German Shepherds are a popular breed of dog around the world. But many people do not know there are a variety of colors for the breed. There are shepherds that are fully white, fully black, tan, sable, liver, blue, and more! This video shows off colors of this beautiful breed!
If you haven’t noted some of these colors among German Shepherds, that’s because dog clubs like the American Kennel Club do not consider some colors to breed standard.
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Also, less desirable coat colors can bring forth recessive traits which may result in genetic health concerns. A common example of this is merle coat pattern found in Australian Shepherds, Collies, Shelties, and a number of other dog breeds.
The merle gene creates mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat, blue or odd-colored eyes, and affects skin pigment. “Double merle” commonly refers to dogs that are homozygous (having two copies) of the merle (M/M) trait, which brings forth a predominantly white coat and brings forth several health issues such as blindness or deafness.
If you are interested in learning more about canine genetics and coat colors, Animal Genetics is a good resource and you can learn more about the work being done in genomics by visiting the Dog Genome Project
No matter what color the German Shepherd, we believe the most beautiful German Shepherd is the one who has lovely temperament and is sweet, loyal, protective and loving towards their family.
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