Colours of the Australian Shepherd:
Coat Colours:
The Australian Shepherd comes in 16 variations of colour. The 4 standard coat colours are Black, Red, Blue Merle and Red Merle. All of these colours can be seen with or without copper and white.
Black
Solid Black
Black and Copper
Black & White
Black Tri (Black with white and copper trim)
Red
Solid Red
Red & Copper
Red & White
Red Tri (Red with white and copper trim)
Blue Merle
Blue Merle with White and Copper
Blue Merle with white and copper
Blue merle with white and copper
Blue Merle with White and Copper
Self Blue Merle
Blue Merle and Copper
Blue Merle and White
Blue Merle with White and Copper
Red Merle
Self Red Merle
Red Merle and Copper
Red Merle and White
Red Merle with White and Copper
They also come in some non standard colours (colours that are not recognised in the breed standard), markings and patterns.
Eye Colours:
As well as having a varied coat colour, Australian Shepherds can also have varying eye colours. The standard colours are Brown, Blue & Amber. Both eyes do not have to be the same colour and can include flecks, marbling or can be split (one eye with more than one colour).
The dog above has 1 blue eye and 1 split eye.
Photo Credit: Julie Swallow
Nose Colour:
The colour of an Australian Shepherds nose usually denotes the colour of the dog. A black dog will have a black nose, a red dog will have a liver nose. If this is not the case then the true colour of the dog will be in question. Some puppies can have pink marbled noses, but these do usually fill in over time.
The 4 photos above are of the same dog:
Top/Left at 8 weeks
Top/Right at 3 months
Bottom/Left at 7 months
Bottom/Right at 12 months
Photo Credit: Jo Morley