# Sable German Shepherds are wolves?



## AndrewT1993

Sable German Shepherd owners, do you ever get asked if your shepherd is a wolf or wolf hybrid?

I was at work yesterday (at a doggie daycare) there was a new shepherd that came who was sable in color and when the owner came to pick him up, the other owners waiting in line were all like is that a wolf?

One guy even said and I quote *removed by moderator* wolf?! Everyone stay back thats a vicious wild animal! You should get arrested for having that beast!". (Over reaction much)


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## GsdLoverr729

Wow. I understand sables are wolfy in color, and shepherds are more wolf-like in appearance than some breeds but that's pathetic.
Then again, when Koda was a puppy, people always thought she was a wolf. I just never saw it.

You can't fix stupid


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## jprice103

When Cheyenne was little, people often asked me if she was a wolf. Now that she is an adult, it's really only the little kids who ask me if she is.

And forget about my all black GSD...no one knows WHAT he is! lol


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## AndrewT1993

Its like if the shepherd isn't black/tan or red/tan thanpeople automatically assume its a wolf or a mix breed.

Thank you Rin Tin Tin


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## GsdLoverr729

No, you forgot that people recognize whites.


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## TimberGSD2

I had a lady ask me in Petsmart this weekend why on earth I would bring a wolf to the pet store.


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## GsdLoverr729

Oh good grief. What an ignorant woman.


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## AndrewT1993

I didn't mention white because the white shepherds that come to my work always get misken for either huskies or malamutes, which I don't understand how as they look nothing alike


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## wildo

AndrewT1993 said:


> Its like if the shepherd isn't black/tan or red/tan thanpeople automatically assume its a wolf or a mix breed.
> 
> Thank you Rin Tin Tin


Actually, Rin Tin Tin was sable.


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## AndrewT1993

wildo said:


> Actually, Rin Tin Tin was sable.


Really?!?!? I always thought they were black and tan?


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## GsdLoverr729

Wow. What region are you in? o-o
Here, we have sables and blacks who get called wolves. Whites and b/t's are shepherds lmao.


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## fuzzybunny

Just the other day one guy got completely startled when Jazz came out of the woods at the dog park because he thought it was a Wolf, lol.


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## AndrewT1993

GsdLoverr729 said:


> Wow. What region are you in? o-o
> Here, we have sables and blacks who get called wolves. Whites and b/t's are shepherds lmao.


I'm in Florida. These people just don't seem to know dogs and like to assume


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## wildo

AndrewT1993 said:


> Really?!?!? I always thought they were black and tan?


As well as on wikipedia and a bunch of other places, ChrisWild sums up Rin Tin Tin's color well in this post: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/genetic-issues/173455-color-genetics-sables-2.html#post2348142


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## JakodaCD OA

this is my wolf


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## GsdLoverr729

Oh wow. Hey! Matt and I are heading down to Florida for a weekend here soon.  Wonder what kinds of comments we'll get about Koda.


Diane- May I steal your wolf :wub:


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## AndrewT1993

wildo said:


> As well as on wikipedia and a bunch of other places, ChrisWild sums up Rin Tin Tin's color well in this post: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/genetic-issues/173455-color-genetics-sables-2.html#post2348142


Well I was fooled by a movie cover of rin tin tin that I saw awhile back lol


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## Dainerra

Singe gets called a coyote all the time. when he was a puppy, a little girl asked if he was a fox.


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## JakodaCD OA

kymmey sorry I am rather attached to her


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## GsdLoverr729

JakodaCD OA said:


> kymmey sorry I am rather attached to her


 Lol! Very understandable. She is quite a beauty, I love how expressive/intelligent her expression is!


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## Courtney

That guy you see in my avatar...a women thought he was a lab she never seen before with pointy ears He has been mistaken for a wolf as well. Oh well...


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## Powell

When I picked up "Flash" from the Anderson, SC shelter to foster him for NSR, I took him into PetSmart. Now he's a dilute, and a bit of a GSD mix. He looks like a Chocolate GSD. Beautiful yellow eyes. I took him in and a kid said "LOOK AT THE WOLF !!!" I turned around looking all over.... I said where WHERE ? The kid said 'YOU got him Mister!' I said "SON! Have you ever seen a chocolate wolf ??" Big laughter in the store...... Kid says...um, well NO. I then showed him the pictures of Mani and Aries from Full Moon Farm. High content wolfdogs (a couple dog hairs in the mix...) and then he understood. 

HMMMMM FFFFFF!!! Chocolate Wolf anyone ??


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## AndrewT1993

Courtney said:


> That guy you see in my avatar...a women thought he was a lab she never seen before with pointy ears He has been mistaken for a wolf as well. Oh well...


