It can be said that one of the most iconic dog breeds in the world is the border collie, both for its intelligence and its beauty. Surely, when you think of this breed, a black and white dog quickly comes to mind, however, there are many types of border collies depending on the color of their coat.
In reality, the varieties of this breed are very numerous, including the merle version of almost all possible colors, which appears due to a gene that encodes the presence of these different shades of merle coats. In this article we show you all the colors of the border collie and we explain why each of them appears.
Accepted colors in the border collie
One of the most notable curiosities of the border collie is its wide range of colors, since this is determined by its genetics. Following the border collie breed standard drawn up by the International Cinological Federation (FCI), all the colors that we will detail below are accepted. However, the color white, for reasons of force majeure, must be avoided, being excluded from the standard.
All the colors go on a layer that is always white, being the tricolor specimens the ones that present different variations in the combination of the following tones: red, black and white. Thus, depending on genetics, these colors will present one tone or another, as we will tell you right away.
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 have been identified, for which melanin is responsible. Melanin is a pigment of which there are two classes: pheomelanin and eumelanin. Pheomelanin is responsible for the pigments that go from red to yellow and eumelanin for those that go from black to brown.
Specifically, of these 10 genes, 3 are direct determinants of the basic colorations. These are the A, K and E genes.
- Gen A: if it is the Ay allele, the animal has a coat between yellow and red, while if it is At, has a tricolor coat. However, the expression of gene A depends on the presence or not of the other two genes, K and E.
- Gen K: in this case, there are three different alleles. K, being dominant, prevents the expression of A, causing a black coloration. If it is the Kbr allele, A is allowed to express itself, causing a coloration in which a kind of stripes appear over the yellow-red color that give it a brindle coat. Finally, in the case of recessive gene k, A is also expressed, so that the characteristics of K are not present. As happened with gene A, gene K depends on gene E for its expression.
- Gen E: this gene is responsible for eumelanin, so if the dominant allele E is present, both A and K. In the case of the homozygous recessive allele (ee), the expression of eumelanin is prevented, with only pheomelanin being present in these dogs.
But the expression of these major genes can only explain the following colors: Australian Red, Black, Sand, and Tricolor.
Secondary genes in border collie coloration
In addition to the 3 main genes mentioned above, there are a total of 5 genes that interfere with and modify coloration in the border collie. Briefly, these genes are:
- Gen B: has effects on eumelanin. The dominant allele B is considered normal, while b turns the color from black to brown.
- Gen D: this gene affects the intensity of the color, acting as a diluent of the same in its recessive version d, so that it converts, for example, black on blue lightens yellow and red and makes brown lilac.
- Gen M: like D, gene M in its dominant allele causes color dilution, having an effect on the eumelanin. In this case, black would turn to merle blue and brown to merle red. The appearance of homozygosity of the dominant gene (MM) originates specimens of the white blackbird type, which lack any coloration, but the most worrying thing is that they have serious he alth problems, such as blindness or even lack of eyes, deafness, among other conditions. For this reason, the cross between blackbird specimens is prohibited by the federations and they prevent the registration of these types of border collie in order to avoid promoting the appearance of these animals, which would suffer a lot throughout their lives, something that happens in albino dogs. very often.
- Gen 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 allele S, white would be almost absent, while in sw, the most recessive of all, the animal would be completely white, except for some almost isolated spots of color on the face and body and nose, which also would show coloration.
- Gen T: The recessive t allele is the normal one and T causes the variegated coloration to emerge, which only becomes visible when the dog is already a certain age.
The combination of all these genes already explains the total color range of the border collie, which we detail below.
All border collie colors: types and photos
The different genetic combinations give rise to multiple variations in the color of the border collie, with a great variety of coats. For this reason, we show all the types of border collies that exist, we explain which genetics predominate and we share images that show the beauty of each color pattern.
Black and white border collie
The black and white coat is usually the most common and easy to find, it is determined by the dominant gene B, which although accompanied of the recessive (a), it does not let any other color show.
Tricolor black and white border collie
The M gene in its heterozygous dominant allele (Mm) causes three coat colors to appear: white, black and a cream colorburning, especially visible in the outlines of the black spots.
Border collie blue merle
This coat, which was previously not accepted by shepherds because it alluded to its resemblance to the wolf, is due to the dominant gene M in heterozygosis, carrying the blue color as a dilution of the black color due to the presence of this diluent gene.
