# Is my GSD mixed?



## Belmont (Sep 26, 2012)

He's extremely smart, and he picks up on every trick faster than any dog I've ever had. At 12 Weeks, he's already fully potty trained, and the only fault that he has is that he finds my skin irresistible (Although his bite has become much softer in recent weeks, and my hands are pretty much healed now from all the cuts. Either that or my skin has become much tougher lol). 

I will care about my dog no matter what, but I'm kind of curious if my dog might actually be mixed. He looks pure bred to me, but his fur is kind of short from most GSD that I've seen. Then again, the banner on this site looks pretty much like him.

Also, the tip of his tail is starting to bush up.

Here are pictures:

This is when I met him for the first time:









This is him when I took him home at 7 weeks:









This is him now at 12 weeks:









His mom:









His dad:









His mom is for sure pure breed. No question about it, but his dad is pure black (which is acceptable within the breed), but his tail doesn't appear as bushy as I've seen with most GSD. 

However, I'm not an expert, but from my understanding, his dad is a European working variant. What are your opinions?

I'm thinking of getting a DNA test just to see what else he might be, but I won't be off until this weekend to find out.


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## Belmont (Sep 26, 2012)

One thing I really appreciate from my dog is that he doesn't have an extreme slope that many GSD suffer from. I can't believe people intentionally bred their dogs to suffer from this.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

He looks like a pb gsd to me. The dad is a bi-color, not a pure black. I guess without papers you'll never know for sure but both parents look pb. 

Your puppy is very cute!


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## Belmont (Sep 26, 2012)

BowWowMeow said:


> He looks like a pb gsd to me. The dad is a bi-color, not a pure black. I guess without papers you'll never know for sure but both parents look pb.
> 
> Your puppy is very cute!


Thank you. I'm really proud of him. 

So far he knows sit, lay, paw, go pee/poop, crate, toy (he brings me a toy), and when he is ignoring me, the word "treat" recalls him to me every time at a 100% success rate. 

I haven't taught him stay, roll, or go (go away) yet, but that's next on the list before he starts puppy class at Petsmart in a couple weeks (he gets his last Parvo shot this weekend).


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Looks like a German Shepherd puppy to me too. Mom and dad look pure. Have fun and enjoy him.


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

looks like purebreds all around to me.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

I think it's funny that you say that black is an acceptable color.  Within the working line GSD's, the sables, blacks, bi-colors are the most common and typically the most desired (at least currently). And as pointed out, dad is a beautiful looking bi color, not a black (note the tan markings on his lower legs) and to be honest looks (just based on external appearance alone) to have much better breeding than the mother. His color and build looks to be much more working lined than the mom. 

To answer your question, yes he appears to be purebred as do both parents.


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Purebred all around. The male is a bi-color like my boy Ace. :wub:


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

Purebred, and as mentioned papa is a bicolour, and looks like a lovely boy.

You're pup is beautiful, sounds like you two are are like peas and carrots.


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Dad is handsome. And your boy is adorable. Enjoy! He'll be crashing around like a clumsy bull in a china shop before you know it!


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## Belmont (Sep 26, 2012)

Rerun said:


> I think it's funny that you say that black is an acceptable color.  Within the working line GSD's, the sables, blacks, bi-colors are the most common and typically the most desired (at least currently). And as pointed out, dad is a beautiful looking bi color, not a black (note the tan markings on his lower legs) and to be honest looks (just based on external appearance alone) to have much better breeding than the mother. His color and build looks to be much more working lined than the mom.
> 
> To answer your question, yes he appears to be purebred as do both parents.


Thanks for the info. I'm glad to know that the bicolor is desirable within the working line. I didn't know that.


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## christinaekenn (Jan 10, 2011)

Looks purebred to me. Dad is a bicolor. Your puppy is actually a black and tan and will lighten up a bit more with age but I bet will be a lot darker than his mother. Very cute.


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## Lover (Mar 10, 2016)

*Thick and large Black German Shepherd-Mix???*

I have a female Black German Shepherd. I was questioning the same thing about her because her body is very thick. She is 8 years old and has a bit of light brown/brindle starting to fade onto her lower front paws. I love her regardless but she is starting to get huge and people keep asking me what she is...I reply German Shepherd but people are like whoa she must be mixed with a larger and thicker breed. I rescued her and she and my Pitbull are the best buddies.


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