# What do the collar colors mean?



## GSD Fan

What do colored collars on puppies mean? What does a blue collar say about a puppy's temperament? Green? Or can someone find me a link about it?


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## kejhix

Ooo, yes, I'd be interested in learning about this, too. 

Great question!

Kaci


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## CeCe

The breeder puts different color collars on each pup simply to tell them apart.


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## DanielleOttoMom

The put a different colored collar so the can ID each puppy. So they can them apart and monitor them individually. Has nothing to do with temperament.


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## kejhix

Ahh, okay. I thought it perhaps meant something else. I thought I read somewhere where someone said something like, "My puppy was a yellow collar," and I didn't know what it meant. Maybe they were referring to something else.

Thanks! 

Kaci


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## Freestep

Blue means the puppy is more quiet and submissive.

Green means the puppy is adventurous, curious and bold.

Red means the puppy is aggressive and has a lot of drive.

Yellow means the puppy is dominant over his littermates.

Pink means the puppy is sweet and docile.

Purple means the puppy is friendly, playful, and avoids conflict.

Black means...

...oh, I can't go on.


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## phgsd

It's just ID...before they're named they can be referred to by their color (like "yellow collar puppy"), but it doesn't mean a thing about the dogs themselves.


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## onyx'girl

Freestep, please continue, Karlo was black collar, I want to know what his color means... 
Onyx was lime green....should have been a warning, right there!


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## Cassidy's Mom

Freestep said:


> Pink means the puppy is sweet and docile.


Ha! :rofl: And by "sweet and docile" you mean "heck on wheels"? 

Halo


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## RocketDog

LOL

Freestep has POD!

And Halo..... GAWD is that a darling picture!!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥


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## Chicagocanine

Red means stop...green means go. That's all I know.


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## Emoore

Kopper wore a blue collar. It means he's a working class dawg. 

Seriously, my breeder put soft yarn collars on the puppies' necks the day they were born so she could tell all the little squirming bi-color and sable furballs apart. They kept the same color until they went to their new homes. So she put the yarn on waaay too early to tell anything about temperament.


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## onyx'girl

I've not heard of a breeder doing that for personality. But it sure would help with the rescue/shelters(as long as the eval was fair/correct!)


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## selzer

I am surprised no one mentioned this: we put colors on the pups so that when we weigh them every day, we can mark whether they have gained or lost weight. Most pups lose a little for the first 24 hours, but after that they should not lose two days in a row, or they may be in trouble, or need to be supplemented. 

As they grow, I switch the rick rack to small colors and there we can mark differences: the red puppy got out of the whelping box first, and went through the doggie door first; the yellow puppy kept possession of the new bone/rope for 45 minutes against all comers. 

With a small litter you can say Big Boy, Little Boy, Girl, or Boy with the white spot on chest, Girl with the white toe. But if you have a good sized uniform littler, collar colors can help a whole lot:





































Ok, got carried away...


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## heronponie

My pups breeder collar was camo print... what's that supposed to mean!? 

I probably should have named him Hunter- or Soldier. Mantracker? All would probably fit, actually


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## onyx'girl

Yeah, a litter that is huge has to rely on imagination when it comes to ric-rac! Many times a breeder will know who is who by size/color but the size may change during nap-time(or they put nail polish on the coat). 
I'd rather have the pup marked w/ a collar so I can keep track of litter mates. Onyx's breeder sent her home w/ her lime green collar.
I chose to leave Karlo's black one w/ the breeder, because I knew he'd outgrow it w/in days. And she could re-use it over and over with other litters.
How many of you brought your pup home with their baby collar? It does hold sentimental value like a baby's wrist bracelet from the hospital!


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## Emoore

onyx'girl said:


> It does hold sentimental value like a baby's wrist bracelet from the hospital!


I brought Kopper home in his blue yarn collar. I wish I had kept it but I threw it away


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## Chicagocanine

I wish I had thought of that when I rescued a litter of 7 three-week-old feral kittens, all brown tabby or torbie... Instead I had to find distinguishing marks to recognize them by for their bottle feedings and weigh-ins. I ended up naming a few of them by the marks I had used to tell em apart (Spot, Blaze...and Mr Grey looked like an alien because he had the tiniest head and huge eyes...)


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## blehmannwa

Havs was pink. The breeders thought it would be funny if we named him Pinkie.


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## ColoradoVDGS

yup. use 'em to tell those fuzzballs apart. I worked as an intake/medical isolation tech at a humane society and we would use ticket bracelets (like these- Assorted Color Tyvek Wristbands 1" for Parties and Events - 500 Pack) 
on new dogs and cats to mark their name and basic info on until we could get a kennel assigned to them. They worked great. never heard of any kind of temperament coding though. the animal got what we pulled outta the box.


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## Falkosmom

Chicagocanine said:


> I wish I had thought of that when I rescued a litter of 7 three-week-old feral kittens, all brown tabby or torbie... Instead I had to find distinguishing marks to recognize them by for their bottle feedings and weigh-ins. I ended up naming a few of them by the marks I had used to tell em apart (Spot, Blaze...and Mr Grey looked like an alien because he had the tiniest head and huge eyes...)


Awwww! So cute! What happened to the little alien?


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## Rua

This thread is really interesting. I didn't know that some breeders used the collars to discern anything about their pups. 

Of all the pups though, my girl had the most recognizable face because she looked so much like her mum. (Long nose, delicate features.) She was the only pup named after her mum on her papers. Her mum was "Minna's Dark Stroll" and my girl is "Minna vom der Steiger".

But I reckon in my case, the multicoloured collars was just to tell them apart. Unless using the collars for temperament is a universal thing? My girl had a pink collar.


