german shepherd puppy with white markings - Page 1

I went to look at a puppy today from a local breeder. She is the last little one left, and after seeing her I think I know why. She has white markings on her toes, chest, and a small white patch on her chin? Will these spots go away? Will the fade? What caused the spots? She is the only one out of the 10 pups with the white markings.

If the puppy fits your needs, then it shouldn't make a difference.

Take a look at this dog. He is considered the first German Shepherd.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=1208-horand-von-grafrath-hektor-linksrhein

His grandfather on his mother's side was a white German Shepherd.

That means 25% of the genetic makeup of every German Shepherd is white.

Eliminating that from the gene pool through selective breeding is part of why GSD's have so many health problems.

If you like the puppy, go buy it, raise it, train it, most importantly enjoy it and provide it an excellent, life-long home, then the pup can wear its white markings as a badge of honor!

I really was just curious. As I have never seen this. The dog we have now is a weimeraner/ german shepherd mix. And he is absolutely beautiful and wonderful. I don't care about breeding or showing. She would be a family pet and loved even with her white marks.

http://i62.tinypic.com/33d8thd.jpg

That is very normal, and happens every once in a while. There have been many top famous dogs with a little white on the chest and toes. Often it gets less noticed with age as the dog gets bigger.

OGBS is right, it doesn´t matter, and it´s not that uncommon.
As long as you did your homework ( health of the parents and older siblings, HD, ED, maybe DNA ) and you REALLY like this pup and its temperament, go for it.
Good luck!

The white spotting has NOTHING to do with the white GSD that is part of the GSD genome. The white gene is a recessive masking gene that causes the dog to be completely white.

I bought a pup that had white marks on her toes and chest. Her pigment faded badly by her second birthday. So, beware, if you are planning to show this dog, it is NOT a good candidate for the show ring!

Look at the nails. If they are white, the dog is lacking in pigment, and will likely fade as it gets older. If they are black and look like they've been dipped in India ink, it will be okay.

Here's my pup at 8 weeks:

and here's what she looks like now:

Here is a nice pup. You can have a large blanket and white feet. Look at the parents!

Eila vom Mecklenburger Bolz  (Goergeous pup)
 

Sire   Dam 

Sunsilver, this is an ancestor of your dog that had white chest and toes.

1990 GV CH (US) ROMProven Hill's Banker of Altana 
1986 AKC D439703 01-89 HD-OFA: Good GS-20822G24M

Yes, but Banker's blanket stayed black (unless he was dyed!) and the white remained on his chest. In Star's case, the white on her chest is no longer noticeable, but her blanket faded, and she also has no black on her tail, which is a major fault.

I've heard there can be a problem with Ursus line females having faded pigment. Not that I've seen many examples of that, though.

Several people told me the white toes would not be a problem, and since I didn't see any examples of faded pigment in her pedigree, I believed them.

Not going to happen again!