The "B" series gene has some effect on the color of the nose, eye rims, lips, as well as the iris (color) of the eye. The "B" series only effects the eumelanin pigment. The eye color for the black dog ranges from yellowish to dark brown.

   
"B/B" or "B/b" allows the production of black pigment, whereas "b/b" produces brown pigment wherever the dog would otherwise have produced black. The eye color of the brown dog ranges from greenish to amber to orange to brown.

A dog that is brown (chocolate) will have the genotype of "b/b D/D" or "b/b D/d" and will have a brown (chocolate) nose (because the "B" gene is not present and the "D" gene is in the dominant form).

If the "D" gene is in the recessive form ("d"), along with "b/b", then the nose would be a rosey-gray color --- like that of a lilac colored dog.

The "D", or dilution series gene, also has some effect on the color of the nose, eye rims, lips, as well as the iris of the eye. Eye color can range from very pale to light brown.

"D" is dominant and allows full pigmentation, whereas "d" is recessive and dilutes the pigment.  The "D" series, in the homozygous recessive form ("d") effects both eumelanin and phaeomelanin, (in theory) by causing the clumping of the pigment granules in the hair.  A dog that is dilute - black ( blue or slate ) will have the genotype of "B/B d/d" or "B/b d/d" and will have a gray nose (because the "B" gene, which would normally cause the nose to be black, is now diluted to gray).
 

Depending on what is at the B and D Locus on the ee red colored dog, the eyes
can range from very pale to brown. If the ee red colored dog is brown (which is masked by the ee red color) the nose color will be brown. If the ee red colored dog is black (which is masked by the ee red color), the nose will be black.

Additional eye and nose information includes merle. Merles may be any color so the nose, lips and eye pigment will match what color they are. The first row shows black merles. These are commonly known as blue merle which isn't correct. The darkest color on the dog, plus the nose, lips and eye pigment color should indicate the true color of a merle pattern. Merles frequently have areas on their nose that are pink instead of colored. The eyes can be sky blue, also known as china eyes. Sky blue eyes are just another color and they aren't blind as some believe. Merle eyes may me marbled, ( slices, spots, 3/4 to 1/4 area ), or several colors. Again they have normal eyes. A border collie can be affected with several eye diseases no matter what color their eyes happen to be. It is important to get your dogs eyes CERF certified and DNA for CEA before breeding them.

The dogs shown below are all brown or chocolate merles because they have brown or liver nose, lip and eye pigment. These are incorrectly, but commonly referred to as red merle.

Additional dogs shown below are slate merle as their nose color is dark gray, as is their eye rims and lips. There isn't any black on them only shades of blue or slate.

 We're in need of additional face shots of slate merles

The higher amounts of white on the head of a border collie can be troublesome, especially if both eyes are sky blue without color over their ears. In the pictures below, the puppy was totally deaf. Both eyes sky blue, no eye rim pigment, no nose pigment either. The pup is a black & white, but it can happen with any color.

The dogs below, have brown eye color, both eyes are pigmented and their noses have good full pigment. Both have normal hearing even though there is high amounts of white on their face and head. The dog on the right has normal hearing, again notice the full pigment and brown eyes. Any dog can be totally deaf or deaf in one ear. If you want to be sure if your breeding stock has normal hearing abilities, you can get the BAER hearing test done on them.

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