GSD colouring and eye colour, rare?!

Eemia

So i have posted a pic of a GSD puppy from a litter we have that i had provisionally booked for myself, and today all puppys were out the back for their first outing and the sun really brought out the colour in her eyes.

Shes grey with blue eyes?! Is this normal or rare or it does happen occasionally? 2 in litter are normal black and brown GSD markings and two are black (one with little white tuft on her chest) and there was a white one but she passed.

Anyone have any input into this on her colour?

Will post pic of her in back today and throw it up once i find my phone cable..

*EDIT* found it.






-Eemia

CreedonsDogDayc

pups usually have blue eyes and will change around 4 weeks, but can still change up to 12 weeks when the colour should be set. What is she now, about 3 weeks?

andreac

Agree with the above poster, pups eyes can appear blue at a young age but should change by 8 weeks.

Eemia

Thanks.. But her eyes have been getting lighter opposed to darker?!

Also on her grey colour, i've never saw a GSD that colour. She has the marking of a GSD..

lrushe

Are they full breed GSDs?? That seems like alot of coat colour differences in one litter where both parents are full breeds

Morganna

What colour are her parents is she ikc registered .is she a blue coat colour ?

Eemia

lrushe wrote: »

Are they full breed GSDs?? That seems like alot of coat colour differences in one litter where both parents are full breeds

Yes!

Morganna wrote: »

What colour are her parents is she ikc registered .is she a blue coat colour ? Which is highly undesirable in the gsd

Parents are black and tan! Long haired.

After your blue coat comment i went and had a look online and found this for anyone that might be intertested

Blue German Shepherd

The blue gene is a recessive color gene. Both parents of a dog must carry this gene for a pup to be blue. At birth, German Shepherd dogs who are blue will be grey or silver in coloration, not the usual black. The blue gene is a dilute gene, meaning it dilutes all the black pigment of a dog. This means Blue dogs have grey nose leather, and a grey dusted appearance to their coats. The blue coloration can vary from a very light powder blue to a very dark, almost indistinguishable 'steel' blue. Blue dogs will also have very light eyes, often being very blue at a young age, and as the dog grows, going through varying shades of green and yellow, often ending up yellow or a light shade of brown.

Not one site said its undesirable, i would love to know more on this comment please? She will not be bred from shes getting neutered and so are her parents so no more puppys. Both her parents have light eyes so i'm assuming this is the blue gene in them

ppink

Probably "undesirable" for showing.........you know where they give these designer specifications for the appearance of dogs who show............


cute puppy tho' i would never have guess it was a GSD.

Eemia

ppink wrote: »

Probably "undesirable" for showing.........you know where they give these designer specifications for the appearance of dogs who show............


cute puppy tho' i would never have guess it was a GSD.

Ah okay well they are only pets not show dogs.

She does look different. Heres a pic of the 4 types of GSD's

ppink

I'd say she will be fab when she's big:D

Eemia

ppink wrote: »

I'd say she will be fab when she's big:D

Thanks i am looking forward to watching her change both growing and changing colour..

fend

Hahaha shes like a mood ring with the colour changes!

Fabbbbb dog. She will be a beaut!

Morganna

i like the blues ,but a lot of breeders dont.If you go on pedigree data base gsds and type in blues and livers you will see a lot of debate going on .
In germany the blues ,livers and whites where culled.There is agreat diversity in Gsd colouring ,by the way keep the pics coming she is a sweetie.

The Sweeper

Is that the same colour they call 'sable' in GSDs?

Eemia

Morganna wrote: »

i like the blues ,but a lot of breeders dont.If you go on pedigree data base gsds and type in blues and livers you will see a lot of debate going on .
In germany the blues ,livers and whites where culled.There is agreat diversity in Gsd colouring ,by the way keep the pics coming she is a sweetie.

I read some stuff alright once you mentioned the blue coat type and read all about the whites and AKC rules on show dogs etc. Won't matter to me at all shes going to be a pet!

Will keep this updated, seeing you know about blues, do they change a lot before they "settle" on their colour yeah? It would be lovely if she stayed that colour, shes gorgeous now i think. But i am being biased eh?

