There are paintings and references to parti-colors, phantoms (black and tan markings), brindles and sables during much of the history of the poodle.  While these colors fell out of favor with the breeder/exhibitors and were even banned from the show ring in most countries the history remains as do the recessive genes needed for those colors. HOWEVER, there is no historical record of merle in poodles.  In fact the first references to merle poodles are from the last century ie about 1970s to 1980s.  That is a pretty short history compared to the recognized multi-colors.  There are other differences as well.  The multi-colors are caused  by recessive genes, this is why even though breeders were actively selecting AGAINST the multi-colors they survived in the gene pool until folks started breeding for them again.

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Merle is different. It is caused by a dominate gene, meaning only one copy is required for a dog to be a merle.  It is also an old and very specific SINE mutation.  This mutation is what causes the distinctive appearance of merle dogs.  It affects the way black/brown/grey pigment is produced causing the light and dark patching that we think of when you say merle.  Notice that it affects ONLY black/brown/grey pigment.  That means that red, apricot, cream or white dogs can be merle and not show the patched coat you would expect. However  all colors can have the distinctive blue or blue marbled eyes and the mottled nose and eye rims that are so common in the color.  So you can identify some red, apricot, cream or white merles by their eye color and should be suspicious of oddly mottled noses or eye rims if the dog is from merle lines.  HOWEVER not all merle dogs have mottled noses, eye rims, or the blue or marbled eyes. 

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We now know that here are several  versions of the merle gene.  Seven to be exact.  Different versions have different effects on the color  AND carry different levels of risk for know heath problems.  M and Mh the two highest in the series are know to cause problems by deleting pigment.  These problems include deafness and vision problems.   THESE ARE THE ONLY KNOW PROBLEMS PROVEN TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MERLE COLORATION.  When a dog has two M genes  they can be healthy OR their eyes may be affected.  Pupils can be misshapen with "star" shapes common.  The eyes may be smaller then normal, some are super small and some dogs are born without eyes at all. Even if the eyes appear normal the dog may still have compromised vision.   Coats often have excessive amounts of white sometimes the dog is nearly all white.  The nearly white coloring and/or super small eyes and starred pupils are common enough that they are considered hallmarks of a  "double merle".  Mh is showing that in some dogs even a single copy can cause the typical eye problems associated with "double merle" dogs.   Deafness while sometimes associated with the "double merle" dogs is actually NOT due to the merle gene its self  but caused by the deletion of pigment in the cells that form the inner ear.   

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I have seen two different claims about how merle showed up in poodles and other breeds were merle has not been seen historically. 

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First you may see claims that it is a fairly new mutation in the breed.  Remember the merle gene is a specific genetic insertion into a normal dog gene.  While a mutation is not impossible to have the exact specific mutation occur in multiple unrelated breeds in a short time is I think a bit beyond belief.  Remember the claimed new SINE mutation shows up in the same testing used to identify the merle status in breeds that are historically known to have the merle gene.  That means the gene mutation is the same or very, very, very, close to the same....

 

The second claim I have seen in poodles is that it  was carried undetected in the red/apricot/cream/white lines and didn't show up until recently when they crossed those lines into the black lines. Problems I find with this claim is those eye abnormalities I mentioned earlier. These would have shown up if there was hidden merle in the lines. Plus those mottled noses and eye rims which would have even more common.  AND despite many breeders sticking to color bred lines there were crosses to blacks to improve pigment in the apricots. Teh old books talk about this and how the original apricots had brown noses and eye rims and light eyes.  Those dogs crossed to blacks is where many of the browns came from... Common knowledge during much of that time was that tight line breeding and inbreeding was the way to improve and set improvements in your line.  Look at old pedigrees, you will cringe at how close some of them are.  Look up information on the Wycliffe dogs it is easy to access and while extreme it does show how close breeders of the time felt was acceptable.  Just like today, breeders then were  looking for their next big winner.  If a line became known for throwing poor pigment or eye abnormalities it would have been terminated. 

As you can see I find it hard to believe that either of these claims are correct.  My feeling is that some how in the fairly recent past someone had an oops breeding that produced a merle puppy  then deliberately bred back to poodles to produce a merle colored dog that looked like a  poodle.   You can look at Aussiedoodles to see how quickly that could have happened.  F1 crosses are neither Aussie nor Poodle.  But some F2 dogs look more poodle and a couple of more generations of breeding back to a poodle and visually you have a poodle.  Genetically it may have brought a  lot of baggage with it from the original merle breed.   

 

One of the scariest to me is the MDR1 mutation.  This mutation affects how dogs respond to medications, wormers, and anesthesia.  Herding dog folks are aware of the problems it can cause and test their dogs for the mutation so they and their Vets know what drugs and wormers the dogs can or can't have.  For example Ivermecton, a common wormer, will kill an MDR1 dog and can make a  MDR1 carrier ill. Anesthetizing a dog for surgery can be touchy with an MDR1 dog as the amount needed is smaller and the difference between a sleeping dog and a dead dog is smaller.

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You may or may not agree with me about where the merle colored "poodles" came from but if you do decide you want one please do your own research.    For general information on merle including a bit more information about that probably new to you Mh I mentioned you can visit Merle-Sine Insertion from Mc to Mh