German Shepherds Forum banner

Legend puppy phase

4K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  LaRen616 
#1 ·
Legend is Patton's littermate :) There are three things about Legend that I like already: I think he has a better earset than Nikon (at least he did from 8-10 weeks, then they teepeed), possibly better/darker eye color, and so far not east/west in front. At 5 years old Nikon is still a bit east/west in front and his eyes are a tad light (for my taste) when he's looking into the sun. Legend's fur was very dark at birth and dark when I got him. He's still in the blonde phase with a black stripe down his back but I'm not worried, I think his color will be very nice. The main issue I have right now with Legend is that his nose is partially pink, it's been like that for about 3 weeks now. It doesn't really show up in pictures but it's there in person. Trying not to panic but if I can't show him, I guess I'll just save myself a boatload of UKC and USCA entries (he's not really a breeding prospect, though if we do IPO I would have liked to breed survey him as a nod to Nikon).

11 weeks



13 weeks





16 weeks (SO leggy right now!)


 
See less See more
9
#6 ·
Oh no! Pink nose! You must send that adorable, gorgeous puppy down to me!!!
 
#8 ·
He looks really nice, Lies. I, personally, wouldn't worry about the nose just yet.
 
#9 ·
Not too worried, just kind of bummed since there was a UKC show last weekend and would have been nice to get him in Novice Puppy for some ring experience (for us both).
 
#11 ·
Hi Lies,
Don't worry about the nose.

My Wink (also sable out of black/red and sable breeding) had a couple pink spots on her nose for a bit as a pup, but color came in nice and black as an adult. She is now a nice and dark patterned red sable. Nose is perfect :)

I showed her under Johannes and he gave us an excellent critique at 4mo - VP1 and no mention of the pink nose!
 
#12 ·
Thanks, I asked a few others and they didn't seem bothered by it. His brother has it too. I was worried about pigment, but with the winter we are having up here I am starting to think it's really just a snownose. Just seems weird to see a pigment thing considering Nikon is probably the blackest, reddest dog I've ever seen/met (not saying that just 'cus he's mine, I'm not too concerned about that he just ended up that way) and the female was a pretty normal colored sable with rich undertones (more red than grayish).
 
#13 ·
Snow nose definitely bad this year with all my girls as well.

I don't necessarily think it's a pigment issue. Wink is a dark red sable and has a nice dark mask. Her mother is a quite dark black/red- more of that deep dark red that Nikon has. Waiko is definitely not a dark sable, but he is a dark red sable that has a very nice dark mask and produces darker pigment than himself.

I too was worried when I started seeing the spots on Wink's nose, but I was assured it would be fine and work out - it did :)

This is Wink at about 4mo with Wiva. You can see the pink at the edge of her nose and this wasn't during the winter! We got our VP1 shortly afterwards.



This is Wink about a month ago. Nose is nice and dark. Pigment good, nails dark, nose dark, eyes very dark brown, rich red undertones - I like how she turned out very much!
 
#14 ·
Interesting, that nose looks like Legend! He has the lighter line on the top of his snout and then the pink in the middle of the nose. He's not as dark as her yet, or just behind her in that photo, developmentally (he's still getting his black "stripe", hasn't got adult coat on the rest of his body yet). I'm guessing Legend's dam is slightly darker sable than Waiko but not as red and less mask.
 
#16 ·
Took a few more last night. He's still super leggy but slowly turning black.





I think his head looks nice in profile :)
 
#18 · (Edited)
Legend at 5 months, we've finally got some HAIR. I couldn't get one JUST right, may try again tonight. I think I was too close to him, so he was pushing back.





In general, I very much like him. And I'm not just saying that b/c he's mine, I'm pretty picky. I may have said this earlier, but he has better eye color than Nikon, looks better from the front (Nikon is still and probably always will be a tad east/west), and has a better ear set. His ears looked amazing around 10 weeks, now look like he'll have to grow back into them, lol. I like his topline and it is nice and firm. He's not butt-high even during this leggy stage. My critiques right now are that his head could be stronger (but I'm starting to not care for massive, blocky heads as long as the secondary sex characteristics are there), he's still got a tad bit of the snownose, and aesthetically I wish he had a bit more of a mask like Nikon (but the dam did not, so nothing surprising). His coat looks kind of flat in the pics but he actually has a nice coat, I think more coat than Nikon (certainly more than Nikon had at this age).

Kind of an awkward movement photo (weird angle). The ear still flops a bit while he's running.
 
#20 ·
I know...next to nothin' about the finer points of dog conformation and that's why I usually don't say anything in these threads....but this puppy speaks to me.

If I'm wrong let me know, but the words that come to mind when I look at the pics is 'harmonious and balanced'. Nothing extreme and front to back, just balanced proportions. Angles through shoulders and hips/stifle/hock look like structure made for longevity and purpose. A really lovely moderate but still clearly a GSD body and head. :)

So while my experience is in horses...I really, really like this puppy.

Also, I don't care for those 'blocky bear heads' either, they seem to be becoming more common(??).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top