BC Museum: Tricolored Border Collies

THE BORDER COLLIE MUSEUM Permanent Collection

TRICOLORED
AND BLACK-AND-TAN
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

Bess, pictured left (photo by Kathy Kemper) at about 6 months old, and right (photo by Carole Presberg) at almost 12 years old, was bred by Francis Raley from Crawford, Texas, and belongs to Carole Presberg. It's very clear from these two photos how the black recedes or the tan spreads as the dog gets older.

Left, Woolgather Moss also belonged to Carole Presberg, the editor of this website. Tricolor simply means that the dog has tan marking (usually as eyespots, spots on the cheeks, and on the legs and under the tail) in addition to the main body color (which can be any color) and white. (Photo by Tony Esposito.)

Right, Flash is another red-tri dog, bred by Francis Raley from Crawford, Texas, and belonging to Carole Presberg. (Photo by David L. Presberg.)

This cutie is Tess of Windy Top, belonging to Cynthia Kean of Lockport, New York. (Photo by Kevin Myers.)

Blossom, who belonged to Pat Stewart of Bethany, Connecticut, was an example of the type of tricolored Border Collie that has very pale tan markings (note her pale tan eyespots). (Photo by Tony Esposito.)

Max was a rescue dog who now lives in his permanant home in New Hampsire. In addition to being tricolored with a rich, deep tan, Max has attractive prick ears and one blue eye, not uncommon in a Border Collie. Blue eyes are not necessarily associated with any particular color. Dogs of any color can have one or both eyes blue.

This is a Scottish dog, Roddy McDairmid's Tam from Argyll. He illustrates that tricolored dogs can have a lot or a little bit of tan. Tam has a lot, at least on his head. (Photo taken by David L. Presberg at the Scottish National Sheep Dog Trials.)

Windy also illustrates that tricolored Border Collies can have more tan than just eyespots, cheeks, and a little on the legs. Windy, who is a year and a half in the photo, might more properly be designated a "saddle-patterned dog, but in Britain, saddle-patterns are usually called just tricolored. She belongs to David McCorcle who lives in Bridgeport, Texas.

Left is Teddy, a very classic example of a smooth-coated tricolored Border Collie. Teddy is almost 2 years old and belongs to Bill and Marty Foss of Lothian, Maryland.

This pretty girl is Faith, who belongs to Bruce Klink of Nashua, New Hampshire. On first glance, Faith looks black and white, but she is really a tricolored dog. She has a small amount of tan on her front legs and behind her back ones.

Here is an interesting tricolored dog with very symmetrical markings and lots of tan on her face. She is Zappa, belonging to Wendy Oliver of Denston, near Newmarket, Suffolk, England. (Thanks to Sharon Webley for this photo.)

Another set of tricolored littermates from Beatrix Urban of Uisneach Border Collie Rescue in Ireland. These four are interesting because two of them, Maire (above, right) and Cormac (left), who Bea calls "the Pandas", hardly look tri at all, but have some tan markings; while the other two, Doyle (above, left) and Finn (above, center) are heavily tanned. There were two more pups in the litter, Dorsa and Laffey who were black and white. While we haven't got a photo of Toffee, their mother, we assume that she was also a tricolored Border Collie.

Rhea, who belongs to Donna Clunie of Bannetstane Kennels in Fife, Scotland, is another great example of a red-tri.

This beautiful dog is Scout, belonging to Andy Cummings of Elysian, Minnesota. Scout is the perfect example of a classically marked Border Collie that would probably be registered as black-and-white as a puppy, and the tan would not be noticed until he is older, as he only has some tan on his legs.