Odd-eye Corgi?

Hey, I'm new here. I found the site pretty randomly, but thought I'd join anyway. I've become a big Corgi fan after I adopted Chloe (seems like a common Corgi name!) from a local girl that was moving. I just saw the flyer and thought, "Wow... I like that dog." Went to visit that day, and the rest is history.

Chloe is a pem, and I've had her for a year now. She's about four. She's red and white, and... she has heterochromia lapis. Meaning, her eyes are two different colors (one brown and one blue).

Has anyone else seen this in a Corgi before?

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Permalink Reply by Alice on March 25, 2010 at 12:31pm

The blue merle Cardigans can have one or both blue eyes or they eyes can have some blue or some brown mixed in. My Cardi Finnigan has one blue and one brown. You do sometimes see a blue eyes on another coat color or in Pems but this would not be acceptable for show.

I get people asking me about Finn's blue eye all the time. They wonder how it got to be that color and if he can see out of it. When he had his first vet visit as a puppy the vet checked to make sure his vision was good in that eye and of course it is. The merle color is thought to be associated with the gene that causes blindness and deafness but this isn't as controversial an issue with Corgis as it is with other breeds. The risk is when a dog gets two copies of the merle gene. These dogs will usually have a mostly white coat and blue irises and are at higher risk for vision and hearing problems. These increased health risks are why you are not allowed to breed two blue merles.

I do see a blue eyes on other color Corgis now and then so you are not alone. I can't say exactly why it occurs though. Here's an article on eye color you may find interesting. It mentions that if the dog has one side of the head darker than the other they may have a blue eye on the lighter side. Finnigan has the opposite and I don't know that I've seen another Cardi with the blue eye on the dark side like his before.