What are all the colors,in order?

granite said:
Sable merle color-headed white
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Then they also call the patterns of blue merle different names such as harlequin, etc....but that's all within the blue merle category.
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Bless you for remembering sable merle-headed whites! Abigail was holding her breath. One small comment on the next statement, though. Sable merle can also be different names (like harlequin). I would consider Abbie a harlequin (or maybe a domino... there are too few pictures to compare to and I try not to claim to be an expert!).

Questions for our resident experts - can a sable merle (or sable merle-headed white) be a mahogany sable merle (or mahogany sable merle-headed white)?

Both sides of Abbie:
http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030050.jpg
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030032.jpg

Lastly, what 'category' of sable would Duncan be? Sometimes he is so red or orange. His adult fur isn't done, but it has started.
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030056.jpg
 
You're definitely right about the blue merles. Likewise, a bi-blue is a bicolored dog with the merling gene.

"White-factored" refers to how much white the dog has... a dog with very little white (non-white-factored) may have no white on the face, just a little on the chest, little white toes, and a few white hairs on the end of the tail. A white-factored dog would have full white collar, white on the face, white up all four legs (and, most tellingly, up the stifle) and a big white tail-tip. A really white-factored dog would be a color-headed white. Breeding two white-factored dogs together increases the risk of producing a CHW (perfectly healthy dogs, but more than 100% white and so not acceptable for the show-ring).

"Bi-factored" and "tri-factored" mean that the dog is expressing the black gene (with or without tan points), but may or may not be black. A bi- or tri-factored sable is a "shaded" or "mahogany" sable, often with one pure-for-sable parent and one black parent. Black dogs can be tri- or bi-factored, too (see above).

Here's a (not-great, the floor was slippery!) photo of Sophie, one of our dogs. She is VERY white-factored, with a collar that goes into her shoulders and front legs and big white swathes up her stifles. Breeding her to a dog with an equal amount of white would be very likely to produce color-headed white puppies.
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Thank you, that helped a lot.:biggrin2: And my namesake is stunning, btw. :wink2:
 
Lovely said:
Bless you for remembering sable merle-headed whites! Abigail was holding her breath. One small comment on the next statement, though. Sable merle can also be different names (like harlequin). I would consider Abbie a harlequin (or maybe a domino... there are too few pictures to compare to and I try not to claim to be an expert!).

Questions for our resident experts - can a sable merle (or sable merle-headed white) be a mahogany sable merle (or mahogany sable merle-headed white)?

Both sides of Abbie:
http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030050.jpg
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030032.jpg

Lastly, what 'category' of sable would Duncan be? Sometimes he is so red or orange. His adult fur isn't done, but it has started.
http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/the_gallows/Sheltie Gathering 2010/P7030056.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes they can be mahogany sable merles or CHW.
The sable ,white factoring and merle are all seperate.

So in a nut shell chose one in each area.

1. Sable or Black(if black, tan points or no tan points)
2. Merle or not merle
3. Non White factored, White factored or CHW

Most Sable merles are Tri or bi factored as they result from blue to sable breedings. The black gene from the blue ,sable from the sable. So in theory they shoud be dark sables were the merling gene has not produced dilution just like the black is still black in blues. But this is not the case always. Pike is actually a tri factored white factored sable merle. He was very merled when he was born. No doubt in anyones mind that he was merle. But as he got older the merling became less obvious so that most people can't tell. Ember's brother and sister were just as obvious when they were born. They are darker over their backs then Pike as adults but the dark shaded sable just looks mottled. Below is a picture of Ember's sister.

I think they call Duncan's color red sable. You see it in some lines not a common color. I think I read in Shelties in America that the color goes back to a dog called Kim O'Page's Hill, the first sheltie seen in that color. Diva has a half brother that color.
 
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Chandler is a sable color headed white. Which I had no idea until I joined the forum. I just thought he was considered sable. Thanks to all of you for the knowledge shared here.
 

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Excuse me if I accidentally skipped it... just read through the postings real quick, but I think we left out the notorious cryptic blue.
 
SheltieLuver said:
Excuse me if I accidentally skipped it... just read through the postings real quick, but I think we left out the notorious cryptic blue.
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Cryptic merles are just merles with little or hidden merling. The merling can happen any place, including where the white marks already are.
 
True, but the interesting thing about the cryptic blue because of the amount of black that you will find on one is that they will often produce as if they were a tri.
 
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