GSDs colors - Page 1

I am looking for information whether it is possible to get a sable puppy in case of both parents being solid black. Both parents are out of one parent being solid black and the other one is sable.Thanks for your answers.

At least 1 parent has to be a sable to get a sable,

If you have two solid black dogs then no, you will not get a sable. This is because black is a recessive gene, and the pairing of the two will result in the pups being black. If one of the parents are sable, you have a better chance of having a sable puppy, but it doesn't mean you WILL get one. Also, if a black and sable dog are bred, a sable pup will usually be darker than the sable parent. these are just some characteristics I have noticed.

I am not sure your answer is quite correct - we have several black shepherds but the black is only "masking" as they have lighter hair under their feet between the toes and on one slightly up the front legs. It is the same thing that causes white bull terriers to have coloured patches over an eye etc the white is masking the colour of the dog. I am not sure of the correct name for this. It also depends on the genes carried for colour. Mate b/g to sable if the sable has one b/g parent you will get puppies either b/g or sable - if you mate b/g to a dominant sable all the puppies will be sable. Willis has a good book that explains the genetics.

carebear- when you say your black dogs have lighter hair, do you mean they have a blaze or similar light marking, or that they have a sort of light undercoat? I ask because it's my understanding that blazes and similar markings are separate from the color genes and can occur in any GSD color. However, if there is a lighter coat underneath, then genetically the dog wouldn't be "black", but more like the extreme end of the bi-color range. A true black GSD carries a double-recessive color gene. Mating sable to black will, on average, yield 50% sables and 50% of whatever other color the sable parent is carrying (possibly black, if they are a black carrier). Mating black to black will always produce 100% black pups; however, if both parents carry a masking gene (white, liver, or blue), then on average 25% of the pups in a litter will show the masking gene. However, they will still be genetically a black dog. My little Czech GSD is solid black, and there is not, so far as I can tell, a single hair on her body that isn't solid black.

Sorry I thought I had made it clear. There is sable hair colour between the toes and the hair under the feet and a little up the back of the front legs only - the rest of the dog is black no light undercoat or blaze (where does that come from??)All dogs are from German working lines including imports

carebear- without seeing the dog, it is hard to say, but it sounds like your dog is an extremely dark bi-color, maybe even a very dark black sable. Both are quite common colors among working line dogs, especially if it has DDR lines (for a good example of a dark bicolor, look at Gotthilf von der Kine, Bero vom Friedersdorfer Flur, or Held vom Ritterburg, although it sounds like your dog is an even darker bicolor). By blaze I just mean a white mark on the dog's body. That's the term I always saw on color genetics sites, I'm not sure where it comes from- maybe borrowed from horse color terminology?