Hahahaha a Lab? Now wolf I kinda get but a Lab? Thats rediculous!


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## Freddy

This is a dog I considered buying a while back. In the pic he's 7 months old. His dad was probably the "wolfiest" shepherd I've seen.







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## GsdLoverr729

I can't see the picture


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## jprice103

I think some Rin Tin Tin's were sable, but some were B&Ts. Or at a minimum, patterend Sables.  There were so many!


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## Freddy

GsdLoverr729 said:


> I can't see the picture


I'm trying. I thought you copied the IMG link from photobucket but it's not working.











Voila!!!!


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## GsdLoverr729

Oh my goodness! He IS wolfy! And sooo gorgeous! :wub:


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## e.rigby

I've had a group of little kids as if Virgil was a werewolf


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## onyx'girl

Still trying to domesticate my wolf, he's a work in progress :wub:


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## GsdLoverr729

Now him I can see being mistaken for a wolf  He's absolutely stunning! :wub:


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## Fionashuman

I used to have a white Shepherd/wolf hybrid. She was georgeous! And very Smart. When I picked out my Fiona (she's a Sable) I noticed her mom reminded me very much of Cessna(wolf x) only darker.


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## Jax08

AndrewT1993 said:


> One guy even said and I quote "removed by moderator* wolf?! Everyone stay back thats a vicious wild animal! You should get arrested for having that beast!". (Over reaction much)


:rofl: oh boy :rofl:

Did you manage to keep a straight face?


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## bigd3077

This is why I chose to get a sable! They are gorgeous!


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## doggiedad

that's the best reaction i've heard when it comes
to the wolf comments. ROTFL. i was talking to guy
who was telling me how he grew up with GSD's. then he looked
at Loki and said "that is a GSD, isn't it". i said "yeah, he's a GSD"
and laughed.



AndrewT1993 said:


> Sable German Shepherd owners, do you ever get asked if your shepherd is a wolf or wolf hybrid?
> 
> I was at work yesterday (at a doggie daycare) there was a new shepherd that came who was sable in color and when the owner came to pick him up, the other owners waiting in line were all like is that a wolf?
> 
> One guy even said and I quote
> 
> >>>> *removed by moderator* wolf?! Everyone stay back thats a vicious wild animal! You should get arrested for having that beast!". <<<<
> 
> (Over reaction much)


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## SueDoNimm

doggiedad said:


> i was talking to guy
> who was telling me how he grew up with GSD's. then he looked
> at Loki and said "that is a GSD, isn't it". i said "yeah, he's a GSD"
> and laughed.


I had a lady come up to me and tell me about the German Shepherds she had and how one liked to herd her cows, even though they aren't herding dogs. Right lady, it's just a coincidence that they're shepherds and classed in the herding group by the AKC. 

There's a crazy lady who lives down the street from me and she wants to stop and talk every time she walks by. She must have told me 10 times that my dog is a GSD and/or a police dog. Thanks for the information! I had no idea what kind of dog this was! I was secretly happy that as soon as she crossed the street and stepped into my yard, my dog started barking at her. My neighbor said that this lady just walked into her house one day and she found her standing in the living room. I don't think she'll be doing that at my house.


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## rooandtree

my 8 year old daughter with her lovely imagination tells all her friends,teachers and anyone we meet that her puppy is part moose and wolf...and yes people have belived her. In puppy class a lady came up and said what a pretty dog what kind is it..my daughter replied...hes got some moose and werewolf...her eyes got big and i said no mam hes a german shepherd. so now im known in the neighborhood as the lady with the Zeus the moose wolf dog


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## Wolfgeist

Oh, I get the wolf comment all the time. If they don't ask if Hunter is a wolf, they ask if he is a wolfdog or a coyote. Only the GSD-smart people recognize him as a sable GSD. 

If I am in the mood, I will go along with him being a wolf. It's entertaining enough. Haha.


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## Sav_Tsky

I'm not sure my 8 month old German Shepherd is considered Sable, but I know everyone thinks he is everything but a GSP. I get asked at the pet stores what he is.. and I say GSP and people are confused because of his color. No wolf comments yet though. He's in his skinny stage right now. lol


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## Zeeva

People are strange...I've gotten similar reactions toward my husky...

One person even told me he is malamute because he has copper eyes rather than blue. He said the blue eyes are husky, copper are malamute and yellow are wolves...IMO that is myth. But I stand corrected if he's right...


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## blackshep

jprice103 said:


> When Cheyenne was little, people often asked me if she was a wolf. Now that she is an adult, it's really only the little kids who ask me if she is.
> 
> And forget about my all black GSD...no one knows WHAT he is! lol


My black GSD, everyone thinks is a cute Lab cross 

Especially when she was younger and her ears were a bit floppy.


