# genetic markings



## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

alright i posted a thread already pertaining to to sable shepherds but now im curious how many other types of GSDs have striping, tar heels, or pencil markings


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

This poll is for all GSD types not just sables


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Delgado has both tar heels and pencil toes


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

thanks i really am interested in finding out how common these markings are in the world of GSDs


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

Frank has pencil toes and tar heels


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

what type of GSD is he


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Do these markings correlate to certain work/temperament traits or are just cosmetic?


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

their cosmetic they usually mark a black recessive gene


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

What are tar heels?


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

tar heels are on the back legs they are just stripes of black fur going down the whole lower part of their leg


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Silver Black sable said:


> thanks i really am interested in finding out how common these markings are in the world of GSDs


All bicolors have them, and some sables.


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

good to note


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Zefra has all three.

She has some pretty dark pencil toes, has the stripping down the front of the legs and also has the tar heels in the back.

She is a sable.

Will try to find a photo that shows all three..


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Silver Black sable said:


> tar heels are on the back legs they are just stripes of black fur going down the whole lower part of their leg


Oh I didn't realize that's what you meant by striping, I thought you meant the stripe down the back.

Delgado has all three then, he's a bicolour


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)




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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

hes very cute 

looks like he has pencil markings on all four feet


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Bi-colors always have tarheels, and usually toe penciling as well. 
Black/tans never do.
Sables usually have them, but not always. Usually they will be seen in darker sables, and may or may not be present in lighter sables.


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

thank you that is very helpful


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

any one with any information like that is welcome to post it


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

i only know of six types of coat patterns so any other information on patterns that are rare so to speak would be appreciated


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

What is it you want to know?

There are 4 patterns in the GSD. In order of most dominant to most recessive:
Sable
Black/Tan
Bi-Color
Solid

Everything else is merely a variation on those themes, governed by different genes that determine, for example, extension of black pigment (making for a lighter or darker black/tan or sable) or hue of the tan pigment (black/red vs black/tan vs black/silver, etc...) and other minor factors.

Liver and blue are dilutes that affect black pigment, and can occur in any pattern.

White is a masking gene that essentially trumps the regular color gene, causing the dog to be all white even though it still possesses regular color genes as well.

Panda appears to be a spontaneous mutation that cropped up recently, creating a tri-colored dog.


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

what about blanketed and saddle backs


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Silver Black sable said:


> what about blanketed and saddle backs


Those would fall under black/tan, black/red, etc.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Blanket and saddle are both black/tan. The extension of the black pigment determining the size of the black areas on the back and face are governed by other modifying genes. But there is no gene for a blanket pattern or saddle pattern. Both are black/tan. Blanket and saddle are laymens terms to describe the look of the dog, they are not genetic realities.


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

you seem to know what your talking about i was wondering how many different sable colors are there


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

There aren't really different sable colors, officially. Sable is sable, it's a genetic pattern. People use other words to describe sables (like patterned sable, red sable, black sable....etc) but these aren't official patterns, just ways of describing and individual dog.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Lies is correct. The 4 colors I mentioned are the only 4 that exist. Everything else is just a variation on those themes. The different discriptors people use to describe different types of sables or black/tans are just ways of describing the dog.

Think of it like in people. I know several people with blue eyes, including myself. None of use have the exact same shade of blue eyes. But we still all have blue eyes, and our genes for which of the very limited eye colors available to human beings are the same. But we have different modifiers that affect exactly what shade of blue we have. Just as no 2 blondes have the exact same shade of blond hair. But they're still blondes, not brown, red or black. It is the same with dogs. A "red sable" and a "black sable" and a "silver sable" and a "patterned sable" are all just sable from the standpoint of what color they fall under.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Zeeva is white. I'm not sure what all those descriptions are but I don't see any coloring on her heels so I put none


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

so then golden would be a variation of tan


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## ImaginaryBee (Sep 20, 2012)

Wow, I am clueless to this poll. Way out of the loop here!


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## Silver Black sable (Aug 29, 2012)

if your dog has black stripes on his toes or black stripes on the front of his front legs or black heels then he can go on this poll


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

My boy has all three :wub:


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## Anubis_Star (Jul 25, 2012)

Bi-colors and sables have them.

I have seen a few blankets with tar heels, but never pencil toes.

And I've never seen a saddle have either.


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