| Colour |
MantleThe colour shall be black and white with a solid black blanket extending over the body; black skull with white muzzle; white blaze is optional; whole white collar is preferred; a white chest; white on part or whole of forelegs and hind legs; white tipped black tail. A small white marking in the blanket is acceptable, as is a break in the white collar.
Permitted(Heavily marked range) Although within the standard there is a little too much black and not enough white. Dogs with incomplete collars may also fall within this category. |
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PreferredThe ideal mantle pattern. Symmetry of markings should also be considered and all things being equal the dog with better symmetry should be preferred, as this is thought to indicate a homozygous mantle. |
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Permitted(Lightly marked range) Within standard but with a little too much white and a break in the blanket. The blanket is however not split. |
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Not permitted
The first dog is a mismarked black. There is no white on the muzzle and no white tip to the tail. The second dog is a piebald – there is too much white and the blanket is split. Note: The piebald can be told apart from a harlequin by the edges of the patches which are regular and do not have the “appearance of being torn”. There is also the complete absence of any merle patches. |
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