What Is the Difference Between a Tricolored Collie & a Sable Collie?

Since 1943, "Lassie Come Home" and the "Lassie" television series has put collies in the hearts of American pet owners, making it one of the American Kennel Club's top 40 pets for more than a decade. The long-haired variety like Lassie is a rough-coated collie, but the breed also comes in a smooth-coated variety. Both variations come in several colors, including sable and tricolor.

A collie who is predominantly brown is known as a sable collie. She may have white markings and black accents such as a saddle or other accents anywhere on her coat. A tricolor collie's primary color is black. The dog may have a white ruff, underbelly and legs. Sable is an accent color on a tricolor collie, usually appearing on the dog's eyebrows, face and on the front of the rear legs.

In addition to sable and tricolor, collies also come in blue merle and white varieties. The white collie is mostly white, with sable and black accents in small patches on the head and body. A blue merle has a bluish-gray appearance marbled through with black and some sable accents on the face and body.