Monday, June 20, 2011

German Shepherd coat colors and patterns vary greatly

Genetics of German Shepherd Coat Colors

Concerning the GSD and German Shepherd coat colors, the breed standard of the SV said specifically: "The color of the GSD in itself not important and does not affect the character of the dog or its suitability for the job and should be a secondary to be consideration for that reason, the. final color of a puppy can only be ascertained when the outer layer has developed. "

Of all undesirable things to try to eliminate andkeep in a GSD (aka the Alsace), coat color should be at the bottom of the list. Good pigment should be asked, but many factors such as health and temperament, to name but a few, should be much more important than coat color which should always be subordinate to structure, gait, the nature and character and should never take precedence over the working ability of the dog. Eye color should be dark and nose pigment should be black as well.

Regarding the coat, the SV breed standard statesfollowing:. "The normal (stock) coated GSD should carry a thick undercoat and top coat should be as close as possible to close until the very difficult fitting hair made the hair is short on the head and ears, front of legs, feet and toes. On the neck it is longer and thicker, in some males forming slight ruff. The hair becomes longer to choke on the back of the legs as far down as the pastern and the germ, and forms fairly thick trousers on the hindquarters. There is no hard or fast rule forthe length of hair, but short-mole-type coats are faulty, "" No good dog is a bad color "-. Max von Stephanitz (breed founder of the dog) on ​​coat color.

Ask just about any description of a German shepherd dog and they will almost always mention the "saddle Back" markings. It is also equally possible that the GSD is one color such as black (solid white is considered a conformation disqualification for showing by the AKC), or sable. Sable coats are slightlycharacterized by multi-colored individual hairs all over my body. Sable GSD can also be dark or black guard hairs are covered.

Alsatian coat color patterns of the following: black & tan, black and red, black and cream, solid black, solid white, (as a conformation disqualification), sable (also agouti or wolf gray, in various colors), Black & Silver , liver (rare - conformation fault) and blue (rare - conformation as aError).

Richer pigmentation is preferred, color wise. Although I will not delve into the science of genetics (you can do on your own if interested), just know that the liver color comes as the result of a concerted recessive black in the series and the blue color happens as the result of matched recessive in the dilution series.

Coat colors and inheritance in the GSD is very complex and is influenced by several rows of genes. The following is a brief description and summarythe various gene series in the GSD is responsible for the color based on information from "The German Shepherd Dog: A Genetic History" and "Practical Genetics for Dog Breeders", both by Malcolm Willis. Both books should be required reading for any serious fan, and more importantly be taken into consideration for the breeder. Another suggested resource is "The German Shepherd Today" by Winifred Strickland and James "Jimmy" Moses.

The agouti-SERIES

The basic body color of the GSD iscontrolled by the genes. The order of coat colors dominance is as follows: golden sable, black sable, saddle marked black and tan, bi-color * black and tan is (bi-color, where the dog is tan only on the legs and face, not on the body ), and black.

In addition, know that the black gene is recessive to all other colors in GSD. Solid black German Shepherds bred to solid blacks German Shepherds will only produce blacks. The sable colors are dominant over the other colors and patternsthe race.

THE BLACK SERIES

This gene controls the black pigment formation on the GSD, not the hair color. The German Shepherd coat colors order of dominance is exactly as follows: Black pigment including nose, eyelids and pads, Carrier for liver color, liver color - brown black colors, brown nose, eye rims and pads.

Note: most GSDs are considered black pigment including nose, eyelids and pads.

THE WHITE SERIES

White fur in the German Shepherd dogDog is recessive to all other colors. To receive a white coat color in the German Shepherd, both parents must the white gene (. Knows either itself or its carrier) The order of dominance is as follows: Melanin is produced. (Standard GSD colors have this); partial albinism (not visible); white fur with dark eyes and nose (not albino); Yellowish coat collar (proposed).

THE COLOR SERIES

This controls the intensity of the non-black color. The orderDominance is as follows: Lightest tan (cream); Intermediate tan (tan); Darkest tan (red).

The intensity of the color series determines whether GSD's with color (not all black or all white recessive) is black & cream, black & tan or black and red.

Coat Lengths in GSD

Short-coated German Shepherd's maintain a short coat that lies close to the body. These dogs usually have less undercoat.

"Plush" Coated GSD have a medium length coat witha thin, fluffy undercoat. These dogs have no feathers, as in the long coated GSD's.

Long coated German Shepherd is a lot more hair around the ears, on the backs of their legs, chest and tail (feathering) than other German Shepherd.

The dilution series

This determines how intense the black pigment will appear on your German Shepherd. The order of dominance is as follows: Dense pigment blue dilution.

Black pigment combined with blue dilutionproduce a blue coated German shepherd, who, as it would look like a dusty or flour sheen has.

THE MASK SERIES

This controls whether a mask will appear on your German Shepherd.The order of dominance as follows: a black mask on his face, dark coat, without a mask, Brindle (rare, will be seen as striping on the legs); tan clear.

All of these genes together determine your own German Shepherd's coat colors.

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