Colour isn't really a issue with me.

When my first BC came into my life (Suki) she was blk and wht, but she chose us and although there was many pups (I was only 9 at the time) my mom said ''you'll never go wrong with the one who picks you'', don't go for the one who is pushy, go for the one who bonds. There was a pushy one, who kept pushing Suki away, but with my Mom's advice I picked Suki....and she turned into a star.
Meg was different a survivor of a fire, I handreared her....so we had a real bond. I wasn't really sure how she would turn out but she was tri.
Reah, came into my life....and I saw the love and hope she had in her eyes and her fight and determination.
Skye (the only one I set out to buy).....I was looking for a merle we saw a advert and it appeared to be all above board until we got there Skye came to me, she was pushed away by a bigger bolder pup.
We we're not going to buy anything, as we were horrified to find out that it was ''puppy farming'' in a big way ...different breeds....different ages. Skye came again and again, as we were going to walk off my Mom, nudged me and pointed as I picked her up she clung to me.....so we had her again a Tri.
Bruce was a rescue with 9 siblings, plus Mom who had a home to go to, Pat's choice, he picked him because he was middle of the road weight...not the biggest not the smallest, and Bruce pee'd on him, Pat said ''this is the one'' Bruce started out Blk and Wht, but he is now a tri....the colouring came out later.

But colour is the bottom of the list here, it's the bond and the loyality I love.

Colour isnt an issue for me now, but I did choose yellow lab as my second lab, as my first was black and i was fed up with black hairs!!!
Now i am not as picky!!

Also apparently there are a lot more black dogs in rescue which made me feel really bad!!!

I hope it doesnt come across as flipant as it wasnt, but i had a choice of colour.

Colour is not an issue for me at all, My PRT is not to standard re colour as she has markings on her body, the reason why PRT's should be predominatley white as I understand is due to them being used as hunts terriers, The hounds may mistake them for foxes if the aren't mostly white. not sure how true or where I read it but it does stick in my mind.

With the Border collie I wasn't concerned with colour, I like them all but I do have to say I prefer the darker faces, or half face. thats just a personal preference.

Sorry I'm coming into this rather late! I do agree with the statement that 'no good dog can be the wrong colour'. I myself own a sable standard coat gsd. I do find it sad though that all (bar the odd one or two) gsds seen in show rings are the classic black and tan/red markings. I have absolutely nothing against those markings (I like them) but I would like to see more colour diversity in the gsd ring.

Can somebody tell me why it is that one sees only black and tan/red marked gsds in the ring (bar the odd exception)?

The standard states..

So you should only get in the ring what the standard allows..

In Borzois any colour is permissable,

I would chose a line for temperament , rather than colour although I do prefer a coloured dog and I personally would not have an all white borzoi though I do know that in days gone by th whites were held in very high esteem in the Russian Kennels, but I am not sure if there was a reason for this or if it was just their preference.

Some interesting replies, particularly interesting to hear that Samoyeds used to include black and brown.

I wouldn't see the point/benefit of introducing a new colour into a breed where that colour doesn't occur naturally, but unless there are health reasons, I really can't understand why a colour that does occur naturally in the breed should be frowned upon.

I also think that it is wrong to breed specifically for colour, though I will admit to being like most and having certain preferences (sometimes I think it would be nice to have a dog where it didn't look like all your photos were taken in black and white )



Not that she's not capable of replying herself but I think Skilaki means the other permissable colours e.g. black and gold or sables; not the 'highly undesirable' colours.

When I was showing English Setters there were judges that you knew would put a certain colour over others, regardless of the dogs general make-up. One judge is notorious for only giving tickets to orange beltons so, if you watch a show where she is judging, you will see all those exhibitors with orange beltons, some that you haven't seen in ages, suddenly appear with their orange dogs/bitches as they know they are in with a good chance.

I also know of another breeder who only likes oranges and breeds orange to orange to be sure that she only gets oranges in the litter

My favourite colour in the English Setters is that of Fabian, my very dark tri, but he is too dark for some peoples liking. That said, I only ever look at conformation when picking a pup, colour is secondary to me, mind you, if I was looking for something to show then I would be particularly careful not to pick one if it had a patch anywhere other than its face, as that is undesirable in the show ring

That is how I read it too. I don't show GSDs and don't have much interest in the show ring, however I believe that most show GSDs are black/gold or black/tan because those are the colours that win and therefore those who show (and want to win) produce and show dogs that the judge likes.

I was very interested to read in an old copy of Dogs Today magazine that on the questions pages a reader is interested to know whether there is any correlation between temperament and coat colour in dogs - specifically asking about the border collie.

The answer given by a "training and behaviour expert" (who also specialises in BCs) says that many behaviourists and vets have been seeing a higher incidence of both behaviour problems (fearfulness, possessive aggression) and health problems (HD, cancer) among Golden Retrievers with a lighter coat colour.

Regarding border collies, she says that even though some of the *newer* colour varieties are attractive, she prefers her dogs to be black/white or tri, partly due to the fact that collies have been bred for centuries predominantly to be black/white or tri, the most obvious reason for this being that it is a design that works best on all levels (health, temp, work etc) and has stood the test of time.

She worries that with the more recessive physical features in dogs, what other recessive problems (health and temperment-wise) could be brought in with them.

She also states she has seen a range of more serious health and aggression problems in collies with the more unusual coat colours.

Certainly food for thought.

Obviously, what isn't being said is that ALL unusual coloured BCs will have health and temperament issues, but perhaps there is a higher instance? It would be great to have some research done into this, in all breeds not just BCs.