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## AndrewT1993

Wild Wolf said:


> Oh, I get the wolf comment all the time. If they don't ask if Hunter is a wolf, they ask if he is a wolfdog or a coyote. Only the GSD-smart people recognize him as a sable GSD.
> 
> If I am in the mood, I will go along with him being a wolf. It's entertaining enough. Haha.



Beautiful dog btw. May I ask if that is a black sable? I ask because he looks like he has a little red on him


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## Powell

My Silly Sibe has blue eyes. I had someone tell me he had wolf in him because of the blue eyes. I told that person a wolf does NOT have genes for blue eyes. The Blue Wilderness with the wolf with blue eyes..... the wolf has blue contacts trying to disguise as a Siberian Husky. A Husky can have all blue, all brown, one of each and eyes with both colors. I saw a Husky ( white ) with half moon blue and brown eyes, one eye was brown on top the other eye blue on top.....


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## Gharrissc

I get this all of the time when we are keeping our inlaw's two sables.I actually had AC called on me because my neighbor said she thought I had illegal animals on my property.The officer who came out had 3 sables at home as well and just laughed when he came in the house and saw them.


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## Anitsisqua

Shrug it off. When I was younger, I had a bi-blue sheltie, and people in Petco flipped out and told me I couldn't have a wolf in the store.

....Yes. That really happened.


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## Silver Black sable

i have a lot of people stop to ask if my sable is a shepherd because there are not that many and people dont think that shepherds can look like that.


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## Silver Black sable

i have a four year old black sable that gets asked that same question but i was wondering how many types of sables are there


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## Silver Black sable

oh and i wanted to know how many other sables having the pencil markings and striping and tar heels. is that common in all sables


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## Piper'sgrl

haha, so funny story. I have been following this thread and found it pretty funny that all of you were stating how other people have siad your shepherds looked like wolves. I went to the dog park for the first time ever with Piper and for myself. As well as my bf and his male shepherd Zeus. Both of them did well, zeus was definitely loving it more than Piper. He was running around introducing himself to every dog while Piper was a bit overwhelmed by all these dogs and was quite the chicken who stayed close to me and my bf through the night. However, the people we met were all kind and didnt mind that she was abit shy as I told them this was her first time at a dog park. They loved her colouring and her coat and as one lady stopped to chat with us she was saying how Piper was such a pretty dog and made a comment that she looked part wolf! haha, I let her know of course that she was a patterned sable and indeed purebred gsd. I thought that was soo funny though since I've been watching this thread. So Here is my part wolf.


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## Caitydid255

I was accosted by a woman who accused me of keeping a pet coyote. You can't fix stupid.


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## harmony

AndrewT1993 said:


> Sable German Shepherd owners, do you ever get asked if your shepherd is a wolf or wolf hybrid?
> 
> I was at work yesterday (at a doggie daycare) there was a new shepherd that came who was sable in color and when the owner came to pick him up, the other owners waiting in line were all like is that a wolf?
> 
> One guy even said and I quote "Holy SH*T is that a FU****G wolf?! Everyone stay back thats a vicious wild animal! You should get arrested for having that beast!". (Over reaction much)


Funny, do you know how many times I go into the vets with a sable (and happens with black) and people will say what kind of dog is that? lol, I say a german shpherd . Even a more funny story I had a wolf mix laying out with my horses and a not so smart person called my dog out off my field and tried to take it thinking they had a shepherd, and it was a wolf, lol. Got him back but that stuff I hear all the time


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## harmony

forgot to say this wolf is a timber wolf, red wolf & GS and it was a rescue, but from the death of the person (old age) that breed this. I was just called in to help is why I know the breeding I have, no worries he is fixed


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## NormanF

GsdLoverr729 said:


> Now him I can see being mistaken for a wolf  He's absolutely stunning! :wub:


Impossible! Wolves have amber eyes. And the ears are the biggest "tell" - people can distinguish a GSD from a wolf. The differences are apparent to all but really ignorant people.


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## Oskar's Human

Anitsisqua said:


> Shrug it off. When I was younger, I had a bi-blue sheltie, and people in Petco flipped out and told me I couldn't have a wolf in the store.
> 
> ....Yes. That really happened.


Slightly off topic but I noticed your signature... Are you a Tennessee Williams fan too!?!?


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## onyx'girl

NormanF said:


> Impossible! Wolves have amber eyes. And the ears are the biggest "tell" - people can distinguish a GSD from a wolf. The differences are apparent to all but really ignorant people.


And many are ignorant to the fact that a GSD comes in a sable coat. So they think wolf. A wolf in GSD clothing....


