# Sable Coat Change



## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

I've been wondering whether or not his coat's going to change much beyond this point, from what he looked like at 8 weeks and now at 18 weeks I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of his coat could look like judging by his progression so far.

Here's several pictures of him from 8, 11, 16 and 17-18. I'll include a picture of the Sire and Dam too at the end as a reference, and wanted to ask what kind of coat they have? I was leaning towards black sable but they don't quite fully look like black sables.

*8, 11 & 16*


*17-18*







*Sire & Dam*


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## hylia (Mar 3, 2016)

What a beautiful pup!

I am not expert and only a new sable owner myself, so I have not seen the colour progression of my dog first hand. She did look a lot like yours as a pup, both in the very light very puppy stage as well as the progressing to a bit darker (I saw photos).

She just turned 16 months actually now that I look at the date. She looks similar to your pup's mom in colour (both actual color and extent of black going down legs, beige behind head, etc), but with a blacker face. She carries either black or bi-colour so I don't know if that makes a difference for the masking. But I guess she might change too. Just in the 6 weeks I've had her, she's darkened a bit (blew some coat from her heat). I also was under the impression that the sable colour change is pretty much seasonal, at least here where we have cold winters the dogs I've seen (in pictures and in person) look totally different depending on the amount of undercoat they have in. 

I am not well versed in colours, so my answer is neither here nor there, but to me a black sable is much darker. I considered my dog a 'regular' sable. Not washed out but not a dark or a black sable either. We have a breeder that produces a lot of black/dark sable around here and seems to me the pups have that dark shading down their front legs even from an early age (seen many pics/progressions on local GSD forum). Maybe I am wrong. Will also be watching.


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## Femfa (May 29, 2016)

I think your pup will darken to be similar to his parents, perhaps a bit lighter. But I'd be surprised if he ended up being a light sable, though it is possible.


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## thegooseman90 (Feb 24, 2017)

I think he'll stay on the lighter side. His toes are light and he was almost blonde as a pup. But their color can change quite a bit. My pup is about the same age as yours and he darkened up a lot from 8-18 weeks but he started out sorta dark and had black toes. The first pic is from 8 weeks, second from yesterday(18 weeks)


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

I'll give the other posts a proper look and response in a bit, just woke up too early and extremely tired lol! I just wanted to point out that @thegooseman90 his littermates looked exactly like that! There was only one other light sable bitch like him, most of the other littermates were dark like your pup with one black bitch within the litter.


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## thegooseman90 (Feb 24, 2017)

Ikigai said:


> I'll give the other posts a proper look and response in a bit, just woke up too early and extremely tired lol! I just wanted to point out that @thegooseman90 his littermates looked exactly like that! There was only one other light sable bitch like him, most of the other littermates were dark like your pup with one black bitch within the litter.


 looks like you got one of the light ones(to me at least). I have seen some on here tho that started blonde and ended up really dark


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## bkernan (May 17, 2009)

First of all - gorgeous pup. When I scrolled through your pictures I was floored at how closely he resembles my 6 mo. old, Hudson - wow!

Hudson's coloring very much resembles your sweet boy's - I've provided pictures. Hudson's parents are both sables and similar to the picture of your guy's S&D. Anyways, our trainer was surprised during our last visit by how light Hudson has gotten this summer and said he may stay lighter on the body with a darker face. I always assumed he'd be getting darker - but I definitely am not an expert. I should have asked our trainer if the sun has anything to do with how light he is currently (I feel stupid I don't know the answer...!) - but hope it helps!

I tried to keep pictures from oldest to most recent... but you get the idea!


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## Femfa (May 29, 2016)

They can take you by surprise. All of the pups in my girls' litter are dark sables (FB Picture here: https://www.facebook.com/wendelinkennel/photos/pcb.1653100848332687/1653100594999379/?type=3&theater), but half of them started getting exceptionally blonde while others stayed dark like my girl (example of the light females who were born dark: https://www.facebook.com/wendelinkennel/photos/pcb.1663155947327177/1663155837327188/?type=3&theater). So unless you have a picture of your pup from birth, it can be difficult to gauge.


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

thegooseman90 said:


> looks like you got one of the light ones(to me at least). I have seen some on here tho that started blonde and ended up really dark


Yeah there were only two light sable pups, mine and another light sable female. I hope he turns out much more darker, really love the dark sable look haha. 



hylia said:


> What a beautiful pup!
> 
> I am not expert and only a new sable owner myself, so I have not seen the colour progression of my dog first hand. She did look a lot like yours as a pup, both in the very light very puppy stage as well as the progressing to a bit darker (I saw photos).
> 
> ...


Yeah I've noticed that too, pups with a lot more dark shading on their legs turn out to be much more darker, usually dark or black sable most of the time.



bkernan said:


> First of all - gorgeous pup. When I scrolled through your pictures I was floored at how closely he resembles my 6 mo. old, Hudson - wow!
> 
> Hudson's coloring very much resembles your sweet boy's - I've provided pictures. Hudson's parents are both sables and similar to the picture of your guy's S&D. Anyways, our trainer was surprised during our last visit by how light Hudson has gotten this summer and said he may stay lighter on the body with a darker face. I always assumed he'd be getting darker - but I definitely am not an expert. I should have asked our trainer if the sun has anything to do with how light he is currently (I feel stupid I don't know the answer...!) - but hope it helps!
> 
> I tried to keep pictures from oldest to most recent... but you get the idea!


