* German Shepherd Dog *

"Colors and Patterns"

Above: 

Solid White Normal Stock Coat and Black/Red Saddle Back Pattern Long Stock Coat

Believe it or not, German Shepherds come in several colors and variations of that color and in several patterns of color.  Most people think of the traditional black and tan saddle patterned dog when they think German Shepherd.  However, the breed comes in several coat patterns including:  Saddle Backed, Blanket Backed, Bi Colored, Sable, and Solid. There can even be such mixes as Sable Saddle Back patterns!

• Blanket Back -  the saddle markings extend down to approximately the elbow of the dog which will create a look that appears like a colored blanket is on the dog instead of the typical saddle.

• Bi-Colour - the saddle covers almost all of the body and leaves only foot and possibly face markings.

• Solid - one color on the entire body.

• Sable - the banding of color on the dog's individual hairs, leaving a variety of shades and colors.
  
  Patterns can come in many colors though not all are accepted by the breed clubs or FCI.  There is the two tones that can be the traditional black and tan, black and red, black and brown (darker tan), black and silver, black and cream, blue and tan, liver and tan.  Solid colors may be black and solid white or the dilutes (liver, blue, and even cream as shown on one website in the links section of this page.)  Also, sables can come in a vareity of mixtures as well including black and silver, black and red, black and cream, and black and tan.  Some various markings are striping (black stripe markings on the legs found in some sables), pencilling (also often found on the sable as black lines on the top of the dog's toes), tar heels (black that runs down the back of the dog's legs), and the bitch stripe (grey hairs along the back of a female or a neutered male - thus giving this pattern its name.)

Some genes are dominant, co-dominant, recessive, etc. in genetics.  The dominant genes will be "dominant" and override recessive genes if both the dominant and recessive gene are present, meaning for a dog to physically exhibit a recessive gene, the dominant gene cannot be present.  For example, a dog carrying a recessive long coated gene mated with another dog carrying the long coat gene can produce long coats in the litter.   However, if one of the parents does not carry the recessive long coat gene but the other does, no long coats will be produced. 

One must also consider whether a dog is "homozygous" or "heterozygous" for a certain trait.  There are at least two genes for every trait.  Homozygous means that the dog only carries one type of a gene for a certain trait (e.i. coat length or pattern), while
heterozygous means that the dog carries two different genes for the same trait.

Okay! This will make your brain hurt. *wink*  The saddle back pattern is recessive to the sable pattern.  A sable dog can be either homozygous or heterozygous sable.  What does this mean?  This means it either carries one or two copies of the sable gene.   If the sable dog had one sable parent and one saddle back parent, that dog would carry both of the sable and saddle back pattern gene.  The dog would appear sable since that is the dominant gene and this dog could produce both the sable and saddle back patterns, since he/she carries both genes.  However, for a sable dog to be a homozygous sable, it must have two copies of the sable gene.  This would mean the dog would have had two sable parents that both passed the sable gene on to it, and also that this dog can produce the sable pattern only.

To read more about actual coat lengths and see photos, please visit our Long Haired German Shepherd page.

Here are some photo samples below.   If I have omitted a color or pattern and you would like to send me a photo of it, please send to dawgphoto@hotmail.com.   Also, if you have an example that is already here but you would like to share a better photograph, I would be happy to consider adding the photo here.  Thanks!

Long Stock Hair and the normal Stock Hair Coat Michelle's "Tessy" and "Blade"
Blanket Back Pattern, Black and Tan Color, Stock Hair Coat Length "Maverick"	Saddle Back, Black and Silver Color, Stock Hair Coat Length "Rio"	Bi Color Pattern , Black and Tan Color, Stock Hair Coat Length "1998 GV Ch. Caraland's Unlimited CD, TC, AOE ROM"
Two toned German Shepherds (saddle backs, blanket backs, bicolors) are born nearly all black, and the colors continue to come in for the first few years of their life.  Individual black hairs are all black, but graying throughout the coat, especially the neck area, can also appear.  A female or neutered male can develop a gray grizzling color along their back often referred to as a "bitch stripe".
Above: Blue/Red Long Haired Sable "Tyler" courtesy of Ballynabola German Shepherds in the UK. *** Below: Champagne (A Version of White) Color, Plush Coat "Jeremy's Thor Of Thunder" a.k.a "Jerry" owned by Cara Deadmond.   Per Cara, Jerry's hairs are banded like a sable, but without any black.   Solid colors are born one color and will stay one color throughout their life.		Sable or Agouti Pattern, Black Sable (above) "V Aron ze Zdenkovo dvora SchH3 KKL1" Black and Gold Long Haired Sable Pictured Above: "Thistle" courtesy of www.icemead.co.uk Sables are born all tan.   Black tipping starts at a few weeks old and continues until the puppy is a few years old.  They often resemble two-toned colored GSDs, but individual black hairs have more than one color on them. For Complete Sable Information Visit: § Sable  Information § at Zwinger von Arlett in Germany Solid Pattern, Black Color, Stock Hair Coat Length "Fire vom Zwilling Bach SchH3 "

Brindle
"The Lost Color"
I'll never forget being followed home in the early 1980's by a dog that looked
exactly like a German Shepherd (and acted like one), but brindle in color. 
Now, I think that I may have met one of the lost colors or .... a Dutch Shepherd.
The Dutch Shepherd, a rare breed, is remarkably similar to the German Shepherd breed.

The Dutch Shepherd
Dog Breed Info - The Dutch Shepherd

Additional Color Links:
Frankenhaus' Color Genetics
Sahiela German Shepherds - Gsd Colors and Color Genetics
The Sable Theory
WGSDCII - Questions and Answers About the White German Shepherd
GSD Blues and Livers Genetics and FAQ
Dilutes
Several Photo Examples of Colors of The German Shepherd

Rushland's German Shepherd Dogs - Click on Colours and Patterns When You Arrive

The German Shepherd Standard:
FCI Standard  
FCI Standard w/ Diagram
GSDCA Standard
GSD Breed Standards Compared
SV Standard or the SV Standard Translated By Fred Lanting.

Some German Shepherd Types:
The German High Lines or Show Lines
Various Working Lines
The DDR/Czech Lines
The North American Show Lines
The Long Haired German Shepherd
The White German Shepherd
German Shepherds Of The United Kingdom

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