| Examples of Merle Border Collies (BCs) |
| These photos are provided by and used with permission of Companion Kennel , G Force Border Collies Liliac merle photo's provided by Karianne H, Brindle merle by Elise Murphy pictures of the double merle Betty are provided by Dillon Photography |
| These three dogs are Blue Merle Border Collies. Blue Merle Border Collies can also have tan points Blue Merle Border Collies are registered as Blue Merle & White or Blue Merle & White with tan points Sometimes the tan points can be hard to see on some dogs |
| Examples of Blue Merle Border Collie puppies |
| Newborn Blue Merle Border Collie Puppy |
| Blue Merle Border Collie Puppy about 8 weeks old |
| Slate Merle Border Collie's also come in a color called Blue. Blue is dilute of black. Blue Border Collies have grey (sometimes it is really dark) nose, eye rims, & paw pads When this color is combined with the merle pattern it is called Slate Merle. Cryptic Merles Any merle BC can also be so shaded with black that it looks to be a solid or non-merle color. These dogs are called Cryptic Merles. To avoid accidentally breeding two merles together any dog with a merle parent should have a CERF exam (all merles have some flecking in the eye) and/or a DNA test to confirm that the dog is or is not a merle We are looking for a good picture that shows these two colors and patterns well. If you have one you would like to share please Contact Me full credit and copyright will be listed to the owner of the photo |
| Red Merle. Red Merles like the dog to the left have self colored noses, eye rims, paw pads. Some red merles are lighter or darker than others. Many people refer to the darker versions of red merle as Chocolate Merle. Red merles may or may not have tan points Like any other merle patterned dog Cryptic Merles can occur in this color also. |
| Sable Merle Sable Merle Border Collies have black noses, eye rims and paw pads Some Sable Merle's become so shaded as adults that the merle pattern can be hard to see. The dog to the right and the puppy below are the same dog. Sable merles can vary greatly in shade and some can be Cryptic merle. Blue Sable Merle Unlike Shelties and Collies Sable BCs can come in Blue Sable. The hair tips of a Blue Sable are grey instead of black. This combination can also exist with a sable merle and this would be called a Blue Sable Merle |
| Lilac Merle Lilac is a dilute of Chocolate/Red These dogs can look like a pale grey color with a purplish cast. They have self colored noses, eye rims & paw pads. Colin Ace is a Lilac Merle. He is the only one of his color in Norway Thank you to owner Karianne H for allowing us to use these photos |
| Double Merle (Double Dilute) Double Merle Border Collies can occur in any of the above mentioned colors. They are the result of breeding TWO merles. Double Merle puppies can be deaf, blind or both. Their eyes are almost always blue (lacking in pigment) and small. Betty pictured here can see but is nearly completely deaf. She has two deaf siblings and one sibling that is deaf and mostly blind. Double Merle pups are not always mostly white (please see Hope's page) Double Merles lack pigment around the eyes and ears. The life for a handicap dog is hard and most do not have happy endings. Please avoid creating a double merle. |
| Merle Eyes Regardless of color, all merles can have blue eyes, marbled eyes, dark eyes, or one brown and one blue eye. Even merles with very dark eyes have some flecking that can be seen during a CERF exam and any dog with a merle parent should have at least one CERF exam to assist in ruling it out as being a Cryptic Merle Thanks to the many DNA advances DNA tests are available to identify Cryptic Merles also. |
| Color Headed White A Color Headed White is a pattern that is often confused with Double Merle. Color Headed Whites are not Double Merles and do not result from breeding two merle dogs. Color Headed Whites (CHW) are produced when two dogs that are white factored are bred or when a CHW is bred to a white factored dog. This pattern can occur with any color or pattern of Border Collie including merle. Color Headed Whites have normally marked heads and pigment around their eyes and ears. They have normal sight and hearing. At this time CHWs are not shown in the AKC conformation ring. Dogs over 50% white are considered a fault are not shown. However, CHWs are healthy and normal in every way and make great pets, performance dogs or go on to produce Champion offspring such as this dog to the left who is the dam of multiple AKC conformation Champions and has performance titled offspring also. |
| I hope this page has been helpful to anyone interested in understanding merle Border Collies and what they look like I would love to add more pictures I especially need a good example of a adult merle with tan points. I will be happy to answer any further questions about merle Border Collies and if I can't help you I will try to find someone who can. For more info or to submit a merle BC picture please Contact Me |
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| Gold Merle Gold (sometimes also called Aussie Red) can vary in shade from a pale yellow to a deep copper color. They may or may not have self colored noses, eye rims and paw pads. Like sable merles it may sometimes be hard, visally, to see the merle markings in a gold merle. This is the case with this dog, Arnpriors For GForce "Trip" |
| Trip has produced merle puppies in every litter he has sired thus confirming he is indeed a gold merle. Thank you to G Force Border Collies for permission to use these photos |
| Brindle Merle I think this is one of the must unusual Border Collies I've ever seen Keiten is a Brindle merle Border Collie. His dam is a brindle and his sire was a blue merle. I think the correct way to describe this dog is that he has two color patterns brindle and merle. I know that brindle like merle acts on colors but I am not sure what color of brindle this dog is since I am not very familar with brindle but I have seen blue, black and red brindle dogs of other breeds. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on this subject. Thank you to owner Elise Murphy for sharing these photos |
