Beardies are born one of 4 colours - black, blue (a greyish colour), brown, or fawn (a lighter brown), with or without white markings. As they grow, the majority of Beardies will lighten in colour until about a year of age, at which time they will start to darken again. A black puppy can end up anything from light silver to jet black as an adult, and a brown pup anything from a light sandy to a deep chocolate. 

White markings are so typical that they are often assumed rather than mentioned. When talking about the colours of pups in a litter, a breeder will usually say they have a litter with 4 blacks and 3 browns, for instance, not mentioning the white markings since almost all pups will have some white. These white markings most commonly occur in the following places - muzzle, blaze between the eyes, neck, chest, front legs, lower part of rear legs, and tip of tail. Although dogs with the 'maximum' amount of white in these places are seen as 'flashy' or 'eye-catching', they are no more or less correct than their plainer counterparts. For show purposes symmetry of markings is irrelevant. 

Mismarks have more white than allowed, or white in the wrong places, according to the breed standard. White that surrounds an eye, or extends onto the body behind the shoulder, for instance, would be considered mismarkings. Another type of mismark is the predominantly white Beardie, often with splotches of colour here and there. Mismarkings would preclude a show career, but do nothing to prevent the dog from enjoying life as a wonderful pet, or competing in any other canine event such as obedience, agility, herding, etc.

Tan markings - above the eyes, on the cheeks, on the legs where the colour meets the white, and under the tail - can occur with all colours. These markings will lighten along with the rest of the coat as the puppy grows up, and are often hardly noticeable on the adult coat. Beardies with tan markings are referred to as tricolours (often further distinguished by saying, for example, 'black tri' or 'brown tri').

To see some examples of colours, and how dramatically Beardies can change from puppy to adult, go to the Colours 2 page.