Cant a Good dog (Show line) be Sable? - Page 3

To begin there are as many folk tales as there is good info out there about most things. People believe many silly and unfounded things about coat color including the belief that sables are inherently "better" pigmented which is not necessarily true; The belief that sables have better working ability; That judges hold prejudice against grey dogs,etc..... The fact is that a flaming red dog makes a tremendous impression on judges as well as breeders. There is a concept at play in the standard as well as in judging that "fad" colors lead to an inappropriate focus on coat color over structure and working ability. Another reality is that many top breeders have taken to the red dogs to the extent that it has become mainstream along with the modern type: Heavy bone, large head, deep body etc.... These are excellent traits, and in their place contribute to the improvement of the breed, however, there is a danger of breeding to market demand rather than the standard to the point that the AKC breeders did. We can see the results of their misguided focus on extremes (if we care to).

EchoMeadows, the reason that the white dog will not pass muster was determined long ago by Max Stephanitz. His logic was that a dog colured this way would not be very useful as it would stand out too much while it was working the streets, and not stand out while it was tending goats or sheep. He personally preferred the dark-coloured dogs. I don't know when this decision was made, but it was some time past the beginning of the S.V.. Surely someone here can elaborate on this issue. Do Right and Fear No One-where are you right now? I have never seen a blue coat in person, and I have seen but one (1) liver coat. As far as the fact that a liver or blue coat is a fault, the strength of rich pigment is not present. Does this lack of strong pigment adversely affect this type of dog in any way? I doubt it. I think that the determination of this as a fault depends on the idea that if the pigment is weak, then the dog must be weak. If anyone can expand on this please do. Bob-O

Bob, the reason Capt. Von Stephanitz cautioned against fading pigment is that he realized that it is associated with diminished health, longevity and overall robustness. Over the years I have found this to be true also. If dogs are bred too close, the result can be a homozygous pairing of 3 or more of the 5 genes that control overall immunity (often 4 or 5). One of the results is fading pigment in the coat and especially the nails. This is not a caution just for sables. Some have hypothsized that in the high showline Black and red GSDs, those that have large white spots on the chest and extremeties has these as markers of degeneracity of general health and robustness (I think the jury is still out on this). There is nothing wrong with a sable color as long as it is deeply pigmented. One of the most beautiful, colorful, well pigmneted GSDs I ever saw was a very dark reddish black sable out of Genghis who was a beautiful top german import in the USA back in the 60's. He had thick bone, great temperament and champion quality confirmation. His nails were jet black. It is a well know fact that some of the most successful breeders have used sables to reinvigorate their black and tan pigment as a correction for fading and to bring back lost bone, robustness, proportions and movement (eg Arlett Kennels, who carries a parallet sable line for this).

Thanks Preston. I knew that someone could provide more and excellent information. I guess that in a way it does make sense, as coat pigment may well be related to skin pigment, and we know that some dog breeds are not truely "weatherproof" because of sun sensitivity caused by poor skin pigment. Hence it would make sense that a GSD with weak pigment might incur other skin-related problems because of this. I am glad that you could shed some light on the real reason, as there are a lot of fables out there. I just never had any experience with pigment weakness in any of my GSD's or those of anyone else who I closely knew. I like all of the coats as long as the colour is rich, whatever colour it is. The old "wolf grey", now that is a sable that you seldom see anymore. I have not seen one of those since the female that I owned as a child. The only recent ones that I ever owned/own were both black/red sables, and both were/are females. The second is from a breeding of Burschy altes Eichenhof x Crystal Huerta Hof, a red sable Maybrit daughter. As predicted, nearly one-half (1/2) of the litter was heavily saddled, the other one-half (1/2) had rich sable pigment. Preston, thanks again. Bob-O

Hi all, here in Australia, we had a very successful line of sables in the early 80's and we've had a few excellent sable dogs since. They dont seem to be discriminated against in the ring so much as I think by their own breeders! People dont tend to keep a sable to show. Thankfully at present, we have 3 lovely sable bitches competing against each other in New South Wales, so I am hoping that they go on to produce lovely sable sons! My preference in a perfect world is for a sable dog. If I had 2 equal stud dogs to choose from, I'd pick the sable over the black/tan anytime. My first 2 GSD's were sable - the first golden sable and the second grey sable but she was soooo dark and with such a strong saddle and mask that a lot of people looked twice before they realised that she was sable. And there is NOTHING cuter in the world than a longhair sable, LOL!!! I have rarely, if ever, seen a sable with light eyes either. And I LOVE watching sable puppies change coat - the little black triangle on the tail that spreads to become adult coat - too cute. Oh well, unfortunately no chance of a sable puppy in the litter I am expecting in the next 48 hours! But there is always next year!!

LOL Besides causing me to laugh out loud when I feel like taking another cold capsule and retiring back to the rack, Kyle pretty much said it all. Still, some of us sable-loving hard-heads dream of meeting our handlers at the OTHER end of the ring someday. We keep trying, occasionally enjoying some hard-earned and much-celebrated success here and there, hoping things will change.

The best GSD I have ever had is a black sable with very dark rick color(DDR Lines) and this girl is amazing and has made me come to prefer a sable.

DesertRangers, lol, I hear ya. I never used to be fond of sables, didn't really like them at all. Till I got one...It's funny how one great sable dog can change your whole outlook on color.

I was not impressed with sables until I saw the Sire of my female working! He was police K9 , lean athletic 95 sable and could do anything asked of him. Great tracking dog.

A sable dog has a very impressive apearance too! specially those with a big head and dark face! Those dogs, since normaly are produced to the work, very often got good nerves!