Border Collies are often thought of as black and white dogs, but this is not the case. Border Collies can have a variety of coat colors, some with blue spots, and some with three colors. Black and white coat color is the most representative, but a black and white Border Collie may carry recessive genes for various colors. It's important to remember that it's not fun for a breeder to "set" a dog's coat color when some colors are unusual or even rare. Personality, health, and breed characteristics are all characteristics that breeders should pay attention to. Sometimes different colors appear by chance or through breeder planning.

How is the coat color of Border Collies inherited?

Animals (canine or otherwise) inherit a large number of characteristics from their parents. These inheritances are controlled by genes. Offspring receive their genetics equally from their parents. Each dog carries two genes for each genetically controlled attribute, one from the father and one from the mother. Likewise, the father and mother carry two genes from their grandparents in each of their traits. Although dogs have two genes for each trait, only one is inherited from the father and only one is inherited from the mother, which is why we get diversity.

Each gene has a dominant factor and a recessive factor. For example, a dog inherits the gene for pure black coat color from its father and the gene for pure red coat color from its mother. Because the pure black gene is dominant and the pure red gene is recessive, the pure black gene will cover up the pure red gene, so the dog will have pure black coat color. But when this dog breeds offspring, each puppy will only get one of the genes --- some may inherit the pure black gene, and some may inherit the recessive pure red gene. Genes control various character traits, such as coat color, ear posture, coat length, eye color, etc. Four puppies may be very different from each other. Some may have pointed ears, some short ears, some long hair, and some smooth hair. The most attractive thing is the color of the Border Collie’s coat. Some cubs may be black and white, some may be red-gray and black spotted, and some may be blue and light yellow. Coat color is not determined by one gene, but by several genes, each with a dominant factor and a recessive factor. The table below shows the four genes that determine coat color in Border Collies and defines the dominant and recessive factors for each gene. Gene Dominant Recessive

Gene 1 Pure black Pure red Gene 2 Not light yellow Light yellow Gene 3 Not light but lighter Gene 4 Blue-gray or red-gray with black spots Not ‘blue-gray or red-gray with black spots’. Therefore, the gene that determines solid color has a dominant factor for black and a recessive factor for red. The gene that determines whether you have spots or not has a dominant gene that shows spots and aRecessive gene that does not show spots.

To illustrate the inheritance of pure color genes, for example, a pure-haired male dog carrying two black genes is mated with a female dog carrying two black and red genes. Both male and female dogs display black and white coat color because the female's recessive gene for red is masked by her dominant black gene. All four offspring inherit two pure-color genes, one from the father and one from the mother, but which gene comes from the father or the mother is freely chosen. The proportion of genetic inheritance is shown below. Each puppy inherits the black gene from its father because their father only has black genes. There is a 50% chance that they inherit either the black gene or the red gene from their mother. All offspring will show black and white coat color because the black dominant gene masks the red recessive gene. It is impossible to tell which offspring carries the recessive red gene, so they all display the same black and white coat color as their parents.

If a dog carrying two black genes is mated with another dog carrying two red genes, their offspring will also appear black and white because they both inherited black genes from their father (who only has two black genes to provide). All offspring will then carry a recessive gene (the red gene) inherited from the mother (who only has the red gene to provide). It is not apparent from the outside whether these offspring carry the red gene, but if it is known that their mother is red, they must carry a recessive red gene.

If a dog carries one black and one red gene, mate with another dog that also carries one black and one red gene. The proportion of offspring's coat color is shown in the figure below. A dog will appear red because it carries two recessive genes for red, one from its father and one from its mother. Other offspring will show black and white coloration, although there will be two dogs each carrying a recessive gene for red. One of the dogs will carry two black genes, showing black and white color, and the other dog carrying one black gene and one red gene will show the same coat color.

If a dog carrying one black gene and one red gene is mated with another dog carrying two red genes, the probability of the offspring showing coat color is as shown in the figure. All offspring will carry the recessive red gene (their mother could only have passed this on to them). Two of the offspring will appear red because they carry two recessive red genes, and the other two will appear black and white despite carrying a hidden recessive red gene.

If a dog carrying two dominant black genes is mated with a dog that also carries two dominant black genes, all offspring will be black and white. Because parents can only provide dominant black genes to their offspring, there is no recessive red gene. However, it is impossible to tell whether a black and white dog carries the recessive red gene because the masking properties of the dominant gene always hide the recessive red gene.

If a dog carries two recessive redIf the color gene is mated to an identical dog carrying two recessive red genes, all offspring will show red. Because parents can only provide recessive red genes to their offspring. There is no dominant black gene masking the recessive red gene.

Although the above examples only show how solid coat colors are inherited, other coat colors are inherited in the same way. These four genes are the main factors that determine the coat color we see in Border Collies. Border Collie Color The table below shows how an individual inherits these four genes from their parents and affects the coat color of the Border Collie.