# Blue Eye'd German?



## Wakebdr2

Hey everyone. Sorry if this is a redundant post but I couldn't find anything relevant. My girlfriend and I just got a GSD puppy and she has one blue eye. The breeder we got her from did not paper her due to some bad experiences with the first litter (puppy milling). We are fine with this because the price was right and she is an amazing dog. We were just curious if this was common or if there was some line introduced early on. The breeders were amazing and we have no reason to distrust them. And she was one of twelve in the litter and the only one with a blue eye. Thank you in advance for any information!


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## Sunsilver

It can happen in purebred shepherds. It happens most often with Panda shepherds, but it's not unheard of in regular coloured shepherds either.

However, with the dog's ancestors having come from a puppy mill situation, it's possible another breed was mixed in. I've seen dogs that I would have sworn were purebred GSD's, only to find out they were mixes.

Here's Franka, the foundation bitch for the current Panda line of GSDs:

Lewcinka's Franka von Phenom

As you'll see, she has one blue eye.


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## carmspack

"The breeder we got her from did not paper her due to some bad experiences with the first litter (puppy milling)"

this means what?

the pupil in the picture is open very wide in a high light situation when the iris should be contracting to limit light intake .
are both pupils the same size?

the "owl eye" and the pigment loss in the iris jump right out 

there may be a congenital problem -- I would have the eye checked by a vet .


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## wolfy dog

Wakebdr2 said:


> The breeder we got her from did not paper her due to some bad experiences with the first litter (puppy milling). We are fine with this because the price was right and she is an amazing dog.


Poor excuse from the breeder, never heard that one. Of course you love her, who wouldn't love a pup? I would put her on insurance since this is from a questionable back ground, esp. being a GSD and costs can run high when problems develop.


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## Wakebdr2

I don't call that a poor excuse by the breeder whatsoever. I chalk that up to being honest. The 1st litter they papered and someone bought the females and milled them. The second (which we got her from) was a pure bred litter but not papered because of that. I asked simply to see if anyone has seen this and not garner troll responses. The one picture may be vague, but I assure pupilary response is fine.


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## konathegsd

Doesn't sound like something a responsible breeder would do. Responsible breeders don't just sel their dogs to anyone with money.


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## selzer

Most puppy millers are not deterred by lack of AKC paperwork. They will put Continental Kennel Club papers, or any number of other papers on a puppy, and breed it to death. It might be a reason someone may not want to provide papers, but it is not a good reason. 

Whatever, you have a puppy, and it has a blue eye. Coming from a breeder who does not want to provide AKC paperwork, there is always a possibility that a second suiter came to visit the dam. Blue eyes are typical in Huskies and a few other breeds. But they are very uncommon in GSDs. People swear up and down that Pandas are purebred, but I'm not sure I believe that. If it is truly a gene, the gene may also have the blue-eye thing going on. I don't believe it. 

Puppies are born with blue eyes. But they should turn brownish within a few weeks of opening. Otherwise your girl looks like a GSD, just enjoy her.


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## Dainerra

Wakebdr2 said:


> I don't call that a poor excuse by the breeder whatsoever. I chalk that up to being honest. The 1st litter they papered and someone bought the females and milled them. The second (which we got her from) was a pure bred litter but not papered because of that. I asked simply to see if anyone has seen this and not garner troll responses. The one picture may be vague, but I assure pupilary response is fine.


worse than a poor excuse but a downright lie. No breeder is going to lose the right to register their future dogs because a puppy buyer decided to overbred a dog they purchased. 
Or, they are simply stating they aren't going to register the pups because they don't want to run the risk of someone buying who wants to do something like that. But that's just lazy because, as someone else said, the pups can be registered in other ways by those simply wanting to produce dogs for $$.

so, my guess is that the breeder was busted for some reason and not allowed to register dogs. Or they know that the pups are unregisterable. That points towards a chance that she isn't purebred. At the very least not likely to be well-bred.


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## islanddog

Your puppy is beautiful--blue eyes can happen. Somewhere on this board there is a thread with pictures of blue-eyed sheps--I hope you can find, or someone else.
Your puppy looks purebred. 
No one is trolling you, but many folks here have seen the terrible results on unscrupulous breeders so this may have touched a nerve, and it does sound like you've been lied to. 
I've only owned 1 registered gsd (awesome), one gsd mix (awesome), and one mystery looked like working lines purebred gsd (awesome) and now a complete trail mix of a dog with a beautiful blue eye (also awesome).
I've owned/own 5 siamese cats, none of them registered, all of them lively, sassy smart (yes, awesome).
Enjoy your beautiful puppy and this board, the knowledge and expertise, and when if you need it, they will be there to help you and your puppy.


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## Jenny720

How different what a beauty!!!


