Anyone experienced this color..??? - Page 4

I found this guy way way down on the historic VA list. Wish the photo was in color. The face appears darker but no saddle or pattern to really see.

If you have the book "The German Shepherd Dog , A Genetic History" by Malcolm Willis, go to page 41 and read. It describes what causes this color.

Briefly, the "e" allelle leads to gradual fading of the black pigment in the coat toward a tan color but does not affect the nose, eyes, pads etc. As a recessive, it only operates in ee combination.Many people mistake the faded "ee" dog for a golden sable but "ee" animals have a red, as opposed to a black, tip to the tail. "ee" dogs can be born black and tan and the black will gradually fade over time. The fading may not be complete until the dog is two years of age.

I had a friend who owned a show line female who was born black and tan and by the time she was 1.5 years old, she was the color of the dog in the picture. I have seen this more than once in the show lines but it is not a common occurance IMO. 

This is a sable, which is a specific gene.  There are many variations in the expression of this gene, from the very, very dark sables called black sables (for the amount of tipping which is extensive) to this very, very light sable with virtually "clear" tipping.  In other breeds, this precise gene more commonly expresses itself this way -- in, for example, collies, english shepherds, shelties.  (They, of course, also have the so-called boston gene that gives them white collars, face stripes, and feet, but they begin with this sable gene.)  In english shepherds, this gene is called a "clear sable" I believe.

There is no reason to believe this dog is a cross, but you also cannot rule it out.  If you bred a sable gsd to a mal you could get this.  If you bred a sable gsd to a smooth collie, you could get this, but you'd surely get some white.  This could be a pure gsd.

Whether you call it a red sable or not is not important.  But it is a sable and the gene is in the gene pool of shepherds.  It is just rarely expressed in this clear form in gsds.

Trafalgar is the genetics expert.  If he overrules me, believe him.

looks to be a red....

http://www.kerstoneshepherds.net/colors/colors1.htm

I dont think he is a mix, but there is a chance. Sad thing is, when you breed for one specific thing, you find yourself losing everything else with time.

i know ive seen this color before...think it was on one of those shows on NG

CRAP..hit the wrong button ...guess thats what happens when u try to peel shrimp and type at the same time...sorry...

anyways, the NG channel or discovery...i think it may have been the show::: "breed all about it"...anyone ever seen that one?

This is a Mal/GSD X pup.  I know he is because he came out of my GSD bitch and a male Mal.  Oops breeding.

So here's a picture of one of ours - Bordeaux...a "Light Sable", would you say?

Hopefully this will show up, this was a female we once owned, she was working lines, had tracking titles and DNA done. 

I agree with Adler Stein Kennels (and Willis) that this dog is a black and tan with a fading gene for black pigment of all the body coat except the muzzle and parts of the tail and the ears.

In the 1960's, there was a top winning AKC champion of this color.

The color is absolutely not a variant of the sable/agouti.

It is also unlike the dog in Reggae's post. The latter dog is a black and tan with very faded pigment in general. Note the pale, almost white markings inside of the legs.