# Explaination for Strange Coat Color



## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

My knowledge in genetics is very limited but is something I have begun to research...

Anyway my mailman mentioned to me that there was another White GSD in the neighborhood and one day I noticed a parent picking up their child at my daughter's school with a WGSD in the truck. For a few weeks I could only see his head and shoulders, but today I got to see him completely.

His head/shoulders/legs are white but his entire back from neck down to tail, including tail are what looks to be sable. I grabbed for my phone to take a pic but left it on the counter  

Any idea how this happens or if this happens on a regular basis?

_*Explanation: just noticed it was spelled wrong._


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## Shrap (Mar 4, 2011)

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTwJdDdvEUfI4AlphgflDOOI1SATepLgVgdBHK5_a1LkAvEB7b

Something like that but lighter cream? And with extended saddle marking?


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Google panda shepherd. Maybe that's it? Or it's a mix.


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

Nope, nothing like either links. 
Picture a white GSD head and underneath/legs and normal black and tan on top. 
Weird!


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## Kola_2010 (Jan 22, 2011)

I dunno.. but its still cute.. lmao panda GSD


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

probably just faded pigment , colour paling.

a lot of the german show lines have a "bitch stripe" running down their back. This breaks through the black saddle and gives it a salt and pepper look, usually an indicator of color paling.


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

Today he was in the truck again but could only see his head and shoulders  

I may not describing him correctly but he could also be a mix as well I suppose....besides coloring he look PB. 

But take a White German Shepherd and then just paint a wide stripe down his back that is black/tan. That is the only coloring on his body that is not white. 

It was shockingly weird and now I need to flag the woman down so I can get a photo.


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

valreegrl said:


> Today he was in the truck again but could only see his head and shoulders
> 
> I may not describing him correctly but he could also be a mix as well I suppose....besides coloring he look PB.
> 
> ...


Maybe it's just a really odd effect of the white spotting gene (or piebald effect).

Definitely get a picture!


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

BlackthornGSD said:


> Maybe it's just a really odd effect of the white spotting gene (or piebald effect).
> 
> Definitely get a picture!


Tomorrow morning I will be armed with my camera  
Poor woman who owns the dog is going to surely think I am crazy!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

How about a Husky? http://www.siberlink.net/frankie.htm





 
SiberLink


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

If you go to this link which is connected to "Keyleigh the 5 month please don't breed thread" you will see the colour (I think) that you are talking about http://www.vondoransgermanshepherds.com/Our_German_Shepherds.html

Faded pigment -- colour paling, not desireable.

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Carmen, I was just going to post that picture!


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

That's it! Just like the dog at the very bottom, only this dog doesn't have any dark pigment on his face, it's all white. 

What is this coloring in the pups when they are born? And does it fade over time?


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## 4TheDawgies (Apr 2, 2011)

then the dog is not white. If the dog has any other color on it other than white and a SMALLLLL hint of blond in the coat, then the dog is just a VERRRY faded color/lacking pigment


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

Something like this, perhaps? (This is my Kaija. Her back is actually longer than it looks here. Bad camera angle.)


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

Dogaroo said:


> Something like this, perhaps? (This is my Kaija. Her back is actually longer than it looks here. Bad camera angle.)


!!!!!!!
if you wake up and she's gone that means she's at my house!!!


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

MicheleMarie said:


> !!!!!!!
> if you wake up and she's gone that means she's at my house!!!


LOL! I'm pretty sure she has every conformation fault a GSD could possibly have (& then some), but of course I think she's beautiful.  She has a beautiful personality to match, as well. She can be a bit of a drama queen at times (when she's not playing nursemaid or joyously celebrating the present moment), but she has a gentle, loving soul.... and she has taught me the meaning of forgiveness. (She was passed from home to home at least four times before she was a year old, abused by at least one previous owner and eventually abandoned in a rural area... yet she still loves people with every fiber of her being. Fortunately the scumbag who dumped her didn't realize she was microchipped. The chip made it fairly easy for me to trace her history.)


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

Dogaroo said:


> LOL! I'm pretty sure she has every conformation fault a GSD could possibly have (& then some), but of course I think she's beautiful.  She has a beautiful personality to match, as well.


That's all that matters in my book


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## GSDGenes (Mar 9, 2006)

That dog is either a black & silver with very little black pigment or a silver pattern agouti (sable) with very little black pigment. It is not a white dog.

The only way to determine whether this dog is a black & silver or a silver agouti is to either see a photo of the dog as a young puppy.


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