Does color affect temperament? - Page 1

I am on this forum to learn, not be degraded. I am new to this breed and genuinely curious about things and want to hear from people who have experience in this breed. So if you're going to say something nasty, save it for someone else. (I've seen a lot of nasty, unnecessary things being said lately so I am just going to put that out there.)

So I have heard recently that white German Shepherds were bred to have a more "mellow" temperament, and they were bred to be a calmer family dog. I have heard they do not do well in personal protection or IPO, I have heard that they have a very low prey drive.

I have heard that sables and blacks are known to have a high prey drive, and excel at personal protection and IPO but they are harder to make a family dog. Hard to keep calm and train.

And that blacks/red and black/tans are the "happy medium".

I have no idea how true any of this is, it is just what I have heard by working in a vets office for years and through people that usually talk out of their butts.

But I want to hear from the people that know these dogs, who have bred for certain colors and what effects color play into temperament and why some people breed the colors they do. What happens if you do breed different colors together or does color have nothing to do with temperament at all?

Thanks to everyone that has been so nice and helping me learn about this amazing breed.

(FYI I don't plan on breeding dogs, I just want to learn)

Color has nothing to do with temperament. Perhaps the information you received is because most showline dogs are black/red or black /tan, and many working line dogs are sable or black. There is a difference in temperament between showlines and working lines, though it does not hold true for all dogs. But color has absolutely nothing to do with temperament. What does affect temperament are the parents and the ancestors

Thank you Fantom, I was curious, I had always hear stuff like that since I work at a vets office, people who think they know things spout tall tales off left and right with no regards to the truth.

I have a white GSD who has a very high prey drive, he chases anything and everything in sight. Which why I so skeptical to what I was hearing anyways.

OP, breeding for colour does affect the temperament in the long run.

For example, if you are breeding FOR white, you need two white parents to be sure, that's your first preference. So, the temperament of the parents becomes secondary. Same thing will happen if you're breeding FOR black.

OTOH, when you're breeding FOR temperament, that's your first preference, preferred colour is just a bonus.

Snowline dogs are predominantly black & tan because that's the fashion of that arena. Then, they are also breeding for colour (and look). Temperament is secondary

Working lines are mostly sable or black or bi-color, because that's what are left of the breed, where the desired temperament can be found more easily. It's also the style statement of working line people, showing that they are different.

Sadly, some breeders just cross a sable/black/bi-color with another and claim that the puppies are working line..

If white GSDs have a more mellow temperament, it's because they've been bred for that temperament. They are not expected to do schutzhund, which requires a higher level of drive, and often a bit of aggression, too.

Had a friend with a white GSD - dog was crazy and aggressive - so you're right, not all white dogs fit that particular pigeon - hole!

I'd tend to argue against that in certain circumstances, Fantom. What is true I think is that where a breeder or associated group of breeders use a group of stud dogs over and over to 'fix' coats and colours - including white - into the majority of their puppies for sale to the general public, the temperament does tend to become more 'Pet' quality, in itself more laid back. Because they are breeding for the pet market, not to produce working dogs.
There's enough evidence of this in topics on PDB, certainly in relation to the UK market.

Unfortunately one of the reasons PDB carries a lot of information is that a side effect of this sort of breeding reduces the gene-pool being tapped, by excluding most Working stock and high S/Lines. And where you get a reduced gene pool, you get inbreeding problems like Epilepsy.

Not everybody breeding white GSDs falls into this category; but I would be worried about buying from anybody who constantly produced a higher than average number of white pups.

There are also two distinct historical camps on the question of white dogs as GOOD or BAD prospects for various hundsports/work. I have seen people claim almost super powers for LE dogs who happened to be white, for example ! Never seen any evidence to prove they are any better than other GSDs, mind you ! And looking around, there are very very few white dogs playing such roles, so it is unlikely they are as shit-hot as claimed for them. But neither is there much to show the opposite view, that one sometimes hears, that white dogs are 'all' stupid, hard to train, aggressive, etc.

It is largely true that currently more examples of the breed that are worked are sables or blacks / 'bicolours', but that's mostly been a matter of choice and selection on the part of humans, so where they have been looking for workability, avoiding showdogs like the plague, AND expressing colour preference, that majority has become self-selecting. (Bit less true of the UK).
Likewise, the Show side have preferred Black & Gold / tan/ red, and thus more dogs have been bred to try to keep the calm, Show temperament which allows for stranger - judges to come and touch them, pull them about without much warning, stand around waiting with a load of strange dogs without getting antsy, etc.; and thus the breed's temperament has been modified to allow for that. You will still get the occasional S/L that has a funky, lively, suspicious temperament; you will still breed the occasional W/L that is laid back, over-friendly, lazy, whatever. That is the 'fun' of how genetic inheritance shapes up, no matter how hard breeders try to churn out 'clones' for their particular markets.
 

Just like you are a little skeptical of " what you have heard" , show the same caution to what you read on forums....just saying.

Swarnendu, I see what you are saying and that makes sense.

I work for a vets office, and I bring my GSD up to work almost every day and I had a older gentleman explain to me that only white German shepherds make good family pets and the rest were "prey driven beast". He is a little loopy to say the least.

Perhaps you should overgeneralise to him, about the frequent loopiness of old gentlemen !
Look, the vast majority of the general public just don't understand these nuances; why would they ? Like Gustav says, take it all with a strong pinch of salt unless you KNOW who you are talking to knows something about both the breed and dog-breeding.  Just .