogs. I will NEVER breed the two of them together due to the high risk of health defective puppies in a merle to merle breeding. However breeding one Merle to a solid colored dog does not pose any risk to the puppies. Merle is slightly complicated and by visiting the site below can give you an amazing amount of good information on this gene. Yes it is beautiful, and it makes for a very different looking dog/puppy. I am careful not to mix my merles and to only produce the healthiest and well adjusted puppies I can. If you would like more info on the merle gene please take the time to research this website: http://merlecockers.com