Page #2 - Markings & Color

It's difficult to judge a shepherd's markings at the puppy stage. Almost always, Black & Tan German Shepherds are darker as puppies than as adults. As they get older the black recedes from their face and legs. Most white markings fade away and blend in to the tan.  Sable puppies are lighter as puppies and grow darker with age.

Above is an example of how much marking can change. Pictured above is HeartStar's Rock-It at 3 months and 2 years. Notice how the black receded from his legs and face as he got older. The parent's markings are your best tool for judging what a puppy's marking will be as an adult. 

"A Saddle Back Shepherd"

The Black & Tan and Black & Red Saddle Back shepherds remains American’s favorite and most desired colors and pattern. They are referred to as "saddle backs" because the black hair on their back resembles a saddle on a horse's back. The black and red is highly desired in most breeding program because there is more pigment in the red hair and this is transferred to their offspring. The Black & Cream and Black & Silver are less desired because their offspring can have a washed out look to them.

"A Masked Black & Tan"                "A Blanket Back"                             "A Bi-Color"            

The amount of black on a shepherd varies from a little to a lot. The shepherd on the left has a little more black on her than the shepherd at the top. The black goes from her saddle up the back of her neck and she has more black on her face. The black on a shepherd’s face is referred too as a mask.

The shepherd pictured in the middle has even more black on her than the first two shepherds. Her pattern is referred to as a "Blanket". Meaning the black covers her back as if she had a blanket on her back.

The shepherd on the right is referred to as a "Bi-Color". Meaning he is predominate black with just a little tan or red marking on their legs.

Above are HeartStar's Melissa & Harry Potter they are the parents of the shepherds below.  Notice how some of their markings are similar to their parents.  Some have more black than their parents, some have the same and some have a lesser amount of black.  The amount of black on a shepherd can skip generations and puppies may look more like a grandparent.  The darker offspring of Melissa could be coming from Melissa's Grand-sire Amber's Sweepstake, OFA (Amber's Sweepstake is pictured above as the Bi-Color example).  Isabelle, Nala, and Maggie are from the same 2005 litter.  Cream Sherry, Maddie, and Dylan are from a younger litter. 

Top left to right - HeartStar's Dylan, HeartStar's Isabelle, Ryanwood's Madelyn of HeartStar, (lower left to lower right) HeartStar's Cream Sherry, HeartStar's Maggie, Bayless' Nala.   Also notice the consistence of their structure as compared to their parents and to each other. 

 "A Sable Shepherd"                   "A Solid Black"                       "A Solid White"     

The shepherd above left is a Tan Sable shepherd. Sables have a mixture of black & tan hair where the Black would be on a Black & Tan shepherd. Their marking remind me of a wolf. There are several colors of sable shepherds.  There's a Gray Sables, Tan Sable, Red Sables, Black Sables (pictured above with the German Import information).  

Above middle is a solid black shepherd and above right is a solid white.  The solid white and the solid black shepherds are produced by a recessive gene.  If both parent are carriers of the solid white or the solid black gene there is a chance there will be solid colored puppies in their litter.  If two solid black shepherds are bred, the whole litter will be the solid black and the same for solid white shepherds.  The gene is referred to as the "Masking" gene.  It basically covers the black and tan or sable patterns.  If a solid white or black is bred to a black and tan or sable, all of the puppies will be black and tan or sable but they will carry the solid color gene.  It's these offspring that can produce more solid color shepherds if bred to another carrier of the solid gene.  The traditional Black & Tan saddle back shepherd is the most preferred colors and pattern in the American shepherds.  Request for the black & tan far out number the request for sable, solid white, or  the solid black. The solid blacks are not banded from being shown in the AKC shows but remain more difficult than the black & tan to finish their championship.

The Truth About the White German Shepherd: The German Shepherds was originally bred to herd sheep and the color of their coat was not that important.  During World War I the founders of the German Shepherd breed found these highly intelligent dogs were very useful and adaptable to other jobs besides herding sheep. Although the white shepherds were just as intelligent as the other colors, their white coats made them too good of a target for military use. For this reason the German breeders start avoiding breeding white coated shepherds because there was a larger demand for a military working dog than a sheep herding dog.

What is a long coated shepherd?

Long Coated shepherds occur when both parents carry the Long Coat Gene. The long coated shepherds can vary from a little long hair around the ears to long hair around the ears and legs to full blown coats with long hair all over their bodies like a Collie. There is nothing wrong with a long coated shepherd unless you intend to show your shepherd. Most all of the top show lines carry the long coat gene. Breeders try to avoid long coats as much as possible to keep their options open for showing their shepherds. Long Coated shepherds make great pets and some breeders use them for breeding to produce a thicker coat for their show prospects.  Long coated Shepherds are BANDED and/or Disqualified from the AKC show ring.  They make great pets.

When do Shepherd's ears stand up?

A German Shepherd ears usually stand up by the age of 4 or 5 months, depending on the size of the ear leather. In general, the larger the shepherd, the larger the ears and the longer it will take for their ears to stand. A Calcium Supplement ( Pet-Cal ) tablets can be very helpful in this process. If the ears are not up at 6 months of age, the ears maybe taped for a few weeks to help the process.