Is it true? - Page 2

Fascinating point, Susie.

Is there a specific reason regarding the herding purpose of the breed, to not want a white dog? I thought that many years ago, I heard mention that the white colour was not desirable for a herding dog (for sheep) as it is the [majority] colour of the stock. It was not desired to have the herding dog blend in, colour-wise, with the stock, whereas the opposite is true of a flock-guardian dog, where it is desired to have the dog blend in with stock.

I've heard that also, Koots, but I don't know that it
holds much truth. Consider: Border Collies work
sheep; not all BCs have a majority of black hair.
In fact, one sees a good many Collies working flocks
that are largely white dogs.

Not all sheep are white.

Not all sheep-guarding breeds are white, though many
are.

Now if it had ever been argued that white GS should
be culled because of the connection between white
animals and deafness, it might have held some appeal;
though actually unlike with Dalmatians etc, that does not
appear to apply. Never met a white shepherd (whether
with black or liver points) that was deaf ...

Koots you heard right. There were probably others but Lloyd Brackett did make the statement in an article that appeared in Dog World magazine in 1961 titled "The Case Against The White German Shepherd Dog". Here it is....

"Suppose we skip to the self-evident problem of keeping white service dogs clean and take up briefly several functional disadvantages of the whites. In the early days, no German sheep herdsman wanted, or used, whites because of the difficulty in distinguishing sheep from dogs at a distance."

Mr. Brackett didn't bother to explain  how the herdsman distinguished a dark colored GSD from dark colored sheep.

Hund - in cats, there is a genetic correlation between white coat/blue eyes and deafness, although this is not always the case, whereas a white cat with yellow eyes will not be deaf 100% of time (IIRC).

I am not aware of genetic flaws in the GSD that are associated with the white colour, but that's just due to ignorance on my part. I can see the argument for not having a white flock tending/living fence dog, especially when one considers the origins of the breed and the rural settings found in the originating country.

 

Whiteshepherds - interesting find, thanks for sharing.

White spotting factor doesn't make deaf pups. But abinaism, and double Merle does.
The white Shep, like the white komondor are a big white spot on black skin= no deafness.
White with pink skin = can be deaf.

"White" GSDs are actually ee yellow. The same as yellow Labradors.

What??

Lloyd Brackett was also the owner of Longworth Kennel, and DID breed white color Shepherds if they were superior to their colored litter mates. Many of the greats from his Kennel carried the white gene. His books on genetics may be simplistic by today's standards, but remember that he wrote and raised Shepherds 60+ years ago.
Producing 90 Champions in 12 years time btw, so guess that there was something in his genetic formula that clicked.

I do understand that he bred whites and have a list of his champions that carried for white. What I can't figure out is when did he do a 180 and decide they shouldn't be part of the breed. Any idea?  Obviously by the late 50's early 60's because he was then advocating that they be removed from the breed not just given a disqualifying fault.

It was a long time ago...really doesn't matter...it's just one of those missing pieces to the puzzle. :)