# Can my Sable produce Black and Tans?



## Landob123 (Jan 18, 2014)

Hello there. I am New to this forum. Let me start by saying I do not plan on breeding my GSD, but I am curious about how the genetics work with their coat patterns. Genetics of all animals is fascinating to me.

I recently aquired a male Sable German Shepherd pup as a family companion dog. His name is Ruger . He is currently 9 weeks.

Rugers mother was a Sable.

Rugers father was a Bi Color.

Ruger and all 6 of his litter mates were all Sables. The breeder told me that Ruger's mother always produced litters of 100% Sables.

What does this mean for the genes Ruger carries? Is it possible he could only carry the sable gene and only produce Sables no matter what he bred to? Or because his father was a Bicolor would that mean he definitely carries that gene and could produce blk/tans or bicolors if he was bred to the right female?

Thanks for any information. I breed Ball Pythons as a side business and knowing their genetics is very important. Just hoping to understand Rugers genetics, and GSD genetics in general, a little better.

Thanks in advance,
Landon Baier


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

This should help. If Ruger's mother produced a lot of pups and 100% were sables the odds are petty good she was sable x sable.

Ruger did not get sable from his father clearly. so he could be sable x bicolor or sable x black.

So there would be a chance if bred to a black and tan that he would produce a black and tan, of course there could be other things...........because the black and tan dog may carry bicolor or black

Don't let the "breeding announcements" throw you. The link is to Ehret's color chart page


Ehret German Shepherds - Breeding Announcements


----------



## MrsFergione (Jul 7, 2013)

If he has a black & tan recessive gene and whoever he is bred to is either black & tan or has a black & tan recessive gene then it is possible.


----------



## Landob123 (Jan 18, 2014)

Thanks for the responses. I had found this chart and was working on 100% understanding it. Which is why I asked here. So basically Ruger is a Sable herterozygous for bi-color or black? So if bred to a visual B & T or black, or a dog that is also het for those genes, there is a chance he could produce them? I read that Sable was dominant over all other genes, just wasnt sure if black and tan was actually recessive.


----------



## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Simple terms, make a punnett square and see. So more than likely your dog has one sable gene and one of something else. The other dog can potentially be B and T on both. So therefore each individual pup would have a 50% chance of being either a B and T or whatever the other gene your dog carries and depending on if that gene is dominant or recesive to the B and T saddle back.

Remember this is on a pup by pup basis, so its not like out of 10 puppies 50% will be sable and 50% will be something else. Each puppy is its own genetic punnett square and so if each dog takes the sable gene, you could have 10 sables.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

My sable puppy had a sable mother but two black and tan brothers. My dog, the father, is black and red. So, the sable mother must've had a recessive for black and tan (as I understand it).


----------



## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

I thought the gene for black & tan was the same as the gene in black & red GSDs & that the red color resulted from 'intensity' genes. Is this incorrect? IF correct, couldn't the sable mother have had a recessive for black, bi-color or black & tan?


----------

