The beauceron dog has a hard outer coat and a woolly undercoat that grows thick in cold weather, especially if the dog sleeps outdoors. The beauceron chien standard colouring is black and tan (the latter colour referred to in French as rouge ecureuil, squirrel-red) or grey, black and tan called harlequin. Other colours, such as the once prevalent tawny, grey or grey/black, are now banned by the breed standard. The merle coats should have more black than gray with no white.
In the black and tan dogs the tan markings appear in two dots above the eyes, on the sides of the muzzle, fading off to the cheeks, but do not reach the underside of the ears. Also on the throat, under the tail and on the legs and the chest. Tan markings on the chest should appear as two spots but a chest plate is acceptable
