Sheltie Colors

If you are around Shelties very long, you realize there are three basic Sheltie colors. These are defined by the AKC breed standard: Black, Sable and Blue Merle. The coat for each color can also have patches of white and/or tan.

Here are some pictures of the most common coat colors and their variations.

The Sable Sheltie colors range from light gold to dark mahogany. They also feature patches of white - typically around the neck, chest, and little "socks" on each of the legs. Sometimes these cover just the tips of the toes (or nothing at all) while other times the white socks go all the way up the legs

The next category of Sheltie colors is the Black coat - although it's not exclusively black. There are two variations of this color:

The Bi Black Sheltie - black and white
The Tri Color Sheltie - black, white and tan

To identify a Bi Black Sheltie or Tri Color Sheltie, look for a mostly colored head (black or tan markings) with a white collar and white socks. The rest of the body will be mostly colored. By AKC standards, if a Shetland Sheepdog has more than 50% white coat, it will be disqualified from conformation (see Color Headed Whites below).

The Blue Merle coat color is created by one black gene and one merle gene. This dilutes the usual black color into various shades of gray/blue. However, Blue Merles can also have splashes of black, tan and white - which come in two variations:

• The Blue Merle Sheltie - has gray, black, tan and white tones
• The Bi Blue Sheltie - has gray and white tones only

Like the Black Sheltie colors, Blue Merles usually have colored heads (gray, black or tan) with a white collar, chest and socks. The rest of the body is mostly colored.

You can also find other mixes of these coat colors, including:

• The Sable Merle Sheltie - has a Sable coat with a diluting Blue Merle gene.
  
  
• The Double Merle / Homozygous White Sheltie - is created by two merle genes, giving it a mostly white coat, but it is likely to have poor sight and hearing. As such, breeders do not deliberately mate two merles.
  
  
• The Color Headed White (CHW) Sheltie - has a colored head (which can be any combination of Sable, Black, Bi Black, Tri Color, Blue Merle or Bi Blue) and a mostly white body. These Sheltie colors are caused by breeding two white-factored dogs.