Colours of the Australian Shepherd

The four recognized colors for Australian Shepherds are: black, blue merle, red and red merle. With or without copper or white trim.

The basic body colors of Australian Shepherds are red and black. The blue merle is genetically a black dog carrying the merling gene (which breaks up the black color into a pattern of black patches on grey).The red merle is genetically a red dog carrying a merling gene (which breaks up the red color into a pattern of red patches on beige). All blacks and blue merles have black noses and eye rims, and all reds and red merles have liver/brown noses and eye rims.
Copper trim color ranges from pale cream to dark deep tan. IDEALLY it appears as "shepherd's spots" above the eyes, on the sides of the muzzle, on the legs and under the tail. Copper trim extending into the body or onto the head is referred to as "running copper" and is not desirable. Red dogs NEVER have any black hair

The term "tri" refers to a solid black or solid red with copper and white trim.
The term "bi" refers to a solid black or solid red with white trim (no copper).


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Reds

Red Merles

Blacks

Blue Merle