I've seen a few pictures of your pup around the forum for sure, he looks amazing, definitely resembles Rocky! There's just something that's slightly different between him and Rocky but I can't put my finger on it haha, maybe the eyes? I'm not entirely sure but he definitely looks a lot like him! His coat looks real close to Rocky's too. Have you got a picture of the S&D of your pup? Would be nice to compare, but yeah I'm not sure either whether the sun affects their coat, though I've definitely seen a few users saying they do differ a little during different seasons.



Femfa said:


> They can take you by surprise. All of the pups in my girls' litter are dark sables (FB Picture here: https://www.facebook.com/wendelinkennel/photos/pcb.1653100848332687/1653100594999379/?type=3&theater), but half of them started getting exceptionally blonde while others stayed dark like my girl (example of the light females who were born dark: https://www.facebook.com/wendelinkennel/photos/pcb.1663155947327177/1663155837327188/?type=3&theater). So unless you have a picture of your pup from birth, it can be difficult to gauge.


Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the litter or my pup when they/he was born. This is the second time I've left the breeder a message now and haven't got a response yet, hopefully I do sometime soon! I should've included better pictures of him at almost 9 weeks, which is when we actually got him: 

*9 WEEKS*































*11 WEEKS*


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## thegooseman90 (Feb 24, 2017)

He did darken up a good bit from 11-18 weeks. He was pretty blonde in that 11 week pic. Looking at the sire and dam they also have the dark toes. I'd expect him to darken up a little more but maybe not quite as dark as mom and dad. He's a great looking pup tho and I really like the color he is now. I wanted either pure black or a light sable before I got my pup and since then I've really come to love the dark dark sables.


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

thegooseman90 said:


> He did darken up a good bit from 11-18 weeks. He was pretty blonde in that 11 week pic. Looking at the sire and dam they also have the dark toes. I'd expect him to darken up a little more but maybe not quite as dark as mom and dad. He's a great looking pup tho and I really like the color he is now. I wanted either pure black or a light sable before I got my pup and since then I've really come to love the dark dark sables.


Yeah hoping her darkens up too haha. Really like the dark sables too.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

10 days (approx) 12-22


3-6 11 weeks (approx)


3-11 (5 days later)


3-26









adult


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## bkernan (May 17, 2009)

Yes there's definitely something different! Hudson, I think, has more of this bandit look to his facial markings especially as he has gotten older, it's almost like he has a glasses tan LOL. I totally agree though - I would love to know what his coat will look like/what will impact the color solely out of curiosity - he could literally be any color at this point and he'd still be my number one dude!

I've attached some pics of he and the pups from their litter as well as the only shots of S&D I still have (I wish I had more!). Keep me posted on what Rocky's coat does - they really do look alike  Also, there are also some more derpy pictures of Hudson


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

ok, this time without photobucket wanting me to pay for what used to be free....










here he is at 11 weeks


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

Dainerra said:


> ok, this time without photobucket wanting me to pay for what used to be free....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks like it still doesn't work, most of the other pictures in your last post didn't come up either. Try shifting over to Flickr or Google Drive, much better and reliable for long-term use!


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

bkernan said:


> Yes there's definitely something different! Hudson, I think, has more of this bandit look to his facial markings especially as he has gotten older, it's almost like he has a glasses tan LOL. I totally agree though - I would love to know what his coat will look like/what will impact the color solely out of curiosity - he could literally be any color at this point and he'd still be my number one dude!
> 
> I've attached some pics of he and the pups from their litter as well as the only shots of S&D I still have (I wish I had more!). Keep me posted on what Rocky's coat does - they really do look alike  Also, there are also some more derpy pictures of Hudson


Yeah definitely, Hudson definitely has his own unique look! Yeah I'm going to keep taking pictures, it's amazing how much of a difference just 2 weeks has on their coats.

I'll definitely keep you and everyone else here posted on his progress and how his coat comes along!


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

@thegooseman90 Was able to find more pictures online of Sire & Dam and a few littermates and the two light sables, one of which is Rocky.



*Light Sable Female (9 weeks)


Dark Sable Littermate (8-9 weeks?)


Light Sable from Litter (could be Rocky or female, unknown age - 7-8 weeks I guess?)


Light Sable from Litter (again, could be Rocky - 7-8 weeks?)


Assuming this is one of the dark littermates at a younger age (Definitely looks younger than 8 weeks, judging by size)


Light Sable Puppy (8 weeks?)
*


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## thegooseman90 (Feb 24, 2017)

That's cool. That first pup looks a lot like mine did when he was little. The sire to my pup was darker but the mom may actually be a little lighter. Hard to judge just off the pics tho. Your pup was already darkening up a bit so there's no telling how dark he could end up being. Nice pics all around, thanks for sharing


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## thegooseman90 (Feb 24, 2017)

I take that back, it's actually the second pup. The dark sable pup


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

Yeah, I wish I had pictures of the litter or Rocky when he was born, sadly haven't been able to get in touch with the breeder again.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

we'll just do this the easy way!

https://www.facebook.com/dainerra/media_set?set=a.10202349385529392.1073741844.1634891305&type=3


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## Ikigai (Jun 26, 2017)

Dainerra said:


> we'll just do this the easy way!
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/dainerra/media_set?set=a.10202349385529392.1073741844.1634891305&type=3


Those are some amazing pictures of how his coat's changed over time, he looks great. Definitely resembles Rocky at a lot of points especially the blonde-ish phase.


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