I have been holding off on posting puppy pictures...

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Quote:
Where's a farm when I need it?
Love the tri-color headed white.My best friend has rough collies.

 

[gritsar]

 

[pardygwyn]

Thanks everyone! I'll probably drop in here to spread the love with other photos as they grow. Rebel-rousing, I do believe your friend contacted me, which is very awesome. There is no such thing as too many collie people writing to me, so thank you! But unless a bunch of people back out, this litter is already spoken for.

I am hoping to repeat the breeding next year, though.

Also, those last two aren't tricolor. As far as anyone can tell, they're an old version of blue merle called maltese. It's been selected against in show due to how it bleaches out brown in sunlight. If you look at photos of Maynard, the sire, you'll see what I mean. For those about to jump in and tell me he's clearly a recessive blue: it doesn't seem to inherit that way! One of these years I need to do a genetic test to confirm it, but from years of watching his family being bred, I'm fairly certain it's a modifier on merle, not a recessive gene. Coat genetics are so fun.

 

[pardygwyn]

Pupdate time!!

First, a shot of the whole litter:

And the one little fella who's already been named by his future owners (everyone else is waiting for us to make up our minds who to keep):

The only other boy, Chubs:

Blue-eyed Charli:

Caroline the bruiser:

My personal favorite so far, Cookie (she's sassy, if you can't tell):

Cutie-pie Cindy:

And tiny little Clover:

Finally, gratuitous cute shot:

 

[Windrider]

Man, how can you be so cruel as to post pics of such cute collie pups when you KNOW I've been forced into downsizing and looking for a Sheltie pup!?

Lovely litter. Congrats!

By the way, I am sure I've read in Vanderlip's that Maltese Blue is a separate dilation gene than merle and works on tricolor (so it can't appear in pure-for-sables). I know I've seen both Maltese Blue tricolors (in other words they only have the Maltese Blue dilution gene) and Maltese Blue blue merles (which have both the merle and the Maltese dilution gene). I don't think I've heard conclusively how the Maltese gene is inherited - but it turns up now and then in Border Collies, too. Haven't seen it in Shelties yet, but talk about weird coat genetics - a lone brindle Sheltie pup turned up out of nowhere after over a century of breeding against it! (they did have brindle Shelties in the very early days of the breed)

Edited to add: Oh yeah, I remembered that I HAVE seen Maltese Blue in Shelties, too, as well as Aussies.

 

[bigshoes213]

How darling! I absolutely love your puppies. Thanks for posting.

 

[zazouse]

I want cookie

beautiful litter ya got there.

 

[Deanner03]

Awwwwww....they are ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pardygwyn]

HA! I am not the only one who likes Cookie.

Thanks everyone and I'm sorry, Windrider.

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I have heard this as well. I think maltese is less in-your-face in tris, with more of a dulling of the black noticeable next to regular tris rather than a true slate color. I haven't noticed any maltese tricolors in this family at all, which makes me wonder if there's more than one possible dilution gene to create similar results. Both Charli and Gandalf are upholding the family tradition of slight merling visible on one or both ears. LOL Whatever it is seems to spread the merling out more smoothly, leaving a couple of darker, indistinct patches here and there rather than the trademark blotchy merling. The lighter merles' dark patches show more, but the merling pattern remains the same. If you look at their noses, they're not so much slate as polka-dotted with many different shades of gray.

I've only seen sable merles in the family via photograph, but they are also very light with small, indistinct body patches. Fun stuff!

ETA: I know some Maltese Shelties, too! At Golem Kennels! ;D

 

[sourland]

Growing up my best friend had a male tri-color rough coated collie who was our constant companion. He was one of the neatest dogs that I have ever known. He fished and hiked with us through the summer and never left our sides. Once we picked up a shotgun in the fall, he would turn into a bird dog. He worked pheasants much like a springer. Thanks for the pictures which brought back memories of Rex. Hopefully they will all provide good memories for their owners.