# Light hairs in the saddle of a blanket black and tan pup



## missykel3 (Jul 29, 2011)

My 4 month old pup is, what I would consider a blanket black and tan. He is mostly black, but is starting to get more and more tan. One thing that I am curious about is, he is starting to get light tan colored hairs coming in on his back. It is hard to tell, but I thought the saddle, especially in a dark pigmented dog, would be solid black. What do you think about it? Below are pictures...the light hairs are hard to see, but they are right by my index finger. They are randomly throughout the back of his neck and running down his spine. I know there is a fading gene that can cause the saddle to fade, but his pedigree doesn't seem to support that. He is of working lines and the colors are blanket black and tans, and sables. His sire is a true bi color and his dam is a sable. Here is a link to his pedigree...http://www.working-dog.eu/dogs_details.php?id=972944&new_lan_en


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Your pup is young, I would think if the lighter hair is coming in, blanket may not be his end color. He is very handsome! I doubt though that he'll be a saddle, probably a blanket with some sable sprinkles...from afar he may look like a patterned sable?


----------



## TheNamesNelson (Apr 4, 2011)

From personal experience my boy was very dark, with no color on his shoulders or outer thighs until 6 months or so then he has become a regular Black and Tan.

6mos









1yr









Now he is a little over a year and a half and I would say he has slightly more tan though I don't currently have the pics with me.


----------



## missykel3 (Jul 29, 2011)

He had sable siblings, and black and tan siblings. His dam is a sable with black and tan recessive, and his dad is a bi color. So his overall color pattern is a black and tan with a bi color recessive. From what I remember about color genetics, sable is more dominant than black and tan. So he would be predominantly sable with a black and tan recessive like his mom if he was sable. His black was SOLID black when he was a fuzz ball a few weeks ago...it's weird.
Here's a pic of him at 8 weeks.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

He has a nice dark face but will probably lighten up overall.
Here is Abby at 4 months
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/members/paddyd-albums1915-abby-2-picture11195-4-months.jpg
and Abby now
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...2-picture11091-squirrel-squirrel-squirrel.jpg


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

missykel3 said:


> He had sable siblings, and black and tan siblings. His dam is a sable with black and tan recessive, and his dad is a bi color. So his overall color pattern is a black and tan with a bi color recessive. From what I remember about color genetics, sable is more dominant than black and tan. So he would be predominantly sable with a black and tan recessive like his mom if he was sable. His black was SOLID black when he was a fuzz ball a few weeks ago...it's weird.
> Here's a pic of him at 8 weeks.


Do you know what the bi-color's recessive gene is?

He gets one from the dam and one from the sire. Sounds like the dam is throwing sables or black and tan's. If the pup inherited the mother's sable, then he would inherit either bi-color or whatever the other recessive is.


----------



## missykel3 (Jul 29, 2011)

selzer said:


> Do you know what the bi-color's recessive gene is?
> 
> He gets one from the dam and one from the sire. Sounds like the dam is throwing sables or black and tan's. If the pup inherited the mother's sable, then he would inherit either bi-color or whatever the other recessive is.


It goes Sable, Black and tan, bi color, and black. So the only other recessive there is is black. Either way, a black and tan with a bi color recessive or black recessive still produces a blanket black and tan. The pup has a black and tan from his dam, and a bi color or black recessive (these are the only two a true bi color can possess) from his sire.


----------



## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Sometimes the Bi-color recessive does not make for as much of a blanket as the black recessive does on a black/tan. I bred a b/t with black recessive to a homozygous Bi-color (all he could pass on was BI) and the blanket pattern in the b/t's varried quite a bit in the litter. A litter


----------



## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

First of all your pup is drop dead gorgeous!... I highley doubt he will be a saddle back and hs is not a patterned sable. He will be an awesome looking blanket back with very rich pigmentation and some gray undercoating which is normal.


----------



## missykel3 (Jul 29, 2011)

robk said:


> First of all your pup is drop dead gorgeous!... I highley doubt he will be a saddle back and hs is not a patterned sable. He will be an awesome looking blanket back with very rich pigmentation and some gray undercoating which is normal.


Thanks! He is a great boy, and is going to be so awesome! I was just curious about his coloring, as I had predicted he would be a blanket back...now I know they can have gray underlaying hairs. My other male is a black and tan with a faded saddle and bright points.


----------



## dwest44575 (Dec 22, 2015)

I am so glad you posted this because my pup looks a lot like yours and is starting to get some light colors on her back just like yours... not much but its there. Her mom was a sable and her dad a black and tan. She is 5 months old today.


----------