Border collie blue merle tricolor
In the case of the blue merle or tricolor merle what happens is that there is a genotype in which there is present one dominant gene E and another B, apart from the M gene in heterozygosis, which causes the expression of the three colors and a greyish nose.
Border collie chocolate
Chocolate is another of the most popular border collie colors because it is more "rare" to find. Chocolate collies are those that are brown or liver in color, with a brown nose and green or brown eyes. They always present the gene B in homozygous recessive (bb).
Border collie tricolor chocolate
This type of border collie is the same as the previous one but, in addition, there is the presence of a single dominant allele of M, making the brown look diluted in certain areas. Therefore, three different shades are presented: white, chocolate and a lighter brown
Border collie red merle
In red merle border collies the base color is brown, but always black due to the presence of the dominant allele Mm. The red merle color is quite rare, as it needs the recessive bb allele combination to occur for the chocolate color to appear.
Border collie red merle tricolor
In this case, in addition to what is necessary for red merle to occur, we also have the presence of the dominant allele of gene A, which causes the appearance of the three colors. In this case, this uneven color dilution appears, presenting a white base with marks in which black and red are present, the latter predominating. In this way, in this type of border collie more shades of brown and some black line are observed, unlike the previous one.
Border collie seal
In these specimens there is a different expression of the gene that would codify the color sable or sand, which, lacking the dominant allele for black, is much darker than sable. Thus, in this type of border collie we observe a brown-black color
Border collie seal merle
As in the rest of the merle, the presence of the dominant allele M causes an irregular color dilution to appear, which causes 3 colors to appear. In this case, the border collie colors we see are sand, black and white.
Border collie sable
The sable or sand color appears due to the interaction of eumelanin and pheomelanin, which causes the color to be lighter at the root and darker towards the ends. This results in a copper color with different shades combined with white.
Border collie sable merle
This type of border collie has the same genetics as the sable border collie, but with the presence of the dominant M allele combined with the recessive (Mm). In this way, the dilution of the color is observed, resulting in the blackbird pattern.
Border collie lilac
The lilac color arises from the dilution of the brown color, so that this color appears on the mantle diluted with a white base. The nose of these specimens is brown or cream, which shows that brown is the base color.
Border collie lilac merle
In the 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
In these specimens, whose original base is black, the black is diluted due to the presence of the gen D in its homozygous recessive version (dd). Therefore, the border collie colors 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, which has Mm, makes the black color dilute even more in the different parts of the coat, causing the presence of different shades, including tan-brown hairs on the legs and head. Unlike the blue merle, the slate merle has a black nose and generally dark gray or blue eyes. In addition, the color of the coat 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 appearing in blonde tones of different intensityThe base color can be discovered by looking at the nose and eyelids, although this is not always possible, so the only sure way to know what the base color is is through genetic testing. In this way, in the Ee-red border collie, red appears above another color that cannot be seen with the naked eye, considered the base color, for this reason the following border subtypes are distinguished australian red collie:
- Ee-red negro: with a black base color and a ruby red color that covers it.
- Ee-red chocolate: The red is medium, neither too intense nor too faded.
- Ee-red azul: with a blue undercoat and a blonder red.
- Ee-red merle: this is the exception in terms of being able to distinguish the base color of the commented form, since at the view the merle-based australian red border collie looks like red is a solid color. Only through the use of genetic tests can it be known exactly if it is an Ee-red merle border collie.
- Ee-red sable, lilac or blue: although less common, there are also specimens in which the Australian red masks these colours.
White border collie
As we have mentioned before, the white border collie is born as a result of the presence of two dominant alleles of the M gene. This heterozygosis of the merle gene originates a completely white puppy, without nose or iris pigmentation. But, these animals have a very delicate he alth, presenting serious he alth problems that affect their entire organism, from blindness to liver or heart problems, among others. For this reason, the crossing of two merle specimens is prohibited by most canine federations, due to the possibility of the birth of white border collie puppies, which would carry these problems throughout their lives.
On the other hand, we remind you that white is the only Border Collie color that is not accepted by the FCI. Thus, although it constitutes a type of border collie that exists, as we say, its reproduction is not recommended. However, if you have adopted a border collie with these characteristics, do not miss the care of albino dogs.
