Curiosity question

[Cindy Evans]

I'm just curious here. I registered her and call her a tri, but what color would you call this dog?

 

If you pull her hair back it comes out of her skin as a reddish tan color and then turns black on the ends. The only place it come out totally black is directly above the shoulder blades. Everywhere else you can see the red or tan through the black all the time. It doesn't show too well in the pictures, but maybe you can tell.

[Gideon's girl]

In German Shepherds she would be a sable.

[SS Cressa]

I believe it would be a sable.

[Liz P]

She is a sable tri, which is a type of tri color (as opposed to a tan point tri color).

[geonni banner]

I would call this dog a "mahogany sable" - some say shaded sable - but mahogany usually refers to a sable with a very dark body coat. A lighter shaded sable with a mask that contrasts less with the body color is some times called a "wolf" sable, which dogs usually show a lot of ticking on the longer hairs. Both are distinct distinct from a tricolor. The "mask" on this dog is the big tip-off for sable. Though some would call this a tricolor - because it is showing 3 colors - it is not properly a tricolor. Color terminology tends to vary from breed to breed, but it is my understanding that a tri is genetically different from a sable.

[Syncrope]

I agree with the sable.

 

But either way, she's very pretty!

[PSmitty]

I'd call her sable.

 

And wow, she's gorgeous!

[Liz P]

Though some would call this a tricolor - because it is showing 3 colors - it is not properly a tricolor. Color terminology tends to vary from breed to breed, but it is my understanding that a tri is genetically different from a sable.

 

There are 3 colors. Tan point tri and sable tri are coded for at the same locus. Maybe some breed semantics distinguish the two, but generally Border Collies that are tan point and sable are registered as "tri color," unless they lack white markings.