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Blue-eyed Aussie puppy, 2 facts to consider before getting one

Blue Eyes Aussie Puppy, before getting them you need to know a few things about their eye color and the paragraph below will put more light on this.

1. They often have two different colored eyes.

The Australian Shepherd is one of a few dog breeds that commonly have two different colored eyes, called heterochromia. Aussies might have any combination of brown, blue, hazel, amber, or green eyes. Some Aussies even display more than one color within the same eye.

2. Many have naturally short tails.

In addition to having a genetic predisposition for heterochromia, Aussies have a one-in-five chance of being born with a naturally bobbed tail, Ranchers purposely bred Aussies that had these naturally short tails because they are safer when it comes to herding.

Do All Australian Shepherds Have Blue Eyes?

The answer to the above question can be yes or no. Yes; Australian shepherd puppies all have blue eyes which you will notice when their eyes open at one to two weeks of age but not all Aussie eyes stay blue.

Around five to eight weeks of age, the color may begin to change color, darken or stay the same.

The blue shade may vary and the eyes may have grey, brown, or green specks. Unfortunately, you will be taking your pup home around eight weeks and if you had your heart set on a blue-eyed Aussie, you may not know the final color and shade until 12 to 16 weeks of age. In rare cases, color can change for up to six months.

A lighter blue may be darker blue/grey by then. Final eye color can range from dark brown, light brown, amber, orange, gold, green, and the coveted icy blue. There is no guarantee as to what color eyes your Australian shepherd will develop.

How To Determine If Your Australian Shepherd Puppy Will Have Blue Eyes

As posted above, there is no guarantee of you having Blue Eyes Aussie Puppy. First, you must understand the genetic side of the color spectrum that determines eye color and even coat color to up your chances at least a bit, to possibly take home a puppy with blue eyes.

The determining factor in the eye and coat color for Australian shepherds is the merle gene. This is a genetic mutation that creates the light blue eye color.

Why do Australian shepherds have heterochromia?

Australian Shepherds with different colored eyes, or heterochromia, is due to genetics. Not every Aussie is born with these colorful eyes.

You can still remember the first time you laid eyes on your Australian Shepherd. Yes, there was that overwhelming feeling of love you had, but also, you couldn’t help but notice that their eyes were two different colors. You haven’t seen that in any breed of dog you own. Why is it that an Aussie’s eyes are so unique? 

In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Aussie eye color. From which colors your dog’s eyes may be to other traits possessed by Australian Shepherds with heterochromia, keep reading. You’re not going to want to miss this! 

Why Do Aussies Have Different Colored Eyes? 

What is it about Aussies that causes them to have heterochromia? It all comes down to genetics. 

Those two different eye colors, which is also known as walleye, is one trait of many in dogs that their mother and father canine can pass down. With two parents, a puppy’s gene copies double.  

Sometimes, these genes conflict with one another. In such a situation, the mother’s genes will always dictate what the puppy will look like. That’s due to the dominancy of the mother’s genes over the father’s.  

If both parents share the same genes, then there’s no question the offspring will exhibit the traits the gene is expressed for. That’s the only way a puppy will be born with walleye, by the way, is if both the mother and father share the heterochromia gene.  

The parent dogs don’t even need to have walleye themselves. If the gene is within them, then some of the puppies in the litter will be born with two eye colors. It’s very unlikely they all will, though.  

By the way, as cool as walleye is, it’s not unique to Aussies.

What Other Traits Are Specific to Australian Shepherds with Different Colored Eyes? 

If you look at a Blue Eyes Aussie Puppy and compare it to others in the litter with one eye color, you may notice something else about the dog. The walleye pup tends to have a unique coat color. Your dog’s fur may feature white streaks throughout and sometimes even a dappled pattern on the coat.  

A dog’s coat color and eye color gene share a link, so if a dog has walleye, their coat will always be different than a dog born without walleye.