# bi-color question of the day is He?



## Franksmom

Frank is 8 months old, the breeder lists him as a black and silver, 
Is he a bi-color or a large blanket? 
The older he gets the more the silver fads and he becomes more black. 
He does have the silver patch under the tail just like dobermans have and his belly is solid black.


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## Jax08

sure looks like a bi-color to me


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## BlackthornGSD

You won't know for sure until he gets his adult coat in. Sometimes a black and tan with the black recessive ("blanket back") won't lose the toe marks until almost a year old. 

I can't tell for sure based on these pictures. The breeder *might* know if he/she understands the genetics of the color inheritance and knows what her dog carries.

My best guess is that he will be a blanket-back--because of the tan on the cheeks and the eyebrows. Sometimes you can see brown hairs scattered across the forehead and the muzzle or if you part the hair you'll see some brown there--and that can be a sign of what color will grow in after the next shed.

But even if you know the genetics of the parents, you aren't always positive until the puppy has the complete adult coat. For example, I wasn't sure what color Jubilee would be when she was a puppy--she had the toemarks for a long time. I suspected she'd be a blanket back, but I hoped for the bicolor. Her brother was a bicolor and I knew that for sure because he had no tan eyebrows or around his ears.

at 9 weeks old:










at 2.5 years old:










Her bicolor brother, Jedi at about 9 weeks:










Jedi (soaking wet) at 2 years:


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## Franksmom

I thought for sure at first he would be a large blanket back, but the older he gets the silver eybrows are fading and the silver on his checks and chest seems to be filling in with black, the tar heels and toes were also throwing me off, guess I'll just have to waite and see. His dad is a traditional saddle back, and his mom is either a large blanket back or a bi-color I don't have pictures I can post of them and never thought to ask the breeder which she coat pattern she was. 
Whatever he ends up being he's a really good dog.


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## elisabeth_00117

I am going to say blanket back as well.. his colour on his chest and under his back legs (sitting photo) seem to be very prounounced, I think he has some more changing to do but I think he will end up a large (surface area of the blanket will be large) blanket back.


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## Franksmom

Frank is now 14 months and his coloring is the exact same as it was in my original post. 
Now that he's 14 months is this the color he will remain or can he really change and lighten even at this age? His color hasn't really changed much since I brought him home at 9 weeks if anything it has only become more black as he's aged. Instead of getting lighter like I see alot of people talk about on here. Over his hips the hairs look black but are really silver with black ends when you ruff them the wrong way,those hairs have been that way since about 6 months and haven't changed since then. 
One more thing I usually tell people he's a large blanket back, but I've had some tell me No he's a bi-color. Am I wrong? he's my first GSD, so this color stuff is all new.


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## Freestep

Franksmom said:


> His color hasn't really changed much since I brought him home at 9 weeks if anything it has only become more black as he's aged. Instead of getting lighter like I see alot of people talk about on here.


Usually the saddlebacks get lighter as they get older; the black recedes and the tan spreads. If your dog is getting darker instead of lighter, I'd say he's a bicolor, but I'm not an expert in these matters.


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## Franksmom

Thanks, I kept waiting and waiting for his color to lighten and change but it never has. 
The only ones that I heard talk about getting darker were sables which he's not, so I was confused.


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## GSDBESTK9

He is a bicolor


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## Franksmom

Thanks GSDBESTK9
I know he can continue to have some color changes as he ages, but are the major color changes done by this age for Bi-colors.


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## GSDBESTK9

Yes, just about.


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## codmaster

Mostly just a very pretty dog!


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## Franksmom

codmaster said:


> Mostly just a very pretty dog!


Thanks!


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## 1sttimeforgsd

Your Frank is a handsome boy, course I'm partial to bi-colors.


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## selzer

I think he is a bi-color.


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## christinaekenn

I also think bi-color. His tar heels are very pronounced along with his toe penciling. I have seen some bi-colors with eyebrows and a little on the cheeks but were clearly still bi-color. My friend's dog has no toe penciling anymore and eyebrows but very very dark tar heels. He is also a bi-color.

But...the debate continues


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## Franksmom

1sttimeforgsd said:


> Your Frank is a handsome boy, course I'm partial to bi-colors.


Thanks! I've always loved the bi-colors too. 
Out of all the things I talked to the breeder about color wasn't one of them, I didn't care what color he was going to be. Then he ends up being the color that I've always liked best.


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## TankGrrl66

I would say he is a bi-color becuase of the penciling on his toes and his tar heels...but he could lighten some more as he matures.

I briefly was unsure if my puppy was a bi-color when I first saw her, but she is a lot lighter now...obviously a B%T, but still quite blanketed


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## JulieBays

What does the dark color or toe marks mean? I just noticed that Sasha is getting them. She was Black and Silver but her coat is coming in. She is changing colors. I noticed the dark on her toes today.


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## Crookedcreekranch

BI Color


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## onyx'girl

Onyx is a bi-color and her markings/ coat color never changed. She has white spotting on her paws so it masks the toe penciling in some area's of her feet. I don't know for certain, but bi's don't really change much at all from the ones I've seen. 

I would like to see pics of Sasha, Julie to see the changes as she gets older.

Onyx's breeder told me she would get richer red and the black would go down her legs more when the adult coat came in, but that never happened. There were 3 bi's in her litter. The next 2 litters the dam had(different sires) had bi's and the white spotting as well, one pup had actual white sox like a boxer it was so dominant. I would have liked to see how that pup turned out at maturity(she is a B&T)


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