COLOURS & MARKINGS
To try and make it easier to explain I have kept to the main 5 genes that dictate coat colours. Please see below.
Genes Dominant Recessive
Gene 1 Solid Black Solid Red
Gene 2 No Tricolour Tricolour
Gene 3 No Dilute Dilute
Gene 4 Merle No Merle
Gene 5 No Chocolate Chocolate
Black & White
This is the most common and easily recognisable of the border collie colours. Unless other genetic factors are present black and whites will always be produced.
Pictured here is Meadowlove Poppy.
Blue & White
Blue's are a dilute of black. Dilute is a recessive gene and as such both parents must carry the gene to produce blue puppies.
Pictured here is Suga Gero.
Red & White
Red is the recessive gene of black and as such both parents must carry the gene to produce red puppies.
Pictured here is Canen Russ.
Chocolate & White
Chocolate is a recessive gene and as such both parents must carry the gene.
Pictured here is Summer Lee Bear.
Lilac & White
Lilac is produced when chocolate is diluted. To produce lilacs a puppy has to have 2 copies of the dilute gene and 2 copies of the chocolate gene.
Australian Red & White / Golden(ee) Red & White
This colour is particularly rare in the UK and the shades of red vary widely. Here we have pictured quite a light colour. As red is a recessive gene 2 copies of this gene are needed.
Champagne & White
This colour is particularly rare in the UK, the shade varies from some colour to a cream just visible above white. Again this comes from the recessive red gene and as such 2 copies are needed.
Sable & White
Sables are not often seen in the breed. Each has more than one colour, typically darker at the ends and lighter at the roots. Sables have there own set of genes, often combined with the Tricolour and saddle genes.
Pictured here is Beesting Dee Lectable.
Seal & White
Particularly rare this is a 'ghost' version of sable. Due to a combination of recessive and dominant genes the sable pattern cannot be fully expressed and as such you will see the odd area of sable colour showing through a chocolate - black coat.
Black Tricolour
As tricolour is a recessive gene both parents must carry the gene to produce tricoloured puppies. Furthermore if you mate two tricoloured parents you will only produce tricolours. A black tricolour is the same as a black and white but with brown or tan coloured hair on the cheeks, eyebrows, legs and underneath the tail.
Pictured here is Tithelea Eclipse.
Blue Tricolour
To produce a blue tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the dilute gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the dilute and tricolour genes are recessive.
Pictured here is Jaxson.
Red Tricolour
To produce a red tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the red base coat gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the red base coat and tricolour genes are recessive.
Pictured here is Rosie Flys To Marz.
Chocolate Tricolour
To produce a chocolate tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the chocolate gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the chocolate and tricolour genes are recessive.
Lilac Tricolour
Lilac Tricolours are actually quite rare due to the number of recessive genes need. As they are a dilute of chocolate you need a pair of the chocolate gene, a pair of dilute genes and a pair of tricolour genes.
Blue Merle
Blue's are a dilute of black. Dilute is a recessive gene and as such both parents must carry the gene to produce blue puppies however the merle gene is dominant and as such only one parent need carry the gene. You can only produce merles by mating to a merle.
You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictured here is Annya Blue Mist.
Red Merle
Red is the recessive gene of black and as such both parents must carry the gene to produce red puppies however as the merle gene is dominant only one parent need carry the gene. You can only produce merles by mating to a merle.
You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictured here is Poppin Lauridan (Cody) who you can find out more about on Allstars Flyball Team website.
Chocolate Merle
Chocolate is a recessive gene and as such both parents must carry the gene to produce chocolate puppies however as the merle gene is dominant only one parent need carry the gene. You can only produce merles by mating to a merle.
You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictured here is Karrider Kiss and Tell.
Lilac Merle
Lilac is a dilute of chocolate. As chocolate and dilute are both recessive genes you need a pair of both to produce lilac puppies however as the merle gene is dominant only one parent need carry the gene. You can only produce merles by mating to a merle.
You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Slate Merle
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictures here is Stillmoor Gandalf.
Sable Merle
Sables are not often seen in the breed. Each has more than one colour, typically darker at the ends and lighter at the roots. Sables have there own set of genes, often combined with the Tricolour and saddle genes. Here a copy of the dominant gene is also present.
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Blue Tricolour Merle
To produce a blue tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the dilute gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the dilute and tricolour genes are recessive. As the merle gene is dominant only one copy is needed.
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictured here is Tithelea Lord of the Rings
Red Tricolour Merle
To produce a red tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the red base coat gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the red base coat and tricolour genes are recessive. As the merle is a dominant gene only one copy is needed.
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Pictured here is Tinker Nell.
Chocolate Tricolour Merle
To produce a chocolate tricolour the puppies must have 2 copies of the chocolate gene and 2 copies of the tricolour gene as both the chocolate and tricolour genes are recessive. As the merle is a dominant gene only one copy is needed.
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Lilac Tricolour Merle
Lilac Tricolours are actually quite rare due to the number of recessive genes need. As they are a dilute of chocolate you need a pair of the chocolate gene, a pair of dilute genes and a pair of tricolour genes. Plus one copy of the dominant merle gene.
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Slate Tricolour Merle
You can only produce merles by mating to a merle. You should never mate a merle to a merle as the genetic defects can be severe!
Speckled, Ticked or Mottled
Ticking is a dominant gene and as such only one copy of the gene is needed. Speckling will be whatever the underlying pattern would by were there no white e.g. a chocolate and white dog would get chocolate coloured speckling on the white areas. Most dogs when born appear to be predominantly white and the speckling comes through as the dog gets older.
Saddle Pattern or Saddle Sable
The sadle pattern is something between sable and tricolour, not the same as either, but a pattern where the back is a denser black than on the darkest sable but the black area is smaller than on the lightest tricolour. Saddle is certainly dominant to tricolour but is recessive to sable, however the true genetic form is still unclear.