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## Susan_GSD_mom

Silver Black sable said:


> oh and i wanted to know how many other sables having the pencil markings and striping and tar heels. is that common in all sables


The sables I have had, including my current rescue, Orick, have them. In fact, the people who work at my vet's office recognized Orick's breeding because of his markings. His go directly back to Czech Border Patrol Pohranicni Straze bloodlines imported by a former breeder here in Michigan. I also had a rescue from Austin, TX, a large red sable, whose pencil markings were very distinct.

And yes, I have had people ask me the wolf question, too. I have to forgive them, because many years ago, I thought GSDs all looked like Rin Tin Tin!


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## howlk9

SueDoNimm said:


> There's a crazy lady who lives down the street from me and she wants to stop and talk every time she walks by. She must have told me 10 times that my dog is a GSD and/or a police dog. Thanks for the information! I had no idea what kind of dog this was! I was secretly happy that as soon as she crossed the street and stepped into my yard, my dog started barking at her. My neighbor said that this lady just walked into her house one day and she found her standing in the living room. I don't think she'll be doing that at my house.


I had an elderly neighbor who used to shuffle out every time she saw me and my old GSD walking by to tell me about her dead husband- a former police k9 handler. She must have told me that story easily 100 times, but it always seemed to make her happy to tell it, so I would stand there and listen and smile and nod until she was done. Next day- same thing. I don't think she even remembered telling me.


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## Oskar's Human

I have a sable puppy who is getting darker every day and I am STILL confused about the different variations.

He seems to be more blanketed than saddled but I can't completely tell because the black hairs coming in are still quite sparse. My guess is he is a patterned sable then?

Also what is the deal with sable being a pattern but not a color? I understand it to mean that a sable dog could be a red sable, tan sable, black sable etc. but what do the differences really look like?

Oskar has red in his face and legs but tan everywhere else that isn't black. He's got a very defined mask but a line of tan down the bridge of his nose and where his eyebrows are. Black lines on his chest but mostly tan and black hairs sprouting all over his back, hips, shoulders and thighs. He also stripes of a lighter tan color just past his shoulders and along his chest. <--It sounds crazy complicated in the description alone :crazy:


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## Chip18

Yep I was out on a walk with Rocky Blk GSD and a guy asked me if Roc was a wolf????


I have seen GSD's at the Tahoe Wolf/Dog rescue. I guess they got tired if driving out to the middle of nowhere and finding a GSD and not a Wolf/Dog and just said screw it, the dogs better off with us!

They do identify the GSD's as GSD's on there rescue site.


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## Mala

howlk9 said:


> I had an elderly neighbor who used to shuffle out every time she saw me and my old GSD walking by to tell me about her dead husband- a former police k9 handler. She must have told me that story easily 100 times, but it always seemed to make her happy to tell it, so I would stand there and listen and smile and nod until she was done. Next day- same thing. I don't think she even remembered telling me.


I will do this when I get old. In fact, I'm kinda like that right now lol 



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## Mala

TimberGSD2 said:


> I had a lady ask me in Petsmart this weekend why on earth I would bring a wolf to the pet store.


I'd ask "why are you working here?"


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## Mala

Was walking my BIL's 4 years old gs and a little girl walks by and says "omg look at that cute little german shepherd puppy!" Even a child knows a GS when she sees one! 


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## Spirit's dad

*Spirit*

My Spirit was a sable about 90lbs. A woman on her porch once yelled to her kids "Look its a Wolf!". Then smiled at me and shook her head.


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## carmspack

only in the movies --


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## Msmaria

Mine was a "coyote" for a few months, while he was going thru his long legged phase. 

Scary because we have quite a few coyotes in our neighborhood, stealing dogs out of the yard and people are not happy with them.


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## Shaolin

Every once in a while, people assume Finn is a wolf...but it's been more prevalent since Game of Thrones and the White Dire Wolf. 

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## HarleyTheGSD

A friend of mine saw a photo of my dark sable and told me that he looks very wolf-ish. German Shepherds are very primitive looking dogs, and the sable coats add to that wolf-like appearance.


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## breeporto

I constantly get asked if my Silver sable is a hybrid of some sort! 









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## tottie86

My boyfriend and I were out fishing one day with Max (black gsd) and I overheard a teenage boy tell his friend that he was afraid of him, because he looked like a wolf. Max was only 5 months then and tiny compared to how big he is now. 
So funny!!





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## glowingtoadfly

My black GSD gets howled at by children. People ask if she is a wolfdog, and once a drunk guy outside a bar said " watch out for that wolf! She wants to be off somewhere biting people"
-Emily
Macro z Gildaf Von Schraderhaus " Skadi"
Viking z Gildaf Von Schraderhaus " Grim"


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