What is the rarest Border Collie color?
The rarest Border Collie colors are those that combine a rare color with a rare pattern, such as:
- Slate merle with tri
- Red brindle
- Slate sable
- Lilac merle with tri
While it’s fun to pick a puppy with a very rare color, you always need to make sure that your future Border Collie’s breeder also pays attention to the parents’ health and temperament. Unfortunately, some irresponsible breeders try to produce dogs with rare colors to make money off them – without considering other qualities of the pups.
Your future breeder should always pay attention to the parents’ behavior, temperament and trainability. In addition, the only dogs who have passed breed-specific health tests should be bred in the first place.
This applies to any breed with rare colors by the way (such as unusual Poodle colors). No dog should be bred for his color alone!
Some breeders charge more for specific rare colors. This is generally frowned upon by responsible AKC breeders, but is a common practice nonetheless. If your Border Collie breeder has a higher price for merle patterns or dilute colors, you should look for a different one.