* German Shepherd Dog *

"Colors and Patterns"

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!

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.)

Here are some 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!

Saddle Back - Black and Tan "Rowdy"		Long Haired Saddle Back - Black and Red "Vana"
Blanket Back - Black and Tan "Maverick"		Bi Color - Black and Tan "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".
Saddle Back - Black and Silver "Rio"		Sable or Agouti Black Sable pictured above: "V Aron ze Zdenkovo dvora SchH3 KKL1" Sable pictured above: "V Marc vom Herkulesblick SchH3 FH IPO3 Kkl 1" 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.
Solid - White "Sobaka"	Solid - Black "Fire vom Zwilling Bach SchH3 "	§ Sable  Information §
Solid colors are born one color and will stay one color throughout their life.

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
"Bluedogs"
Dilutes
Several Photo Examples of Colors of The German Shepherd
(Babycass's Den does not necessarily condone any of the above websites listed here, but are provided as examples.)

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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