Can someone enlighten me, I have been reading the Pastoral BRS and it would seem that GSDs are now bred in a variety of 'new?'  coat colours. Black & White, Black With White Markings, Tricolour, Sable & White, Sable & Tan.  I thought Sable was a coat pattern??  I have even seen Peaches & Cream. Whatever next.....

There really are only 4 basic colours

Black
Bi-colour
Sable
Black & Gold(can be described as B/tan, Black/red, b/grey, b/white depending in the depth of the colour but they are really all black & gold some with better pigment than others)

Anything else should be really non standard colour but they let people register colours as anything they like I saw one tri colour ?????

sorry but what colour is sable? i thought it was type of brush?

I've often wondered this too! 'Sable' is a sort of weasel-type animal (like mink), from which they get the hair to make the brushes. And although sables are brown, in heraldry the colour 'sable' means black. But 'sable' dogs aren't black! It's very confusing!
:)

But sabling is black tipped hairs and that's probably where it came from!

Jesse

Yes, but sable GSDs do not have to have black tip hairs.  A friend of mine had a really striking brown/redish sable GSD.  No black at all.

Stacey

Then I'd dispute that it was a sable!!

Jesse

I own and breed sable GSD's, I have a sable GSD show champion. They should have black tips to the hairs, but obviously not all over, only on the areas where say a normal black/tan would have them, ie, saddle, head, neck etc. If you rub the black coat of the saddle hair back the wrong way, they will be cream in coulour underneath. In Germany they refer to the sable GSD as a grey, that is why they are often referred to in this country as grey sables. I have seen the sable GSD colour often referred to as 'wolf colour', this could be another description. As with black and gold/tan/red/cream etc, the sable colour can be very changeable, grey sable, red sable, gold sable etc, depending on the shade of colour of the undercoat. All in all the sable colour is a very beautiful colour, but then I guess I am biased!!

So 'sable' in GSDs is similar to 'Agouti' in guineapigs - individual hairs banded with black and gold/silver/whatever?

This one was a red sable ..and the tips of some hair was dark brown, not black.   He was very striking and not to everyone's taste, although eventually he got his champion title ( in the U.S.)

Stacey

Hi there Stacey,
I have a sable GSD and she does have black tipped hairs, in fact her hair starts as black, then goes to silver, then to black again!!  She is called a siver sable.  I can send you a photo if you'd like to see.

Sarah.

Sarah,

She sounds lovely.

Stacey

I too have a sable GSD - he is kind of like a reverse bottled blond if you see what I mean!  Rather than dark roots and light ends he is the other way around!

I have some pictures here http://www.jlatranslations.force9.co.uk/ossie1.html and http://www.jlatranslations.force9.co.uk/ossie2.html lthough they don't show it very clearly.  I'll try to get some better ones!

Jayne

So does anyone own a black & white, or a black with white markings and I would particularly like to see a Tricolour. I would dispute that these are true colours, therefore how can they be registered as such. Kennel Club computer I suppose.

Because they like the money :D

Moonmaiden is right, the KC will register any colour, it doesnt mean they fit the breed standard.

thats quite mad!!!!

Black or black saddle with tan, or gold to light grey markings. All black, all grey, with lighter or brown markings referred to as Sables. Nose black. Light markings on chest or very pale colour on inside of legs permissible but undesirable, as are whitish nails, red-tipped tails or wishy-washy faded colours defined as lacking in pigmentation. Blues, livers, albinos, whites (i.e. almost pure white dogs with black noses) and near whites highly undesirable. Undercoat, except in all black dogs, usually grey or fawn. Colour in itself is of secondary importance having no effect on character or fitness for work. Final colour of a young dog only ascertained when outer coat has developed