Blue collies are a beautiful color caused by the merle gene that uses the color that the collie would have been without the merle gene, and messes it up with some dilution affects as if water was thown on water color.

A collie that was going to be a Tri colored collie but has a merle gene is the way a collie can look blue.

A collie that was going to be a sable and white collie will often show swirled diluted colors of the sable and white colors and is called a sable merle color. Often a sable merle will look spotty or diluted as a baby pup and look like a light sable when grown. A sable merle collie is not a blue collie.

Some sable merle collies grow up to keep a spotted or swirled mix of browns, whites.

There are reasons breeders would not want to breed two merle collies together though.

There is a strong chance that one or many of the litter will be blind and/or deaf if both the parents have the merle gene. The merle gene is safe but to double the merle gene can be too much of the merle affect and get in the eyes and ear area. Otherwise it will not cause problems. The affected pup will often be all white or have a lot of white around the head, especially if the pup has white over the eyes or over the ears.

Sometimes it is hard or impossible for some breeders to tell if one or both of the parents have the merle gene. Then an mistake can happen.

That is because sometimes the colors do not mess up or dilute enough to be sure. Sometimes the line is not known well by the breeder because of bringing in a new line from another breeder.

Sometimes if the collie is mostly white there are not enough darker areas to see any dilution.

At any rate when you choose a puppy as a pet from a breeder the chances are good that a blue puppy will be healthy. Always take your new puppy to your vet for a good checkup during the first 3 days after purchase so you can deal with the breeder for a refund if there are any discreptancies in what you expected.

When you get in line for a blue puppy from a breeder it is best for you to expect one or both eyes to be a ice blue color. Sometimes it is only part of one or both eyes that will be blue. It can have an odd appearance and some people like that look or some people hate that look.

You should never expect brown eyes before you are able to choose a pup before 8-9 weeks old. Be prepared to get some blue in the eyes if you choose a young merle puppy.

Below are blue collie photos taken by the owners or  by Honeytrecollies.

The blue collies here are related to, or have been loved and owned by Honeytree Collies over the years.