What are dilution spots?
Dilution spots are dull greyish or rusty patches in a merle pattern. Generally it will be a random patch or two, but not widespread over the body as the patches of intermediate color are arranged in Tweeds. The genetic cause is unknown at this time but it is not related to the D-locus dilution and may be part of the complex of color variations caused by the merle gene itself. Inheritance is uncertain but dogs with dilution spots tend to have offspring with dilution spots.