BC Museum: Sable Border Collies

THE BORDER COLLIE MUSEUM Permanent Collection

SABLE BORDER COLLIES

Note on the Color Pages: --PLEASE READ--

Up till now, I have accepted photos of people's dogs and have put them up on the appropriate pages when I have had the time. However, these pages are getting enormously large, for which there is a cost associated in both time and money (space costs). Furthermore, I have accumulated an enormous backlog of photos that I have not had time to put up, and given the size of the website in general, and the fact that I would like to expand it in other areas, I have not had the time to update the color pages.

So, sadly, I have come to the conclusion that I must cut back the existing pages by removing some photos and leaving only those that best represent particular colors or patterns; and I will no longer be accepting photos of other people's dogs for publication on this website except from time to time if a perfect example and a great photo comes along. . To those of you who have sent photos that have not yet gone up, I apologize for never having gotten to them.

Still, I have to say that I enjoy getting photos of your dogs and seeing for myself the huge variety there is in the breed. So, if you would like to continue sending me photos, and continue to correspond with me, I would like that very much, and am still available to answer any color questions you may have to the best of my ability.

Thank you for your support on the subject of color genetics in the Border Collie.

-- Carole Presberg, editor and curator, Border Collie Museum

This is Chance, a sable male belonging to the editor of this site.

These two beautiful sable-and-white Border Collies are Lord Rhimy, left, and Lady Skye, both of whom belonged to Noreen Parrell when she lived in Rochester, New York. Note that sables have black noses and lips. Rhimy has a partial "saddle"--a partial or full saddle often occurs in sables; and he has a "mask", another common feature of sable. Sable is defined by tan hairs with black tips. (Photos by Noreen Parrell or Wayne Kokinda.)

This gorgeous sable dog is Chance, belonging to Sara Bagg, an artist from Tulelake, California. Chance has more black than any of the above dogs, and a black saddle as well. His tan is a very deep reddish-tan. (See an explanation of the saddle pattern and the variations in tans on the "Tricolored Border Collies" page)

This is Rusty, a 3 1/2-year-old sable Border Collie. Rusty is a Flyball Dog Champion who belongs to Ray Koenig of British Columbia, Canada.

This magnificent sable Border Collie is Zip, who belongs to A.J. Marhofke. Zip was adopted by A.J. from the Wisconsin Border Collie Rescue, and is being trained to be the first forensic evidence dog in the state Wisconsin. A.J. also does search and recovery with his Border Collie, Mollie Mae, who was also a rescue dog. Can you imagine anyone giving up a dog as beautiful as Zip?

This beautiful girl is 4-year-old Roisin (Irish for Rosie and pronounced Ro-SHEEN). She belongs to Maria Corcoran, of Slough, Ireland. In the photo on the left she looks almost red tri, but the giveaway is her black nose. Notice that Roisin has a "saddle". Many people call saddle patterned dogs "saddle sables", but they are usually not true sables. Roisin can be said to be a true saddle sable.

These two gorgeous sables are Benny (far left) and Acoma, owned by Anke Gutekunst of France. Anke, a German woman who lives on a farm in Lothringen, France, has been breeding Border Collies for 8 years, and now runs Uisneach Border Collie Rescue with Beatrix Urban, another German national who lives in Ireland. They rescue Border Collies in Ireland and place them with families in Germany and elsewhere on the Continent. Benny is a dog rescued in Ireland by Beatrix. Beatrix says that Anke "just fell for him"--we can understand why! His tan is very pale, something we have not seen in a sable before--Beatrix calls it "blond", a very apt term! Acoma is a 5-month-old female bred by Anke.

This handsome sable dog is Michel ("Skippers Michel von Lonneberga") a Europeon show Champion bred by Anke Gutekunst. Michel lives with a family in Frankfurt, Germany.

This is Travis, a beautiful sable dog belonging to Stephanie Padgett of Greensboro, North Carolina. He's a registered purebred with a pedigree going back to Wiston Cap on both sides despite having come from a backyard breeder who was "retiring and getting rid of all his dogs". His sire was black and white and his dam was black tricolored. Stephanie was told that this pair had a pup like Travis in every litter. In English Shepherds, this coloration would be called a "heavily shaded sable".