Cross Breeds

Are all German Shepherd puppies born black?

We are looking forward to getting a German Shepherd and I was doing research on them and noticed that in all the pictures the puppies are black...Do they chance colors as the get older? Or did I just so happen to only see pictures of darker German Shepherds? Thank you!

Public Comments

1. No, they are not all born black. You just happened to see photos of darker GSDs.
2. There is some black german shepherds but when they are baby's they are usually black or a really dark brown. There color does chance as they get older.
3. Most are but some (unusual but not extremely rare) are born dark brown or light brown kinda tannish. Most of them grow the tufts of gold. Hope that helped :)
4. No, but once they go black they never go back.
5. awww,well congradulations!!! I have 2 German Shepherd Dogs that I had imported from Germany ( because they are bigger in germany than in america, and for personal protection reasons, they are also trained in the german sport Schutzhund, you should google it!) and they are just AMAZING DOGS!!!!!!!!!!! some GSD'S are born black and lighten up a little bit, but one of mine was born Black and Sable and the other one was born Black and brown.. they are still those colors today and they r 3YEARS OLD!!!!!!!
6. not necceserrilly.... alot of german shepards can also be born brown and some are even born black with a different color stripes on it.....
7. GSD come in a variety of colors .Solid black is a recognized color White GSD are disqualified in the AKC standards but can be shown UKC
8. Yes it is, German Shepherds go through three coat changes in the first year. Most lighten up with each coat change.
9. Solids are born one solid color and they will stay that way. Saddle/bi-color pups will be born mostly black but you will see color on the cheeks, vent, and lower legs. This will spread as the pup gets older until it achieves its final color at 12-18 months old. Sable puppies are born with a dark dorsal stripe and lighter sides. How much base color vs black shows up on the sides depends on how dark they will be as adults. They will get lighter for the first couple of months as they go through the puppy coat stages. As the adult coat comes in, they will begin to get darker again until they achieve their final coat color at 12-24 months old. EDIT - I should have mentioned that REALLY dark bi-colors can be born with no markings on face or feet but you WILL see color at the vent. May just be a couple hairs at first but it'll spread as the pup ages and markings will appear in the normal places later.
10. Nope. Look up the belgian shepherd, there beautiful.
11. HAHA Woah. Lol, No they are not all dark skinned. And you litterally dont have to say "black" just say dark skinned. Because I'm not black. I'm just a really dark skinned. There is no such thing as "white' or "brown" or "black" I'm dark skinned, "white" people are lighter skinned, and "brown" are medium colored skin.!!:) Good Luck!!;) Answer mine A.S.A.P Please? I need SOOOO much help, about my puppy.
12. No.They can be born black,tan,black and tan.sable,etc,but their color usually fades or intensifies as they grow. My dog was tan as a pup,and her black fur came in as she grew. Other pups will be mostly black,and their tan marking develop as they grow.
13. [Victoria D]: Get real. NO GSDs are bigger than what NAmerican judges give championship points to. A genuine GSD must fit into the International Standard of the GSD. Work through http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_GSD_Source/links/Defining_a_GSD_001261993982/ and http://www.leabashiba.com/fashion.vs.GSD.htm to identify genuine GSDs vs NAmerican Ski-Slope Dogs and Prick-Eared Bassets - but in the real world there are also AlsatiOns, German Crouchers, Titanic Tail-Tuckers,and a few other deviations that DON'T fit the real Standard of the GSD. The ABSOLUTE LIMITS of size for GSDs are: Bit.ch: 54-61 cm & 22-32 kg (21¼-24 inches & 48½-70½ lbs) .Dog_: 59-66 cm & 30-40 kg (23¼-26 inches & 66-88 lbs) Height is measured to the withers vertically above the elbow. For a First Class GSD the height range is even narrower: Bit.ch: 55-60 cm (21⅝ to 23¾ inches) .Dog_: 60-65 cm (23¾-25½ inches) [modeltip]: What on EARTH are you raving about? She said NOTHING about skin colour! [<33]: In over-simple terms: Yes, all breed-worthy GSDs are born almost all black. But only about 5% end up all-black. The COLOUR of a GSD does not change, except that those with colour paling genes will have their tans get paler for 2½ years, and may end up white on belly, "feathers" & inside-legs. You need to separate the terms "pattern" and "colour". For genuine, breed-worthy GSDs, only 2 "colours" are allowed: • Black is compulsory. • Tan is optional. Other "colours" - liver, blue, Isabella, white - ARE in the breed's gene-pool, but banned by the International Standard of the GSD. People who understand what a GSD is all about kill, neuter before sale, or refuse to register any pup that displays those. Sadly, LOTS of people DON'T understand it - roughly 6% of "GSDs" registered by the AKC are of banned "colours". There are 3½ genuine GSD patterns • Wolf-sable: Most have a dark-honey phase from about 2 days to 16 weeks old, but end up with saddle area hairs that have black tips & paler bases. A very few stay jet black until about 4 months old, and become one of the few true "black-sables". The rest end up gray-sable (many wrongly called "black sables" by owners) or gold-sable. The difference between them is how much of each guard hair is black, how much light, on adults. The differences are caused by modifiers that have not yet been named. All wolf sables have at least one copy of the A^w allele. • Tan-point. Start almost totally black, with tan just by their anus, on pasterns, cheeks & eyebrows. From about 12 weeks the tan spreads as the adult coat emerges. Each black hair is black all the way down (except for a few which come from lines with severe black-loss - some end up with only brown where the saddle should be). We assume that the same modifiers that produce the variations in wolf-sables also produce the variations between the small saddle, the extended saddle (that some call "blanket back"), and the very dark bi-colour. All tan-points are either a^t a^t or, occasionally, A^t a^. • Self-colour (usually called just "black"): These are born black EVERYWHERE, and stay black throughout their lives. (Black-loss may turn toe-hairs gray.) Exceptions, other than banned colours: • A GSD may be born with inconspicuous white spots on chest and or toes, sometimes with a few white hairs at the tail-tip. These are due to slow migration of pigment cells that start by the spine but move out to the hide. The extremities are furthest to reach. Such spots don't disappear, but tend to turn pale yellow by about 10 weeks old, then return to whitish in old age. Not faulted PROVIDED all nails are black. • A GSD may be born with prominent white spots, such as "socks", even small patches on the body. These are due to both parents passing on a recessive s^i allele; the effect is known as Irish Spotting, and IS faulted. Off-colours: Same patterns as above, but the black is degraded to liver or blue or Isabella (what's left when degraded for both liver & blue). Self-whites DO have patterns, but you can't SEE them because the 2 gene-pairs involved block ALL pigment from the hairs (but sometimes traces of tan remain as "badger patches"). • Add http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_GSD_Source to your browser's Bookmarks or Favorites so that you can easily look up such as feeding, vaccinations, clubs, weights, teething, neutering, disorders. Then join it, click Photos and look in its albums. Most have pics from birth onwards. • Join some of the YahooGroups dedicated to various aspects of living with GSDs. Each group's Home page tells you which aspects they like to discuss, and how active they are. Unlike YA, they are set up so that you can have an ongoing discussion with follow-up questions for clarification. Most allow you to include photos. Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly "In GSDs" as of 1967