# Explain to me colors please



## Amandajo1985 (May 2, 2012)

I am very curious to know how color genetics in gsd works. like a sable bred to a black and tan, or a white bred to a black and tan, how does this work. I'm from the horse world and know certain colors bred to other colors can only product certain colors, is it just luck of the draw with gsd....I'm very interested in learning...


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

In order of dominance:
Sable
Black & Tan
Bi-Color
Black

Dilutes, blue and liver, are recessives that affect black pigment, diluting it to a steel gray (similar to a Russian Blue cat) or brown (Chocolate Labs). Similar to dilutes in horses, though with GSDs they affect black pigment, not red.

White is a recessive masking gene that is located on a different locus than the one for color. So a white dog will still have two normal color genes (sable, black/tan, etc...) but they won't be expressed because the dog is white due to the masking effect. 

Unlike with some horse colors, and colors in other breeds of dogs, there are no health issues directly associated with certain colors in GSDs.


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## Amandajo1985 (May 2, 2012)

Ok so a white bitch can only produce white puppies, or is it a fifty fifty chance.....because my boy is what I think a silver sable, but there was also a black puppy in his same litter....


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

White is recessive, so a dog must have 2 copies of the gene to express it and be white. A white bitch will give every pup one copy of the white gene, but for those pups to be white themselves they would also have to get a copy from the sire. Either a white stud, carrying 2 copies, and thus a white to white breeding would produce all white pups, or a standard colored dog carrying a white recessive in which case some of the pups would be colored and others would be white.


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## knwilk44 (Apr 19, 2012)

I, too, come from the horse world and am pretty familiar with horse color genetics. I know there are some websites explaining horse color genetics, but I don't know about any for dog color genetics, specifically for GSD's and I'd love to learn more about them.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I dont know if it's online, but Malcolm Willis' book Genetics of the Dog has a good chapter on 'colors', it's an easy read to.

One of my males who was a bicolor was the result of a black/tan bitch and very dark sable sire.

Masi (in my avatar) is the result of the same color combination.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Article on color genetics:

Frankenhaus German Shepherds - Color Genetics


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## jaggirl47 (Jul 18, 2009)

This is the place I used when I tested my pup. The website has color genetic charts. You can also call them and they are great to work with and very informative.
VetGen: Veterinary Genetic Services - Canine - List of Services - Coat Color


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