Shetland Sheepdog Coat Colors

Shelties come in a variety of colors. Below is pictorial overview of the standard sheltie colors. This page is graphic intense, so please be patient while the photos load.

sable and white (brown and white)
Sable shelties range from a rich gold to red to dark brown with black guard hairs (aka mahogany or shaded sable.)

tri-color (black, white and tan)
Black body, white in the traditional places (chest, legs, tail tip) with tan points on the face & legs. This is not to be mistaken for a mahogany or shaded sable which actually has a brown base coat over it's entire body with an overlay of black guard hairs.

bi-black (black and white)
Bi-black shelties are similar to tri colors except they do not have any tan points on them.

blue merle (blue, white and tan)
Blue shelties have a gray/silver base coat with various degrees of black "spots" or "patches" on them. They also have tan points as well as white in the traditional areas. Blue merles can have one or two eyes that are blue (see puppy above) or partially blue (known as merled eye.)

 
bi-blue merle (blue and white)
Bi -blue shelties are the same as blue merles, except they do not have any tan points.

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sable merle (brown and white with merle gene)
Sable merles are similar to sables except they also carry the merle gene. As puppies, these shelties can look similar to blue shelties except the base coat remains brown. As they grow older, many of the spots on the sables get smaller and fade and can be hard to see as adults. These shelties can also have blue eyes. Please note that, for conformation purposes, the AKC only allows blue eyes on blue dogs.

color-headed white
A sheltie whose head is "colored" but whose body is more then 50% white. They can come in all of the above colors.

You can also see a quick reference color chart by clicking here.