Black pup question

[Knight]

Is it possible for a sable GSD and a black and tan GSD to have a few black puppies? I heard it is possible if they had black somewhere in their lineage. (parent, grandparent etc)?

Why do black pups look so much different (not color wise, their face I mean) from their other litter mates? I'm guessing the definition is shown differently?

[Emoore]

Yes, a black/tan and sable can have black puppies if BOTH dogs carry the black gene. Black is the most recessive, so the dog has to have 2 copies of the gene for black to show. The only way they get 2 copies of the gene is if both parents have it.

I have no idea why they look different.

[paulag1955]

I've never seen a black GSD up close and personal, so I don't have an opinion on whether or not black GSDs look different. But I've read that the genes that control for color may also control for other traits (and not just for appearance but temperament traits as well).

However, I'm sure that there's someone on this forum who can give a better answer than that.

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by Knight

Is it possible for a sable GSD and a black and tan GSD to have a few black puppies? I heard it is possible if they had black somewhere in their lineage. (parent, grandparent etc)?

Why do black pups look so much different (not color wise, their face I mean) from their other litter mates? I'm guessing the definition is shown differently?

I dont get what you mean by black pups look different than their siblings other than color?

I have a black GSD and he looked just like his other siblings

[Jax08]

Was it Robin or Lee that mentioned recently they don't see blacks with masculine heads like the other colors/patterns?

Why do they have finer defined heads? Does that also apply to bi-colors?

Is it also possible that it could be an optical illusion because they have no other color to accent their faces?

[elisabeth_00117]

Originally Posted by Jax08

Was it Robin or Lee that mentioned recently they don't see blacks with masculine heads like the other colors/patterns?

Why do they have finer defined heads? Does that also apply to bi-colors?

Is it also possible that it could be an optical illusion because they have no other color to accent their faces?

I don't know about that, but I do know that Stark's sire (jet black) has a very masculine head:

(@ 3ish years old)










I also think that Caroline's Arko ( Arko v Windlied ) has a pretty masculine looking head.

Emmore was right though when she posted:

Yes, a black/tan and sable can have black puppies if BOTH dogs carry the black gene. Black is the most recessive, so the dog has to have 2 copies of the gene for black to show. The only way they get 2 copies of the gene is if both parents have it.

[Samba]

I don't know if it is genetically associated with the color or if "black is slimming". With a black, I hope for extra bone so that they do not look too refined. I have seen some lunk headed black dogs.

As said, it is recessive and both parents have to carry the gene for the litter to produce blacks. As far as how they are produced, the mating could produce all blacks in a litter, some or none depending on how those genes parse out.

[liv]

From what I have seen they do tend to have a much finer head, and finer bone in general. Of course there many exceptions to the rule, my guy has really heavy bone and a huge head, and he is only about a year and was neutered early This is the only pic I have loaded into photobucket that really shows his head straight on...but I don't think he looks like a typical black...my girl's sire is black and he is much finer, as is Onyx's dam (black), he looks like his B&T sire, structurally.

[Elaine]

This is the first that I have heard of blacks being any different from blk and tans. I haven't seen any difference and I had a blk and he was a very solid and masculine looking dog.

[ZebsMommy]

Originally Posted by liv

From what I have seen they do tend to have a much finer head, and finer bone in general. Of course there many exceptions to the rule, my guy has really heavy bone and a huge head, and he is only about a year and was neutered early This is the only pic I have loaded into photobucket that really shows his head straight on...but I don't think he looks like a typical black...my girl's sire is black and he is much finer, as is Onyx's dam (black), he looks like his B&T sire, structurally.

They are beautiful dogs!