The breed has a distinctive long tapered snout and tipped ears. Rough Collies generally come in shades of sable and white (sometimes mahogany), blue merle, tri-colored, and white. The breed has a distinctive long tapered snout and tipped ears. Without a doubt, it is to the English fancy of the late 1800s that the breed owes its development as a popular show dog. This is light in relation to the rest of the body, and resembles a blunted wedge tapering smoothly from ears to black nose, with a distinct stop and parallel head planes.