# Question about border collies (Coat color development)



## juliusglc (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi,ive just bought a brand new border collie,brown/white about 6 weeks of age.And yes,both parents are legit border collies.
but its a little strange,cause it doesnt have the typical full colored coat at its back...it only has about 2-3 patches of brown on its back somewhere at its tail and its right loin...the rest is white.
The head is fairly normal for a border collie (patches on both eyes and ears) both eyes are blue.
Is this normal?should i wait for it to get a little older for the rest of the brown patch to appear on its back?
any help would be deeply appreciated


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

A pictue would be nice. but from your description it sounds like a pied red


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## juliusglc (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi keechak
thanks for the swift reply
im afraid that i cant get you a picture right now,but ill try getting it in a few more hours because im not at home right now. 
But anyways,i only wanted to know if its posible for a border collie to have such a distribution of coat color .And if so,is it possible for it to gain a natural pattern of coat color seen in other border collies after a certain age (where the entire back is colored without patches ).Ive heard of the "white border collies" (due to a genetic mutation) but thats a complete white on the dog's back.But mine has spots of brown.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

nope if a border collie is born with splotches they wont get anymore color. Pied markings in border collies are fairly common, and yes you can have two irish white parents that produce pied puppies. (Irish white, is the term for the normal distribution of white markings, on the neck, on the feetm and a white blaze up the muzzel) Pied simply means the the animal has splotches of white on the sides or back of the body.


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## Crazy for Collies (Aug 26, 2007)

No, that is not abnormal for a border collie to have patches of white high up on it's back, it's not super common, but I know quite a few dogs who look like this. It is most commonly called white factoring...Here are some pictures if you're interested (Whoops, I see Keechak beat me to it)

Here is Flare (Ignited OffOn Quest for Fire) 









Havoc (Hillcrest Cry Havoc)









Prism (Hob Nob Prismatic)









Here's a pup









*Note: I do not own any of these photos


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## juliusglc (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi,thx to both of you for replying
great picture you have there Crazy,mine looks very similar to "Flare".You both gave very clear explanations to me (white factoring).At least that clears my doubts for now haha. 
Just one more question,if i wanted my border collie to grow more fur,are there any recommended supplementations or activities which might help me in getting the proper amount of fur?


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## Crazy for Collies (Aug 26, 2007)

Well to get the thickest and healthiest coat you can out of your dog, I would suggest feeding a high quality kibble (I'm pretty sure there have been a lot of posts on here about that), if not raw food. However, genetics plays a big part in what kind of coat your dog will have, too. If both of the pups parents were smooth coats, you can feed the highest quality food there is (and supplement it), but you're not going to get a rough coated dog.


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## juliusglc (Mar 31, 2010)

Cool,ill try just that
thanks a lot for all your help guys!


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## Crazy for Collies (Aug 26, 2007)

Good luck with your new pup! 

P.S. we still want a picture!


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Really coat length and type is genetic and there's not much you can do about it. Border collies come from completely smooth coated with very short, harsh hairs, to very long, full coats.


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