showline coloring question - Page 2

I do know what you're referring to, and I do believe some dogs are "touched up". I'll disagree again on saddles/masks- sometimes they really do not match. I think the way to know, as Molly said, is to see the dog in person, or the dog's progeny. I've seen pics and thought, "yeah right!" and then seen progeny of the dog later and they really do have fabulous color.

 Kczaja,

You are just great.

Ibrahim

It's always disheartening to know the dishonesty of some causes doubt for all. The SV system us a very good one when used honestly, however, the educated breeder/buyer can only know the honesty with their own two eyes. I just hate to see everyone involved in showlines blamed for the actions of a few.

 Ruger1,

Your dog's pigment is one of the best around, I know you don't dye, lol.
Though I'm sure few would do all sorts of cheating to reach a goal.

Ibrahim

I know it happens, but I am hoping it is not happening in the ring.

The colors on these dogs look like the tones I am seeing and are too opaque to leave tones and is the type of dye I think I saw.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284646/Meet-Tiger-Dog-Chinese-owners-dye-pets-look-like-wild-animals.html

It seems that showlines so often have faded pigment, when we finally get one that IS solid black one assumes it is photoshopped or dyed?  My dog is very black, no bitch stripe (and his saddle crawls up the back of his neck and goes down to the white part of his belly, also he has a decent black mask).  He was basically a blanket black with black down his legs until he was over a year old.  He is also VERY rich orange/red, as are both his dam and sire.  When I take pictures in certain light or with certain ISO settings I actually have to DE-saturate my photos for more accuracy.  Just last night I was calling him "Oompaloompa orange dog" because he looked orange. He really is THAT red and it does become more exaggerated depending on the light and not everyone being a professional photographer or artist. 

I have never ever dyed a dog and would never consider it.  My other adult GSD is a sable that's fairly light/faded.  I don't really give a rip.  I don't know why people would dye dogs since there are VA dogs that IMO have very poor pigment and/or color and the German show lines IMO seem to have poor pigment (the black parts) compared to many working lines and the American show lines.  It seems the more red a dog is, the poorer the back pigment, though that's a generalization not true of my own dog.

I would not make judgments based on a single photo.  Like I said, I'm not a professional photographer or an artist.  There's really no way I can represent my dog ith 100% accuracy in a single still photo.  Sometimes he looks orange, sometimes brown, sometimes red, sometimes tan.... I am not an expert on light/color, but he is what he is....

Here are some pics in various light so you get an idea:

 Wow, what a beauty, as if you soaked him in concentrated pigment, the mask is gorgeous. I kept re-looking at him, he is very dark indeed.
Ibrahim

Thanks, his dam is extremely dark/rich red.  His sire is also but the sire has a very full, dark mask and solid black saddle.  Some of the littermates have more of the "bitch stripe" but all are very rich and red in color.

VKGSD.....Very handsome male indeed....Fabulous color too.....


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