producing black puppies - Page 1

Yes, You can get blacks only if both parents carry the black gene. You also will get blacks,bi's sables and solid black from a black to black breeding. I have had this happen many times. You wont just get solid blacks and the whole litter wont always be solid black.You can also breed a solid black to a black and red and get 1/2 black and the other 1/2 black and red. Depends on your pedigrees on your parents. Hope this helps.

Where I purchased my male from, all his siblings were all black, there weren't any sables or bi's they were all black. His mother was sable and father all black. So does that mean the mother and father carry the black gene?

Guttenhaus, Did I understand you correctly? You personally have bred an all black male to an all black female and had bi-colors and sables show up, and there is no way there may have been an accidental mating with another (perhaps sable) dog? That goes against all that is currently known about GSD color genetics! It would have to mean that there is some sort of black masking gene now. Very interesting.

kelly - because black is a recessive gene, your boy's father could not have carried anything else. if he carried black & tan/red or sable, one of these colors would have expressed instead of the black. your boy's mother HAD to have carried the black recessive which caused (in this case, many) littermates to exhibit black color. guttenhaus - is it possible that one of the blacks was not a true black? i have seen seen some dogs advertised as black that were actually bicolors; if red/brown/tan 'frosting' appears around toes or tail this is not a black, but a bicolor which likely carries the black recessive. and a black sable can be VERY dark. i tend to agree with amysue; sable is a dominant color, so if neither parent was sable, it would be surprising (at the least!) if a sable appeared in this litter.

Kioanes brings up a good point.. Many people think they have a solid black puppy when in fact it is a bi-color. This can be determined at birth by looking under the tail. Bi-colors have a vent patch marking there. Not a few hairs scattered. This is a distinct marking.. A true solid black bred to a true solid black will only produce solid blacks UNLESS both parents carry the recessive for blue,liver or white. Bi-color and sable are NOT recessives. Sable is a dominant over black and tan. You will not get sables from two blacks. One parent must be sable.

there is absolutely NO chance of producing a sable pup, with two black parents. Or two black/tan parents. NEVER. Two black parents will only produce black puppies - there are no other options! Black is recessive to all other colors - so if a dog carries sable or black/tan gene, that dog will BE sable or black/tan.

Eichenluft you are correct two blacks ONLY produce blacks. I was tired and writing in a hurry.. I know better..lol This should have read " UNLESS both parents carry the recessive for blue, liver, or white these colors will not be produced" and there should have been a period at the end of the following sentence which I omitted... "A true solid black bred to a true solid black will only produce solid blacks." I will proofread from now on...

Yes, You can get sable and bi in a black to black breeding, I know what a bi is and neither of these dogs i bred are bi's. Both are solid black.I have been breeding german shepherds for 20 years i know the difference between a bi dog and a solid black. In three of her litters it was a black to black breeding and i got sable, black and red and bi.In her first litter i got 2 black and reds. In her second litter i got 4 blacks and 2 sable. In her 3rd litter i got 5 black and 2 bi's. I do not care about color genetics, this is what i got from these breedings.

guttenhaus, this is not possible, you might check your fencing because if you got a sable or black/tan from a black to black breeding, one of the parents jumped the fence, or one of the parents is not black. DNA testing would be in order - any breed warden who knew color genetics would never sign the paperwork to a litter of two black parents with sable or black/tan puppies in the litter. It is not genetically possible. molly

Molly, I have a black female who is from two black parents and just a few days ago (she is 33 month old) all of the sudden I noticed some tan hair on her hind legs, not much but it is there. Is she now a bi color or still black?