Very Dark Sable Puppies - Page 2

 When is this first noticeable in a very young puppy?

It really depends on whether they are dry and the birth fluids are wiped off after drying (they tend to dry to a very fine powder that is reddish under very bright sunlight). If you have good light, you can see it within 24 hours. The pup will have some degree of tan under her tail and some tan on the head and just a little bit along her sides if you brush the fur back. But you have to have good light. 

I have seen a very dark bicolor female that had almost no tan under her tail -- it was super dark, chocolate colored, but it was brown if you had a good light source. She turned into a regularly marked bicolor, although on the darker end of the scale. I would imagine that you could get a sable pup that dark.

The darkest sable I've ever produced, I thought was black for 3 days. But I never got a strong light source and looked really carefully in those first 3 days. 

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=2045533-blackthorns-unlawful-activity

That dog at about 1 day old -- all 3 sable males: 

I think this is a picture of just him at 5 days: 

Christine