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## carmspack

Dainerra said:


> worse than a poor excuse but a downright lie. No breeder is going to lose the right to register their future dogs because a puppy buyer decided to overbred a dog they purchased.
> Or, they are simply stating they aren't going to register the pups because they don't want to run the risk of someone buying who wants to do something like that. But that's just lazy because, as someone else said, the pups can be registered in other ways by those simply wanting to produce dogs for $$.
> 
> so, my guess is that the breeder was busted for some reason and not allowed to register dogs. Or they know that the pups are unregisterable. That points towards a chance that she isn't purebred. At the very least not likely to be well-bred.


the "excuse" is ridiculous -- lame, lame, lame.

you say " The breeders were amazing and we have no reason to distrust them."

why?

there was no line introduced early on to bring in a or two blue eyes.

eyes are described in the standard -- dark , slight almond shape , medium sized.

to have a blue eye , round, possibly slightly protruding - is a fault 

not a bragg because it is special or unusual or rare 

I would have the dog's eye examined to make sure there is no inflammation or 
damage . Are the pupils even ?

and there are no trolls that answered your post -- 

love your dog like he is the best dog in the universe


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## wolfy dog

If a breeder won't issue papers because he is worried the pups end up in a puppy mill, is a legitimate reason but....then there should be a spay/ neuter contract if this worry is real. To know for sure if you have purebred GSD at least the parents should have AKC papers and the breeder should be able to show them to you. Other "papers" could be vaccination records or from iffy registration organisation if they exist to start with. Anyone can call themselves a registration.
Anyways, moving on, you have a nice looking pup, so enjoy her. Consider having her go through her first heat if you decide to spay her later. It is better for her health. Plenty of info on this forum.


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## Fodder

Geez people, way to welcome a new comer...

Pup is adorable. Blue eye/eyes is not common at all in the breed, but it happens and does not necessarily mean the dog is mixed in recent generations - I've seen pb gsd with two blue eyes, a rottie with a blue eye, bottom line - it happens.

Enjoy the pup, you already have her and she seems great..... stick around and learn more about the breed, reputable breeders, etc as you go along - all of us were new to the breed at some point too.


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## Whiteshepherds

Clearly, this condition isn't the result of breeding a blue eyed dog to a brown eyed dog. There's not a ton, but some information on line about this condition- Heterochromia Iridis. It's a lack of melanin in one eye._ “This disorder is caused by changes in iridal pigment concentration and distribution, characterized by at least two distinct and solidly colored areas or differently colored patches or spots. In some cases, it may be accompanied by thinning of the iris, or holes in the iris. Combinations of brown, blue and white are common”_. _“Genetics are thought to be a potential reason for the occurrence as well as injury.”_ They (GSD's) may not be prone to it like Husky's and Australian Shepherds but everything I've read said it can happen in any breed. It also happens in humans. 

Anyway...it does seems like some dogs with this condition have other medical issues. The OP didn't mention any problems I hope it stays that way. Best case scenario, this pup will be a happy healthy animal with a unique look because of her eye colors. Worst case scenario, the OP will spend the rest of the dogs life having people tell him his dog is a mixed breed. :surprise:

As for no lines introduced into the breed with blue eyes or heterochromia...... How do we know this? How do we know that no GSD's produced this condition when the breed was being developed? Isn't it possible that GSD's could have produced this and those dogs weren't used for breeding...they were given away as pets or killed, similar to other GSD's born with faults? Why is that not a possibility??


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## wolfy dog

Genes are unpredictable. I once inbred a line of pet mice, based from 1 Siamese coated mouse. I donated a few males to a wildlife center where they were (in)bred extensively (as food). About 6 years later a Siamese turned up in their mice. This spanned many generations as you can imagine. A new generation about every two months. 
Something similar can happen in all dog breeds. After all, most of them started out as mutts, if not all. With just the "right" combination latent genes can manifest themselves at some point. I wouldn't worry about the blue eye. I think the main concern from some of us, incl. me, was the breeder's excuse for not papering the litter, nothing more than that.


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## Xenobiarose

Whiteshepherds said:


> Clearly, this condition isn't the result of breeding a blue eyed dog to a brown eyed dog. There's not a ton, but some information on line about this condition- Heterochromia Iridis. It's a lack of melanin in one eye._ “This disorder is caused by changes in iridal pigment concentration and distribution, characterized by at least two distinct and solidly colored areas or differently colored patches or spots. In some cases, it may be accompanied by thinning of the iris, or holes in the iris. Combinations of brown, blue and white are common”_. _“Genetics are thought to be a potential reason for the occurrence as well as injury.”_ They (GSD's) may not be prone to it like Husky's and Australian Shepherds but everything I've read said it can happen in any breed. It also happens in humans.
> 
> Anyway...it does seems like some dogs with this condition have other medical issues. The OP didn't mention any problems I hope it stays that way. Best case scenario, this pup will be a happy healthy animal with a unique look because of her eye colors. Worst case scenario, the OP will spend the rest of the dogs life having people tell him his dog is a mixed breed. :surprise:
> 
> As for no lines introduced into the breed with blue eyes or heterochromia...... How do we know this? How do we know that no GSD's produced this condition when the breed was being developed? Isn't it possible that GSD's could have produced this and those dogs weren't used for breeding...they were given away as pets or killed, similar to other GSD's born with faults? Why is that not a possibility??


Yep! Heterochromia can happen in almost any animal and any breed. There are three types of heterochromia too. Complet, segmental/partial (one or both eyes will have small sections of two diffrent colors in the same eye) or central (which I have) is two colors. part of the iris is one color and around the pupil is another. In my case I am blue eyed with a orange brown ring. SOMETIMES it can be a sign of chimeraism.


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