Border Collie Colors

Author: Peter Berry
Date Of Creation: 12 February 2021
Update Date: 12 November 2024
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Border Collie Colors And Pattern | Gorgeous Border Collie Colors And Pattern That are popular today
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We can say that one of the most iconic dog breeds in the world is the Border Collie, both for its intelligence and for its beauty. Certainly, when thinking about this breed, a black and white dog quickly comes to mind. However, there are many types of Border Collies, depending on their coat color.

In fact, the varieties of this breed are very numerous, including the merle version of almost every possible color, which appears through a gene that encodes the presence of these different tones, typical of the merle coat. In this article, we show you all Border Collie colors and we explain why each of them appears.

Colors accepted in Border Collie

One of the Border Collie's most notable curiosities is its wide range of colors, since its coloring is determined by genetics. Following the Border Collie breed standard prepared by the International Federation of Cinology (FCI), all colors detailed below are accepted. However, the white color, for reasons of force majeure, should be avoided, being excluded from the standard.


All colors are on an always white layer, the tricolors being those that present different variations in the combination of the following tones: red, black and white. So, depending on genetics, these colors will show one shade or another, as we will show below.

Learn more about this breed in the "All About Border Collie" article.

Border Collie Color Genetics

The color of the coat, eyes and skin itself is determined by different genes. In the case of the Border Collie, a total of 10 genes directly involved in pigmentation, for which melanin is responsible. Melanin is a pigment of which there are two classes: pheomelanin and eumelanin. Pheomelanin is responsible for pigments ranging from red to yellow, and eumelanin for pigments ranging from black to brown.


More specifically, of these 10 genes, 3 are direct determinants of basic coloration. These are the A, K and E genes.

  • Gene A: when it comes to the Ay allele, the animal has a coat between yellow and red, while if it is in At, it has a tricolor coat. However, the expression of gene A depends on the presence or absence of two other genes, K and E.
  • Gene K: in this case occur three different alleles are. The K allele, if dominant, impedes the expression of A, causing a black coloration. If the allele is Kbr, A is allowed to express itself, causing a coloration in which a kind of yellow-red stripes appear, causing a brindle coat. Finally, if it is the recessive gene k, A is also expressed, so that there are no characteristics of K. As in the case of gene A, gene K depends on E for its expression.
  • gene E: this gene is responsible for eumelanin, so if the dominant allele E is present, both A and K can be expressed. In the case of the recessive allele in homozygosis (ee), the expression of eumelanin is impeded, and these dogs produce only pheomelanin.

However, the expression of these main genes can only explain the following colors: Australian red, black, sand and tricolor.


Secondary Border Collie Coloring Genes

In addition to the 3 main genes discussed above, there are a total of 5 genes that interfere and modify the coloration in Border Collie. Briefly, these genes are:

  • Gene B: has effects on eumelanin. The dominant B allele is considered normal, while recessive b causes the black color to turn brown.
  • Gene D: This gene affects color intensity, acting as a diluent in its recessive d version, so it turns, for example, black into blue, lightens yellow and red, and makes brown turn purple.
  • Gene M: like D, the M gene in its dominant allele causes a color dilution, affecting eumelanin. In this case, black would change to blue merle and brown to red merle. The appearance of homozygosis of the dominant gene (MM) produces white merle specimens, which do not have coloration, but the most worrying thing is that they present serious health problems, such as blindness or even absence of eyes, deafness, among other conditions. For this reason, crossing between merle specimens is prohibited by federations, which prevent the registration of these types of Border Collies, in order to avoid promoting the appearance of these animals, which would suffer a lot throughout their lives, something that happens in albino dogs frequently.
  • Gene S: There are 4 alleles of this gene, responsible for the expression of the white color in the animal's coat. In the case of the dominant S allele, white would be almost absent, while in the sw, the most recessive of all, the animal would be completely white, except for some almost isolated colored spots on the face, body and nose, which would also present coloration.
  • Gene T: the recessive t allele is normal, and dominant T causes the marbled color to appear, which only becomes visible when the dog is already a certain age.

The combination of all these genes already gives an idea of ​​the Border Collie's color gamut, which we detail below.

Border Collie Full Colors: Types and Photos

The different genetic combinations cause multiple variations in the color of Border Collies, with a wide variety of coats. So we're going to show you all the existing Border Collie types, explain which genetics predominate, and share images that show the beauty of each color pattern.

Border Collie black and white

The black and white coat is generally the most common and easiest to find, and is determined by the dominant gene B which, although accompanied by recessive (a), does not allow any other color to be displayed.

Border Collie black and white tricolor

The M gene in its dominant heterozygote (Mm) allele causes three colors to appear in the coat: white, black and a cream color pulled into a fire, especially visible in the outlines of the black spots.

Border Collie blue merle

This coat, which was previously not accepted by the shepherds for alluding to its similarity to a wolf, is due to the dominant M gene heterozygote, causing the blue color as a dilution of the black color due to the presence of this extender gene.

