# Breeding a black GSD to a sable GSD



## Clausgsd2 (Mar 19, 2020)

Does breeding a solid black German Shepherd to a sable German Shepherd produce “black/dark” sable German Shepherd pups and black German Shepherd pups? Or does those two colors just produce regular sable and black puppies? I’m just curious about the coloring, I am not breeding.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Sable is sable, regardless of variations in depth of color. I feel that the sables with a black in their genetics are darker but i think that is anecdotal. My dog has a black sire and has a very rich color. His mother had a black sire and is also very rich in color. So does the black influence the color bands? Not sure. Genetically, I don't think they know that answer yet on how the recessive color influences the primary.



Color Genetics in German Shepherds



A black german shepherd (unless one of the showlines out of Russia which magically carry a dominant black gene) must carry two black genes (a/a). Black is recessive in our breed (unless...Russia). 
Sable is dominant. In order for a dog to be a sable, one of the parents MUST be sable.

So if the sable carries black, they may produce black puppies.
if the sable carries sable, all puppies will be sable regardless of the other parent.
If the sable carries black/tan, some of the puppies could be black/tan 
If the sable carries bi-color, some of the puppies could be bi-color.

But if the parents were black and one sable, ALL of the puppies would carry black as the secondary color gene which could be passed down to their progeny. They will only carry sable if they ARE sable.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Jax08 said:


> Sable is sable, regardless of variations in depth of color. I feel that the sables with a black in their genetics are darker but i think that is anecdotal. My dog has a black sire and has a very rich color. His mother had a black sire and is also very rich in color. So does the black influence the color bands? Not sure. Genetically, I don't think they know that answer yet on how the recessive color influences the primary.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Do you think there is something else going on in the "dominant" black showline? If so, what?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Thecowboysgirl said:


> Do you think there is something else going on in the "dominant" black showline? If so, what?


No idea. When you trace the line back, names and pictures end in the 70s in the USSR.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Jax08 said:


> No idea. When you trace the line back, names and pictures end in the 70s in the USSR.


It's black magic! Lol


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

In order for two sables (sire and dam) to produce black, both must carry black.


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