The breed's fur is short, straight and slightly rough, and the color typically varies between fawn, red or brindle with black or darker markings around the head.
Variegated yarns can give a brindle pattern to the dog's coat.
The coat should be thick, short and very silky, the favourite colours being white and white marked with brindle.
The breeds include the Ayrshire, noted milkers and specially adapted for dairy farms (which prevail in the south-west), which in this respect have largely supplanted the Galloway in their native district; the polled Angus or Aberdeen, fair milkers, but valuable for their beef-making qualities, and on this account, as well as their hardihood, in great favour in the north-east, where cattlefeeding has been carried to perfection; and the West Highland or Kyloe breed, a picturesque breed with long horns, shaggy coats and decided colours-black, red, dun, cream and brindle-that thrives well on wild and healthy pasture.