"The foundation color is that of wolf like, darker mistiness of a yellow background from which all other colors from yellowish or greyish up to uniform black have developed. White is only admissible for herdsman's dogs. White in shaggy haired dogs is not only ugly it is a sign if heavy loss of pigment and therefore a falling off of the dog's constitutional hardness, a danger for breeding"
Max v Stephanitz
Max v Stephanitz
In the color genetics of the German Shepherd, Sable (aw aw) is the dominate color. Then there is Black and Tan (as as), Bi color (at at), and Black (a a) which is recessive. Those are the standard and recognized colors by the SV. The SV standard, originally set up by Max von Stephanitz the creator of the German Shepherd, is the standard on to which all responsible breeders abide by. There are mutations in all recognized colors as is pure white and pie bald (Panda Shepherd) . Some breeders will advertise these as "rare" or "elusive" colors. They might be rare but that is because they are a mutation of the original gene.
Reputable breeders don't purposefully breed dogs with mutated genes or colors that are not standard for the breed. A Reputable Breeder will take any dog that produces mutations out of their breeding program.
A German Shepherd is homozygous dominant if it carries two copies of the same allele, or homozygous recessive, if it carries two copies of the same recessive allele, such as black (a a). Heterozygous means that the dog has 2 different alleles such as Bi that carries the recessive Black (at a). If a Sable carries black recessive (aw a) and is bred to another color dog such as a bi color that carries the recessive black, (at a) 50% will express sable and the other offspring will express bi and black color. A Sable dog that is Homozygous means that it has 2 copies of the Sable allele (aw aw) and it will be expressed in the coat color of its offspring no matter what other color dog it is bred to.
The offspring can carry the other color but they will all express sable.
Reputable breeders don't purposefully breed dogs with mutated genes or colors that are not standard for the breed. A Reputable Breeder will take any dog that produces mutations out of their breeding program.
A German Shepherd is homozygous dominant if it carries two copies of the same allele, or homozygous recessive, if it carries two copies of the same recessive allele, such as black (a a). Heterozygous means that the dog has 2 different alleles such as Bi that carries the recessive Black (at a). If a Sable carries black recessive (aw a) and is bred to another color dog such as a bi color that carries the recessive black, (at a) 50% will express sable and the other offspring will express bi and black color. A Sable dog that is Homozygous means that it has 2 copies of the Sable allele (aw aw) and it will be expressed in the coat color of its offspring no matter what other color dog it is bred to.
The offspring can carry the other color but they will all express sable.
Using the Punnett Square
The breeding to the right represents a
|
The breeding to the left is a Sable that carries the black recessive bred to a Bi color that carries a black recessive, they will produce 50% Sables (that carry the bi and black allele) 25% Bi and 25% Black expressed |
In order to find out if your dog carries another color other than what its coat expresses, a DNA test can be done. If both parents color alleles are known, then it is possible to predict the color outcome of the offspring.When breeding just for color, other important things such as temperament and health could suffer.
*No breeder should breed solely for color, though, they should be mindful and not breed mutations of any color such as liver,blue, panda ( tri color), silver, cream or white*
*No breeder should breed solely for color, though, they should be mindful and not breed mutations of any color such as liver,blue, panda ( tri color), silver, cream or white*