Grandfathered in markings & pups

So what's the dealio with those of us who have chars that have grandfathered in markings that now would be disallowed on a full wolf?

Like for future puppies is it they are still allowed to be merle -- using Mal as an example for obvious reasons -- because dad is or do they have to be totally plain with not a hint of it if I keep him as merle?

Or is it better to edit chars to fit in reqs so they're merely unusually patterned and not officially merle/whatever, toned down a little from true merle,  and then patterns can thus be passed on in lesser ways? I mean I still need to do a new ref of him from this decade so at least not a big jump there, haha.

I would assume the more iffy option is add a percentage of dog to said char, but I know that editing those things is generally most sketchy. And I'm not planning on doing it for Mal anyway, but I'm sure other peeps might wanna know. :P
Someone in Discord said that 50% dog is required to have dog markings any less and they gotta be wolf. Is that actually a thing or was that just their opinion? (I honestly don't remember who said it and chat b flyin' right now)

To summarize WHAT HAPPENING WITH SPOTTY BOYS