# Sable owner question: Striping, tar heels, etc...



## Silver Black sable

Hey any sable owners out there i have a question do all sables have pencil markings tar heels and striping 

my black sable has all 3


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## wildo

I'm well aware of what pencil toes and tar heels are, but what do you mean by striping?


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## Silver Black sable

and anyone that doesnt know 
1 pencil markings are black strips of fur over their toes
2 striping is a black stripe of fur running down the front of their front legs
3 tar heels black fur on the heels of their back legs


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## wildo

And for those who want pics (at least of pencil toes and tar heels-- and at least a few that the admins didn't delete) see here: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/breed-standard/167793-pencil-toes-tar-heels.html

Thanks for the clarification on "striping." I had not heard that term before.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Yes, but what does any of that have to do with non-commercial trades and sales? :thinking:


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## Silver Black sable

nothing just a question


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## Cassidy's Mom

You've posted your thread in the wrong forum, I've notified the moderator to have it moved.


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## Silver Black sable

okay


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## Silver Black sable

*striping*

and heres one of striping4GSD - Coat Colours

just scroll down until you find it its not that far down


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## robk

I voted only two but that is because I did not know what you meant by striping. Yes Ruger has all three.


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## Silver Black sable

wow, thanks im getting a lot of replies


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## GatorDog

Mine has none because he is a patterned sable.


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## Silver Black sable

patterned?


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## Silver Black sable

never mind found a pic


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## Liesje

Kenya is a patterned sable and does NOT have tarheels or any black on her feet. Both of her parents were sable.









Pan is a dark sable (NOT a "black sable") and he does have some tarheel/black on his hocks and black on his toes. Both of his parents are sable.


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## GatorDog

My patterned sable.


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## Piper'sgrl

My girl is a pattern sable too...only her mom was a pattern sable though


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## angierose

My patterned sable doesn't have any of the things you mentioned, but my dark sable boy has all three.


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## Freestep

Silver Black sable said:


> Hey any sable owners out there i have a question do all sables have pencil markings tar heels and striping
> 
> my black sable has all 3


No, not all sables have those markings. I believe they must have a bicolor or black gene to get pencil toes and tar heels. I could be mistaken about how the genetics work, but saddle-patterned sables don't have those markings.

FWIW, I don't think your dog is a "black sable". I would say he is dark sable. Black sables appear very black at a distance, with just a bit of tan on the legs and around the eyes. Can someone pull up a photo of a true black sable?


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## Silver Black sable

I didnt know there was a balck and dark sbale i thought it was black, silver, red and golden


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## Silver Black sable

looking at pics its kinda hard to tell which are black and which are dark

if anyone has a pic that they know is a real dark or a real black id like to see it


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## Freestep

I found this photo in an old thread... I'd call this dog a black sable. With the lighting and the snow, it's kind of hard to see a lot of detail, but the point is that the dog appears black at first glance.









Your dog is more of a silver sable, or dark sable, not really black sable.


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## Liesje

A black sable is basically a dog you'd probably think was solid black at a distance, but when you pet them backwards you can see the sable ticking on the coat.


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## Silver Black sable

bear doesnt look solid black hes got definite gray streaks near his joints and tan on his ears


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## Silver Black sable

it dont get to see many shepherds in person besides bear so i wouldnt be skilled at distinguishing


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## paulag1955

Shasta has none. She's a patterned sable so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.


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## Silver Black sable

gatorgod says his patterned sable doesnt have any either


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## paulag1955

Here's my patterned sable. Her dad is a patterned sable; mom is a black and tan.


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## Dooney's Mom

Liesje said:


> Kenya is a patterned sable and does NOT have tarheels or any black on her feet. Both of her parents were sable.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pan is a dark sable (NOT a "black sable") and he does have some tarheel/black on his hocks and black on his toes. Both of his parents are sable.


OMG- I LOVE Pan's coloring- my dream color- dark sable!!

My foster sable, Karma has none of the markings. I would say maybe half of her litter of 10 had the pencil marks and tar heels. She does have one rear partial white paw :wub:


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## juliejujubean

mine does not have "striping" but she does have what i call eyeshadow.  its sooo cute!


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## Silver Black sable

thats adorable i wonder if thats a genetic markings because the striping and tar heels are the marks of a recessive black gene


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## Freestep

Silver Black sable said:


> thats adorable i wonder if thats a genetic markings because the striping and tar heels are the marks of a recessive black gene


That's what I think as well--either black or bicolor. I have noticed darker sables tend to come from crossing a sable to a bicolor or black, as opposed to a black & tan saddleback. The latter usually produces saddle-patterned sables without pencil toes and tarheels.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Halo has the striping on her front legs and penciling on her feet, (although both have faded quite a bit since when she was a puppy), but not tar heels. Her dam is sable and her sire is a solid black.

This is at 5 months old:










And 3-1/2 years old:










She has a lot more hair between her toes than she used to, so it's hard to see that there's still a bit of dark striping on them.


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## Silver Black sable

she is a gorgeous dog


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## psjr74

goodday!!!! mine at home i had a recent pups,2 pups actually off my male GSD & Female GSD...both parents were black and Tan but it turn out to produced a silver black sable color pups like the imaged used by sir SILVER BLACK SABLE. do u think its rare?


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## psjr74

goodday!!!! mine at home i had a recent pups,2 pups actually off my male GSD & Female GSD...both parents were black and Tan but it turn out to produced a silver black sable color pups like the imaged avatar used by sir SILVER BLACK SABLE. do u think its rare? here tis the pups picture with his littermate Black & tan...for your comments & suggestions...thanks


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## Liesje

That puppy looks blue. It's not sable. Yes the blue and tan is pretty rare.


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## volcano

the show judges must be drunk on brandy to not prefer the sables and longhairs. My girl has very dark sable characteristics, big pencil toes, and I havent thought of looking for a tar heel. But I know she is the prettiest pup ever. And btw, about half the pups who I have seen claimed sable are not, theres a bunch of saddleback or blanket owners claiming sable???


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## sarah1366

Wow lovely love sables my Kane is gold sable my very first shepherd going back over 30 years was classed as teddy bear sable he was all gold with silver grey overlay on the gold but very pretty but was very light the pics are georgous


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## nattydread

how do i know my GSD puppy is Sable. i know they go through color changes, but its kinda confusing and I'm anxious to know 6 weeks


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## nattydread

heres more pics 8 weeks








10 weeks








12 weeks


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