smithydog Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Question. What constitutes a sable border collie? My new dog is a smooth coat, appears basic black and white. However, her tail is "sable," where the ends of the hairs are black but the base of the hairs are tan. She has no tan spot under her tail so she's definitely not a tri. Her eyes are brown, but each eye is a different shade of brown. A friend whose had BC's for decades said she was a sable, but when mentioning this on a Facebook BC group, there were tons of doubters. Just wondering what is going on with her and that tail! Dog is purebred, pedigreed and imported from Wales. Thanks! - Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 When I think sable, I think classic Lassie colors. The attached looks like a predominantly black and white dog with some unique tail markings. I wonder if some stray merle gene may be in there, because of the eye color differences. Though she looks like a normal B+W bc, my dog has tan and white socks/eyebrows and a lighter eyebrows/cheeks, but she seems to be leaning a little more on the tricolor side. -Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 A lot of black and white dogs have a bit of different color in their feathering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syncrope Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Maybe it could be a tan-point with brindle allele (kbr)? Source: http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/tan.html "The Cardigan Welsh Corgi has the brindle allele (kbr). Brindle only affects phaeomelanin, so this dog's points are brindle but its body remains solid black. This Corgi also has white in the irish spotting pattern." Anyway, my BC has the above combination. She, too, has the tan you described on your own dog's tail. I don't know much else without seeing a picture of the tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syncrope Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 (Sorry double post!!) http://www.doggenetics.co.uk/black.htm Also check out the seal coloration toward the bottom of the page? I dunno! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithydog Posted July 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 I thought seal was just a color in terriers (staffies) but that color came to my mind as a "why not?" for a BC. Further investigation on Sava's coat reveals she has many, many fawn-based hairs with black (about 1:4) all over her. She is such a cutie. In direct sunlight, her coat looks deep bronze, but I think ALL black dogs have that effect in the sunlight. Does pure black even exist in plants or animals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 I only had Nan for about three years before I realized she was a tri..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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