White spot on chest in German Sheperds? I`m confused... - Page 1

Hi, I`m very interested in getting a german shepherd, I had some in the pass and I was told then, that white was not was allowed at all, but lately when looking for a dog I have seen that several High name kennels have males and females with a white spot on their chest is this Normal? is that good or no, can a dog with a white chest compete in breed competitions.
Please any one clear this for me .
Ivan

A little bit of white is OK, but too much is a fault... I can't remember how big 'too much' is, but I have seen several GSD's with a little white and personally love it. :) Adds character. My first GSD had some white, so every time I see it I think of her. It's also OK for a little to be on the toes - a lot of pups lose that when they grow up though.

A small - repeat small white patch on the chest is acceptable - but if its bigger than an I-phone- I'm not liking it. Unlike the white hairs over a toe or two -which usually do "color over" -- the chest patch will remain white. And if there are 'bone' colored toe nails with those white toes, and there is more than 2 of them, then I'd be questioning overall pigment points. The backs of the ears, all or nearly all toenails, and the tip of the tail need to be black. Worst case i ever saw of a white patch on the chest was on a supposedly SOLID BLACK dog -- it was at least 8 inches long and 5-6 inches across -- looked nothing less than horrible on a black dog !! Im curious - are you seeing this on German or American bred lines -- it's my experience that American show lines have much more of this.

In my opinion, the white is only a color.  For working dogs, that white will not affecrt the way a dog works.  In conformation, if two dogs are equal in conformation, the one with the white might be the looser.  It might be a deciding factor.   

We have a black sable boy that has white on his chest.  Its about 2 inches long and 2 inches wide and is kinda in the shape of a cross.  I tell everyone that's his badge, and he was born to be a cop dog...  I edited it out in one of his pictures just to see what he would look like. I just couldn't bring myself to say I liked him better without it.

 I agree with Dawulf, its gives character.  I wouldn't have our boy any other way.  

It is becoming more and more common,  and in the larger scheme of things it does not matter much, as
the others have said:  it doesn't affect health or working ability.  Having said that, however, personally I
have always HATED those white patches,  and would avoid buying or breeding dogs with it whenever
sensibly possible.  [As I don't breed, and now only have one dog at a time,  nobody 'loses' by my preferences !]
These patches were not very much in evidence in the earlier days of the breed, even given the mixture of
types of dogs, coats etc that were originally combined to produce the GSD in the first place.  I do not remember
ever seeing white marks on pure bred Shepherds  of the '70s and '80s, when I first got really involved with the
breed;  was quite shocked when I started seeing them on odd Showdogs.

My first black GSD in the 70's had a white "T" on his chest. We named him Teddy. I found him in the dog pound, and paid $20 for him. Sure grew up to be purebred looking, we figured somebody dumped him because of his white spot. Can you imagine?

I think it is presumptuous to blame the showlines for white spots. I mean really!  

Bee - not 'blaming' Show lines;  but that IS where I first saw chest spots on black & gold dogs, not so much in the 
'pet' population or among working dogs.  In the UK at the time we had very little in the way of the other
colours (except whites, most of which were BYB & overbred for $£$£$).

One of the nicest dogs I know is an all-black who has a white sire (and a black dam who is a mix of work & show,
grey and b&g lines) - he and most of his litter mates and half siblings are black with white bits - a [small] chest
splash plus some toes marked - but with other pigment on nails & noses etc pretty uniformly solid.  He is still only
4 yrs; he won't pass anything on because he's been neutered, but don't know about his brothers and sisters ...

A little white adds color to our lives.... Nothing is perfect. Cheers!

Someone mentioned that the toe nails need to be black.  For Rose, they are all clear/white.  None of her puppies are like this (they all had black toe nails).   Why would this be considered a fault?  I personally think it is so much better, as I can see the quick when I clip her toe nails and can make sure I do not nick her.

Yes Fawn I've always thought that was an advantage with lack of pigment !  But as paling nails etc is an
indication of other colour dilution within the dog,  it has always been in the Breed Standard that they
should have good black pigment as described by Pineridge above.