I really am looking forward to her changing.

Actually while on topic - she's "little grey" atm when we talk about her, anyone any suggestions on names? 'Cause little grey won't suit if she goes brown, we'll get odd looks :P

Eemia

The Sweeper wrote: »

Is that the same colour they call 'sable' in GSDs?

Think... And i put emphasis on that, that the "liver" gene is sable, but someone else might know for sure.

morganafay

I think in rabbits that sable is very dark, if that helps :P

She is gorgeous! Who cares about the breed standard! It's nice having an unusual one

EGAR

Blue colour is a genetic defect and carries alot of inherited health problems. It has also been linked to behavioural problems.

I am not a big fan of breeding "blue" dogs. I think the GSD has enough genetic problems without adding to it.

Morganna

Eemia wrote: »

Think... And i put emphasis on that, that the "liver" gene is sable, but someone else might know for sure.

The liver is a completley different colour to sable.Sable is the dominant colour in gsds.

Morganna

Ive been breeding gsds all my life never had a blue or liver.
The blues and livers killed in germany.A lot of top german stud dogs are carrying the blue gene but its not widelely known .i do know of two german lines carrying the gene.

Morganna

EGAR wrote: »

Blue colour is a genetic defect and carries alot of inherited health problems. It has also been linked to behavioural problems.

I am not a big fan of breeding "blue" dogs. I think the GSD has enough genetic problems without adding to it.

The blues only have genetic problems if two are mated together.No reason why they should have any more problems than any other colour if they are coming from two parents who arent dilutes.
The genetic problems lie when two dilutes are mated together ,and when greedy people are breeding for colour and not researching there bloodlines and doing health checks.
The blue and liver are not rare they are a naturally occuring colour althought frowned up on.

Morganna

This is a liver and tan in america i dont like it .You can get solid live i dont like them either

Morganna

his is a sable which is the dominant colour in gsds this is one of my own

Morganna

I studied genetics and hereditary defects in theGerman shepherd in the late 1970s early 80s at liverpool uni.

Morganna

solid liver in america

EGAR

If you studied genetics then you should know that blue is a recessive gen that can carry over generations. So you could mate two non-blue parents and still get blue pups with problems if both parents carry the gen.

liah

We used to have a "silver" german shepherd many years ago. She was literally a silvery grey colour with the normal black shep markings, although I was very young so I don't remember her eye colour.

It's very unusual, but not completely uncommon. Have also had purebred black and white sheps, so again, unusual, not completely uncommon.

Who were the parents of the litter? They've got some very interesting genes if they're throwing all three uncommon colours in one litter?

Morganna

EGAR wrote: »

If you studied genetics then you should know that blue is a recessive gen that can carry over generations. So you could mate two non-blue parents and still get blue pups with problems if both parents carry the gen.

thank you Sarah did i say anything to the contrary .Yes blue and liver and long coat in the gsd is a recessive gene i never said it wasnt did i .Two recessives do carry.And recessive is a hidden gene .Re read my post sarah i didnt say ithat it wasnt a recessive !!!

Morganna

Morganna wrote: »

The blues only have genetic problems if two are mated together.No reason why they should have any more problems than any other colour if they are coming from two parents who arent dilutes.
The genetic problems lie when two dilutes are mated together ,and when greedy people are breeding for colour and not researching there bloodlines and doing health checks.
The blue and liver are not rare they are a naturally occuring colour althought frowned up on.

yes the blue is a recessive and the problems occur when two dilutes are mated together.
Yes any colour can carry the recessive gene and pedigrees should be checked before mating dogs.
I have never ever had a blue or liver in my litters.
One of the ldogs carrying the blue gene was Canto von wenerau who also carried Haemophillia in fact some of his pups bled to death when teething Haemophillia is passed on through the females as in humans.But only the males can be tested and show up for it.

Morganna

Also the non blue pups in the litter are carrying the blue gene.

Morganna

http://www.gsdbreedcouncil.co.uk/images/ban.jpg