Border Collie blue merle tricolor

In the case of blue merle or tricolor merle, what happens is that there is a genotype in which there is a dominant gene E and another B, in addition to the heterozygous M gene, which causes the expression of the three colors and a gray colored nose.

Border Collie chocolate

Chocolate is another of the most popular Border Collie colors because it is "rare" to find. Chocolate collies are those that are brown or liver in color, with brown truffles and green or brown eyes. They always have the gene B in recessive homozygosis (bb).

Border Collie chocolate tricolor

This type of Border Collie is the same as the previous one, but there is also the presence of a single dominant allele of M, causing the brown to appear diluted in certain areas. Therefore, three different tones are presented: white, chocolate and a lighter brown.

Border Collie red merle

At Border Collie Red Merle, the base color is brown, but always merle due to the presence of the dominant allele Mm. The red merle color is quite rare as it requires the combination of the recessive bb allele to appear in chocolate color.

Border Collie red merle tricolor

In this case, in addition to what is necessary for the red Merle coloration to occur, we also have the presence of dominant allele of gene A, which causes the three colors to appear. In this case, this uneven color dilution appears, presenting a white base with marks in which black and red are present, the latter prevailing. Thus, in this type of Border Collie, more brown tones and some black lines are observed, unlike the previous coloration.

Border Collie seal

In these specimens, a different expression of the gene that would code for the color saber or sand is produced, which, without the dominant black allele, appears much darker than the saber. So, in this type of Border Collie, we see a brownish black color.

Border Collie seal merle

As in other merles, the presence of the dominant allele M causes an irregular dilution of the color, so that three colors appear. In this case, the Border Collie colors we see are sand, black and white.

Border Collie Saber

The saber or sand color appears through the interaction of eumelanin and pheomelanin, which makes the color lighter at the roots and darker at the tips. This causes a copper color with different shades combined with white.

Border Collie saber merle

This type of Border Collie has the same genetics as the Border Collie saber, but with the presence of the dominant M allele combined with the recessive (Mm). In this way, color dilution is observed, resulting in the merle pattern.

Border Collie lilac

THE purple color arises from the dilution of the brown color, so that this diluted color appears in the coat with a white base. The truffle of these specimens is brown or cream, which shows that brown is their base color.

Border Collie lilac merle

In lilac merle, what changes is that in these types of Border Collies there is a dominant allele of the M gene, which acts by irregularly diluting the base brown color of the lilac.

Border Collie slate or slate

In these specimens, whose original base is black, the black is diluted due to the presence of the gene D in its homozygous recessive version (dd). For this reason, the colors of the Border Collie present in this type are white, as in all, and slate.

Border Collie slate or slate merle

The black spots and the black nose indicate that the base color of these animals is black, but their phenotype, that features Mm, makes the black color to be even more diluted in the different parts of the coat, causing the presence of different shades that include brown hairs on the legs and head. Unlike the blue merle, the slate merle has a black nose and a generally dark gray or blue eye color. Also, their coat color is usually lighter.

Australian Red Border Collie or Ee-red

The main characteristic of the Australian Red Border Collie is that this color usually appears masking other colors and presents itself in blonde tones of different intensities. The base color can be discovered by looking at the nose and eyelids, although this is not always possible, so the only way to know for sure what the base color is is through genetic testing. Thus, in Border Collie Ee-red, red appears on top of another color that cannot be seen with the naked eye, considered the base color; therefore, the following are distinguished Australian Red Border Collie subtypes:

  • ee-red black: is based on black color covered by a worn red color.
  • ee-red chocolate: Red is intermediate, neither overly intense nor too washed out.
  • ee-red blue: With a blue base coat and a blonder red.
  • ee-red merle: This is the exception in terms of being able to distinguish the base color from the commented shape, because when you look at it, the Border Collie red Australian red merle base looks like a solid color. Only using genetic tests is it possible to know exactly if it is a Border Collie Ee-red merle.
  • Ee-red saber, lilac or blue: although they are Rare Border Collie Colors, there are also specimens in which Australian red masks these colors.

White Border Collie

As mentioned earlier, the white Border Collie is born as a result of the presence of two dominant alleles of the M gene. This heterozygosity of the merle gene produces a completely white offspring, with no nose or iris pigmentation. However, these animals have a very delicate health, presenting serious health problems that affect the whole body, from blindness to liver or heart problems, among others. For this reason, most canine federations prohibit the crossing of two merle specimens, due to the possibility of being born white Border Collie puppies, which would cause these problems throughout their lives.

On the other hand, remember that white is the only Border Collie color that is not accepted by the FCI. So, although it is an existing type of Border Collie, as we said, its reproduction is not recommended. However, if you've adopted a Border Collie with these characteristics, be sure to read more about albino dogs.

If you want to read more articles similar to Border Collie Colors, we recommend that you enter our Comparisons section.