Border Collie Colours
One of the most emblematic breeds of dogs in the world is the Border Collie, both for its intelligence and for its beauty. Certainly, thinking of this breed, quickly comes to mind a black and white dog. However, there are many types of Border Collie, depending on the color of your fur.
- In fact.
- The varieties of this breed are very numerous.
- Including the robin version of almost all possible colors.
- Which appears by a gene that encodes the presence of these different shades.
- Typical of the robin fur.
- In this article we show you all the colors of border Collie and explain why each one appears.
One of the most noteworthy curiosities of Border Collie is its wide range of colors, because its coloration is determined by genetics. Following the Border Collie breed standard developed by the International Federation of Cynology (FCI), all the colors detailed below are accepted. However, white colour should be avoided, due to force majeure, and is excluded from the norm.
All colors are in an always white layer, with tricolor specimens showing different variations in the combination of the following shades: red, black and white. Thus, depending on the genetics, these colors will have one shade or another, as we will show below.
For more information on this breed, see the article “All about the Border Collie”.
The color of the fur, eyes and skin is determined by different genes. In the case of 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: feomelanin and eumelanin. Feomelanin is responsible for pigments ranging from red to yellow, and eumelanin is responsible for pigments ranging from black to brown.
Specifically, of these 10 genes, 3 are direct determinants of basic coloration. These are genes A, K and E.
However, the expression of these main genes can only explain the following colors: Australian red, black, sand, and tricolor.
In addition to the top 3 genes discussed above, there are a total of 5 genes that interfere with and alter coloration in the Border Collie. In short, these genes are:
The combination of all these genes already gives an idea of the range of colors of the Border Collie, which we detail below.
Different genetic combinations cause multiple variations in border Collie color, with a wide variety of furs. Therefore, we will show you all the types of Border Collie that exist, explain which genetics are predominant and share images that show the beauty of each color pattern.
The black and white dress is usually the most common and easy to find, and is determined by the dominant gene B, which, although accompanied by recessive (a), does not allow the display of any other color.
The M gene in its dominant heterozygote allele (Mm) reveals three colors in the fur: white, black and a fire cream color, visible especially in the contours of the black dots.
This fur, which was not previously accepted by the shepherds to allude to its resemblance to a wolf, is due to the dominant heterozygote gene M, causing the blue color as a dilution of the black color due to the presence of this diluent gene.
In the case of blue or tricolor robin, what happens is that there is a genotype in which there is a dominant E gene and another B, in addition to the heterozygote M gene, which causes the expression of the three colors and a grayish truffle.
Chocolate is another of the most popular colors of Border Collie because it is “rarer” to find. Chocolate collies are brown or liver, 200 with brown truffles and green or brown eyes. They still have the B gene in recessive homozygous (bb).
This type of Border Collie is the same as the previous one, but there is also the presence of a single dominant M allele, showing a diluted brown in some areas. Therefore, three different shades are presented: white, chocolate and a lighter brown.
In the border collie red robin, the base color is brown, but it is still robin due to the presence of the dominant allele Mm. The red robin color is quite rare, as it requires the combination of the recessive allele bb to appear in chocolate color.
In this case, in addition to what is necessary for red merle coloration to occur, we also have the dominant allele of gene A, which causes the appearance of all three colors. In this case, this uneven dissolution of color appears, presenting a white base with markings on which black and red are present, the latter predominating. Thus, in this type of Border Collie, there are more shades of brown and some black lines, unlike the previous coloration.
In these specimens there is a different manifestation of the gene that would encode the color of the sword or sand, which, without the dominant allele of black, seems much darker than the sword. So, in this type of Border Collie, we see a brownish black color.
As in other robins, the presence of the dominant M allele causes an irregular color dilution, so three colors appear. In this case, the colors of the Border Collie we see are sand, black and white.
The color of the sword or sand appears through the interaction of eumelanin and feomelanine, making the color lighter at the root and darker at the ends. This causes a coppery color to be observed with different shades combined with white.
The lilac color comes from the dilution of the brown color, so this diluted color appears on the fur with a white base. The truffle of these specimens is brown or cream, which shows that brown is their base color.
In these specimens, whose original base is black, black is diluted due to the presence of the D gene in its recessive homozygous version (dd). Therefore, the colors of the Border Collie present in this type are white, as in all, and the slate.
The black dots and the black truffle indicate that the basic color of these animals is black, but their phenotype, which shows Mm, makes the black color further diluted in the different parts of the fur, causing the presence of different shades that include the hairs of the legs and chestnut head. Unlike blue robin, the robin has a black truffle and a generally dark grey or blue color in the eyes. In addition, the color of its fur is generally lighter.
The main feature of the Australian Red Border Collie is that this color usually appears masking other colors and is presented in different intensity blonde tones. The basic color can be found by looking at the nose and eyelids, although this is not always possible, so the only way to know for sure what the basic color is is through a genetic test. Thus, in the Border Collie Ee-red, red appears over another color that cannot be seen with the naked eye, considered the base color; therefore, the following subtypes of Australian red Border Collie are distinguished:
As mentioned above, the white Border Collie was born as a result of the presence of two dominant alleles of the M gene. This heterozygote of the merle gene produces an all-white puppy, with no pigmentation in the truffle or iris. However, these animals have a very delicate health, with serious health problems affecting the whole body, from blindness to liver or heart problems, among others. For this reason, most dog federations prohibit the crossing of two robin dogs, because of the possibility of the birth of white Border Collie puppies, which would cause these problems throughout their life.
On the other hand, we remember that white is the only color of border Collie that is not accepted by the IFC. Thus, while it is an existing type of Border Collie, as we have said, reproduction is not recommended. However, if you have adopted a Border Collie with these characteristics, be sure to learn more about albino dogs.
If you would like to read articles similar to Border Collie Colors, we recommend that you visit our Comparisons section.