What Is the Difference Between a Tri-Coloured Collie & a Sable Collie?

Collies come in four officially recognized colors and two coats, and the differences are not always clear. When visiting the Scottish Highlands, Queen Victoria fell in love with collies and introduced them to the rest of the world. Originally used as herding dogs, collies are speedy, elegant and graceful. The "rough coated" collie is the most well known with its long flowing coat, but the smooth coated collie is the same breed.

  1. Sable and White

    • A sable and white collie is predominantly a brown tone with white markings on the neck, chest, legs, feet and tip of the tail. The brown tones can range from a light beige to a deep mahogany color. A sable can have a white blaze down its face or behind the head. (A blaze is a streak or stripe that usually runs down the front of the face between the eyes.)

    Tri-Color

    • A tri-color collie looks just as the name suggests. It has three colors. The tri-color is predominantly black where the sable is brown, and white where the sable is white. It also has tan markings on its head and legs.

    Blue Merle

    • The blue merle has mottled black and white markings -- something like a blue roan in a horse -- where the sable would have brown markings. It has white markings in the same places as tri-colors and sable and whites, and has tan markings where the tri-color has them.

    White

    • A white collie is not necessarily pure white, but has sable, tri-color and/or blue merle markings on a predominantly white body. Pure white collies are sometimes found but they are rare.