Puppies bred from the breeding of miniature Australian Shepherds have the appearance of the standard Australian Shepherd. A Blue Merle Australian Shepherd’s coat appears as a gray, slate, or sliver color with a hue of blue dark marks. The black spots vary in size and shape. Some may have white and/or tan markings on the face, chest, belly These adorable dogs also come in blue, merle, and white. It can be rather confusing since there is also a white Australian shepherd with blue merle markings. Also, the only difference between the tri and bi-colored merle is that the bi-colored one only has white and blue merle without any tan or copper color patterns on the feet, face, or chest. Breed Overview. GROUP: Herding. HEIGHT: 13 to 17 inches (female), 14 to 18 inches (male) WEIGHT: 20 to 40 pounds. COAT: Medium-length double coat. COAT COLOR: Blue, blue merle, red, or red merle with/without white markings and/or tan points. LIFE SPAN: 12 to 13 years. TEMPERAMENT: Intelligent, active, playful. Red merle Australian shepherd dogs have shades of red (sometimes known as liver) that appear in their coats as colored patches against a white or tan base that darkens with age. Both solid red and red merle Aussies tend to have red lips, noses, and eye rims. Blue merle Aussies have black spots against a gray base that also darken with age. The other common coat variation found within the Australian Shepherd is known as Merle. This refers to Aussies with mottled coats. For example, they may have a predominately red coat that is spotted with white markings across the body. Other characteristics of Merle dogs include blue eyes and variations in skin pigment. On top of that, excess white on the head/around the ears is associated with partial or total deafness, whatever the body color or breed. These are why white faces/up into the body are forbidden by the breed standards and frowned upon by 'in the know' fanciers. But this pup and most excess white Aussies should be fine. A beautiful litter of Aussie Borders,Australian Shepherd x Border Collie arrived 9th August Mum is a Pure Bred Australian Shepherd Blue Merle with tan points and white markings Dad is Pure Bred Tri Coloured short haired Border Collie Both parents have sweet and loving temperaments and both very intelligent. The lethal white gene is real, but it typically affects paint horses and is known as overo lethal white syndrome ¹. It causes foals to be born with a dysfunctional colon, and this sadly causes death within a few days. These foals are also mostly white, which explains the “white” part of the term. Australian Shepherds born almost completely uvFK.