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## Vaks

Oh my god, I can not find the 4th .... Who is it??










lollll


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## Freestep

Rua said:


> Unless using the collars for temperament is a universal thing? My girl had a pink collar.


No one uses collars for temperament. I was being silly, it never dawned on me that anyone that would actually think that the collar colors meant anything. They are simply used to tell the pups apart.


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## Rua

Freestep said:


> No one uses collars for temperament. I was being silly, it never dawned on me that anyone that would actually think that the collar colors meant anything. They are simply used to tell the pups apart.


OH LOL! 
I totally believed you there. Wow - I must be either really tired or really gullible today. haha!

When I first read what you wrote about the pink collars meaning that the dog was sweet and docile and I was like, "Hang on....Juno is neither of those things. My breeder must have got it wrong." 

Then I thought, "Well maybe temperment colour coded collars is just an American thing.":laugh:


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## Good_Karma

OMG these puppy pics are ADORABLE!!! Keep 'em coming!!


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## GSD Fan

I guess I misheard or misread it then, about color collars meaning different temperaments. Sorry about that.


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## selzer

GSD Fan said:


> I guess I misheard or misread it then, about color collars meaning different temperaments. Sorry about that.


If you had to use, say Red for dominant, blue for shy, purple for middle of the road, yellow for compliant, pink for sensitive, you would have to have multiple collars on each pup and change them out on a daily basis. 

A breeder might say the red one is the most intelligent or the the Blue one seems to be the dominant one. Or the green one seems to have lots of drive. They are just marking the personality the dog has shown over the eight weeks, and associating that to the color collar they are wearing.


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## onyx'girl

GSD Fan said:


> I guess I misheard or misread it then, about color collars meaning different temperaments. Sorry about that.


 There was an article in Whole Dog Journal(10/09) about dogs wearing color coded scarfs. 
Red~reactive,stay clear
Blue~friendly, no greetings, please
Green~friendly,welcomes greetings
Purple~timid or fearful, stay clear


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## iBaman

onyx'girl said:


> There was an article in Whole Dog Journal(10/09) about dogs wearing color coded scarfs.
> Red~reactive,stay clear
> Blue~friendly, no greetings, please
> Green~friendly,welcomes greetings
> Purple~timid or fearful, stay clear


Best Friend's Animal sanctuary uses this system on their dogs, so in some places, it's used. I doubt it would be used on very small puppies though.


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## onyx'girl

right, as posted previously, colored ric-rac is just for ID'ing pups...not for temperament tests, that doesn't happen til 7 weeks. And good breeders wouldn't (hopefully) need to have a system to decipher their litter by such extreme color coding as a rescue would use. Red flag if they had red & purple collars!


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## juliejujubean

My girl was black collar. She did not come home with a collar( shipped in crate) but she did come home with a puppy packet with a picture of her and her black piece of had. I still have it in her folder and well as some baby teeth I found her messing with.


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## Barb E

Freestep said:


> Blue means the puppy is more quiet and submissive.
> 
> Green means the puppy is adventurous, curious and bold.
> 
> Red means the puppy is aggressive and has a lot of drive.
> 
> Yellow means the puppy is dominant over his littermates.
> 
> Pink means the puppy is sweet and docile.
> 
> Purple means the puppy is friendly, playful, and avoids conflict.
> 
> Black means...
> 
> ...oh, I can't go on.


Kaos came home with a Ducky collar - holy cow what does that mean?


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## PaddyD

He's a lab, take him duck hunting.


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## doggiedad

your pups breeder collar was camo print. what about the sleeves?



heronponie said:


> >>> My pups breeder collar was camo print...<<<
> 
> what's that supposed to mean!?
> 
> I probably should have named him Hunter- or Soldier. Mantracker? All would probably fit, actually


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## doggiedad

oh no, you're going to continue and if you don't
brother Sharpton will march on this thread. :crazy:



Freestep said:


> Blue means the puppy is more quiet and submissive.
> 
> Green means the puppy is adventurous, curious and bold.
> 
> Red means the puppy is aggressive and has a lot of drive.
> 
> Yellow means the puppy is dominant over his littermates.
> 
> Pink means the puppy is sweet and docile.
> 
> Purple means the puppy is friendly, playful, and avoids conflict.
> 
> 
> >>>>> Black means...
> 
> ...oh, I can't go on. <<<<


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## Chicagocanine

onyx'girl said:


> There was an article in Whole Dog Journal(10/09) about dogs wearing color coded scarfs.
> Red~reactive,stay clear
> Blue~friendly, no greetings, please
> Green~friendly,welcomes greetings
> Purple~timid or fearful, stay clear


Actually the two dog camps I've been to have colored bandanas (Camp Dogwood, and Dog Scout Camp)... When I say dog camps I mean the ones you go to with your dog, not like a daycare or something... For dogs who "need space" one used yellow bandanas, the other used orange. This did not mean the dog was aggressive, just to ask the owner before you approach. Camp Dogwood just had the one type I think though. Dog Scout Camp had a few types but the only other one I can remember was a rainbow bandana which meant do not give that dog any treats, for dogs who had sensitive stomachs or allergies.





Falkosmom said:


> Awwww! So cute! What happened to the little alien?


I ended up keeping him, but he doesn't look as much like an alien now, although he still has somewhat big eyes.  As a baby he was the smallest runt in the litter but he eventually caught up to the rest as he grew up.

Baby Mr Grey:










Adult My Grey:


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## Barb E

PaddyD said:


> He's a lab, take him duck hunting.


:rofl:
She is quite interested in birds...


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## 1337f0x

MAN I BOUGHT A BLACK COLLAR NOT KNOWING WHAT IT MEANS.

Anyway, what does White mean? I want a white collar for my boy.


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