Showest Kennel
Working Dogs
Chocolate, Slate & Cream
The Other Colors
Chocolate aka Brown Based Color:
Chocolate is the result of the recessive brown gene and is bb. Because it is recessive it can remain hidden for many generations and pop up unexpectedly. When inbreeding it is not uncommon for recessive genes to arise since they can run in certain lines. It has always been in the breed and has been listed as a miscolour in the original breed standard in Australia. Then it was listed as "liver". Chocolate turns all black pigment on a dog to brown, including the nose, eye rims, claws, paw pads, whiskers, etc. It also lightens the eye color and puppies will often have blue eyes that turn green and then yellow or gold as they mature. Chocolates will always have a brown nose.
Chocolate is a base color and can be combined with any other color. Meaning they can be chocolate/tan, solid chocolate, chocolate sable (chocolate + red) or chocolate cream. Because it only affects black pigment on a dog, it can be hard to see on a red or cream dog. Reds will only have a brown nose, unless they also have an em mask (dark shading on the face like a boxer) which would also be brown. Creams have no black pigment on them at all outside the nose, eye rims and such so only those are brown. Cream also tends to have poorly pigmented noses which can make the nose pink on a chocolate cream dog.
Chocolate can also be combined with slate to create lilac (explained below).
Be careful when buying chocolates. Make sure the nose is brown! A lot of people don't understand how the color works and try selling shaded reds (reds with black hairs in the coat making it muddy brown looking) and seals (solid blues with red bleed through) as chocolates. I see it all the time. Chocolates will ALWAYS have a brown nose and no black on them at all!
Right pic: Top left - Chocolate/tan; Top right - Solid chocolate; Bottom left - Chocolate sable; Bottom right - Chocolate cream
Black Based Colors:
Black based includes the traditional and most well known colors, blue and red, as well as solid blue (also incorrectly called true blue) and cream. Blue with tan points is probably the most common color in the breed. It is caused by two copies of the tan point gene (at/at) and is a recessive color.
Red is the second most common (at least in registered lines) and is caused by the sable gene, which is a dominant gene. Most reds are ay/at but they can also be ay/ay. Reds who are ay/ay are called homozygous red and cannot produce blue/tan puppies even when bred to a blue/tan dog. To be homozygous red, both parents must be red as well, and both pass a copy of sable to the pup.
Solid blue is the result of the dominant black gene, KB. It is on a different locus and masks the A locus which is where tan points and sable reside. Solid blue dogs are all either blue/tan or sable as well, and on a solid blue dog with only one copy of KB, you will be able to see a bronzing to the coat to show the underlying color. Solid blue hiding tan points will have bronzing on the legs, and cheeks usually and this is called ghost tan. Solid blue hiding red will have an all over bronze color and this is called seal. If a solid blue carries two copies of dominant black and are KB/KB, there are homoygous black and can only produce solid blue offspring. No reds or blue/tan, no matter the other parent's color. Solid blue is NOT a rare color and is very easy to produce. Do not fall for breeders calling it rare and overcharging. It is a common color and should not cost any more than a red or blue.
Cream is the result of the recessive red/yellow gene and is ee. Cream is actually not that uncommon, lots of AKC lines have cream carriers because it is harder to tell apart red from cream so they slip through the crack. Cream is still considered a miscolour though and not acceptable in the show ring. Cream is interesting because it can hide any other color, including solid blue. Creams have a cream color to them and no black on the coat at all. They also tend to have poorly pigmented noses that can look brown or pink.
Left: Top left - Blue/tan; Top right - Solid blue (also seal); Bottom left - Red; Bottom right - Cream
Slate aka Dilute Based Colors:
Slate is the result of the recessive dilute gene and is dd. Like chocolate it can remain hidden for many generations but it is not listed as a miscolour or even mentioned. It is possible it was added due to mixed ancestry but I have seen slate ACDs and ACD mixes (where one parent was pure ACD) in Australia. A breeder in Canada once told me she had seen a few grey ACDs in the show ring that came from a specific kennel that was line breeding. They were called bad blacks and did poorly in the ring. I was unable to get the kennel name or any pedigree info unfortunately. Slate turns all black pigment on a dog to grey, including the nose, eye rims, claws, paw pads, whiskers, etc. It also lightens the eye color and puppies will often have blue eyes that turn green and then yellow or gold as they mature. Slates will always have a grey nose but it can be very dark grey, almost black.
Slate is a base color and can be combined with any other color. Meaning they can be slate/tan, solid slate, slate sable (slate + red) or slate cream. Because it only affects black pigment on a dog, it can be hard to see on a red or cream dog. Reds will only have a grey nose, unless they also have an em mask (dark shading on the face like a boxer) which would also be grey. Creams have no black pigment on them at all outside the nose, eye rims and such so only those are grey. Slate can also be combined with chocolate to create lilac (explained below).
Be careful when buying slates! A lot of people try to sell merle colored puppies as slate. As newborns and young puppies, merle can be hard to see as it is grey like black and the black specks haven't come in yet. Merles can have grey noses and often have blue eyes. Ask to see color testing results on the parents. Merle will pop up on a test. Dilute can be untestable, meaning it wont show on a test but most slates carry a testable dilute. As long as the parents are not merle if the puppy appears slate they probably are. As a note, red and cream can both hide merle as it only affects black/brown/grey pigment, not red.
Right pic: Top left - Slate/tan; Top right - Solid slate; Bottom left - Slate sable; There are no known slate cream dogs at this time so no pic to add.
Lilac aka Diluted Brown Based Color:
Lilac is the unicorn color in the ACD breed. It is the result of both the brown/chocolate and dilute/slate genes. All lilacs are bb + dd. There are only a few known lilacs and most of them resulted due to inbreeding. Lilacs have a mouse grey colored coat, like that of a weimeraner. There noses are a purple color. They tend to keep there green eyes at maturity. Due to lack of examples at this time, there is not much known.
We will have the first health tested and CKC registered lilacs born next year and the only quality lilacs.
Lilac is a base color and can be combined with any other color like chocolate and cream. No at risk puppies, no puppies covered in body spots. No puppies that are narrow built. Thick, stocky built lilacs with blocky heads. To pet and sporting homes only, no breeders. Puppies will be spayed/neutered before leaving via hormone sparing surgery.
Be careful when buying lilacs. Most breeders of lilacs are breeding mixes or non-health tested dogs. We are happy to provide a list and proof of unethical breeding practices/mixed breedings.
Be careful of chocolates being sold as lilacs, some people have light colored chocolates or chocolate sables that they think are lilac. They are not. Chocolates can have a light nose so it is not a good indicator. Ask for color testing results on the parents, if the puppies are lilac both parents will carry dilute and brown.
Right pic: Top left - Lilac/tan; Bottom left - Lilac sable (This dog is a MIX. Mom was ACD, dad was a Koolie. If you see puppies for sale out of this dog, steer clear, they are mixed); There are no known dogs that are lilac cream (called champagne)