Has anyone imported this breed into the UK ?

It depends what you mean by White Shepherd. There are breeders in the UK of White German Shepherds and I believe that is basically what they call a white shepherd elsewhere.

Sorry Bec White shepherds are not "white" German Shepherd Dogs

They are a separate breed recognized by the FCI

They are white & not long coated Most "white" German Shepherds are cream or biscuit coloured & long coated that is not what I'm interested in

ell just popped onto the FCI site and cannot find anywhere a 'White Shepherd' as being a recognised breed. White German Shepherds do come in short coats in this country and I think you'll find that the White Shepherd is in fact based on white German Shepherds. Due to the prejudice against this colour in some countries they have been bred separately resulting in a different looking dog but basically german shepherd! I have also looked up white shepherds and they are, indeed, based on white german shepherds.

Hi Bec

I saw them shown in Europe this year at an FCI show on a video brought back by a british judge who had a day off judging & popped to the show

They are NOT white GSD's but a separate breed

I'm not interested in white GSD's

They are more like a white BSd or DSD(Dutch Shepherd Dog) in shape & outlook

If I wanted a GSd that was white there are 100's in rescue but none are truly white & most bred for colour first & confirmation last

So does anyone know if there are any in the UK White Shepherd ogs that is

According to the FCI site they are NOT recognised. As I have stated before they may now be classed as a separate breed and have now been 'altered' that doesnt mean they are not GSD's.

They are NOT GSDs Bec

In Europe they ARe shown in ther OWN classes & CANNOT be show in GSD classes

Have you actually seen one ? as you appear to know so much about the breed & are very pro white GSD's I presume you must have them or/& breed them

I do NOT want a white GSD but I am interested in seeing White Shepherds in the flesh

Rikki, can you tell us the name that is on the catalouge for the breed you are talking about. There are white dogs that are used for shepherding but they are not called white shepherds, well if they are they are not in the FCI breed lists, if you can tell us the name used in the catalouge we will all know what you are talking about. This thread is becoming a bit heated because we are unable to understand to what you refer. Jackie H.

Hi Jackie

The breed according to the person who let me have the video the breed was shown as White Shepherds Simple as that

They may well be bred from GSD bloodlines but the do not look like GSd's either the correct type as per the current breed standard or the UK club 1950's versions

They are more elegany & as I've posted before the resemble the BSD OR DSD

They were shown much in the same way

I don't want to import one & from the postings here I think I'll be better off going to Europe to see them

Might try the All Winners or World Show next year

Their colour is very uniform & the pigmentation looking far better than the"white"GSD's bred here

Rikki, With all due respect you appear to be basing your request of a 'White Shepherd' solely on viewing ONE video. I dont own GSD's wouldnt say I was 'pro' whites as such, not against them but if you actually do some research on the net, which is what I did you wil see that A) they do not appear to be a breed recognised by the FCI and B) they are GSD based whether you like it or not. There is plenty of info out there Rikki go look for it.

The White Shepherd is a recognised breed in some countries and yes it is based on the GSD's. In Finland & Holland they became a separate breed in 1999, and I believe the same thing is true in the USA. If you look at the pictures of the White Shepherds in countries where they are recognised and shown they are white as opposed to the varying shades of cream we have in England.
It is possible to register them with the Kennel Club in this country but I think it would take a brave person to enter one in a show, due to the unfounded prejudices against them.

Hi there both,
Wow, things are starting to get heated aren't they. I own a white GSD (short haired White) and am of the opinion that in America they wanted them to become a recognised breed in their own right and hence they became the White Shepherd. Perhaps they have changed their appearence slightly through breeding to distinguish them from the original GSD but that is basically what they are.

Regards Naomi.

White shepherds are not a recognized breed by the American Kennel Club. In fact, not only is it not a recognized breed, but the German Shepherd standard is very specific: Color - The German Shepherd Dog varies in color, and most colors are permissible. Strong rich colors are preferred. Pale, washed-out colors and blues or livers are serious faults. A white dog must be disqualified.

This type of dog is not even currently recognized as one of the 'Miscellaneous Group' (which means that the breed has been around and stable enough to apply for recognition). Those breeds currently recognized as establishing themselves for full recognition are:

Beauceron
Black Russian Terrier
German Pinscher
Glen of Imaal Terrier
Neapolitan Mastiff
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
Plott Hound
Redbone Coonhound
Toy Fox Terrier

The UK standard is less harsh and states: Blues, livers, albinos, whites (i.e. almost pure white dogs with black noses) and near whites highly undesirable.

Sorry, but Bec is quite right that the 'white' Shepherd in the UK, in the US and, as far as I could also determine in the FCI after wading through the translated pages is not recognized as a separate breed and in almost all cases that I could determine was actually a frowned upon or disqualified color. I even went through most of the breeds that I was not sure about their standards and checked to see if any 'looked like' and permitted white.

Having read extensively about the 'white' dobermans when they were surveyed in the US and seeing the problems, I'll keep my opinions to 'coloration' above all breeding to myself.

The FCI is having a meeting shortly to decide whether to accept the White Shepherd as a distinct and separate breed to the GSD. Once the FCI recognises it, it will make other countries very easy to accept it too.

They are already officially recognised as a separate breed in Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Finland & South Africa.

There is a white german sherpherd breed and it is very famous in America but only a few breeders in UK. The only difference between a black and tan GSD and the white one is the colour (and no it is not an albino). I have one myself and I have had several GSD (black and tan) over the years and he is exactly the same apart from his colour. He is pure white as well (well unless he is playing in the mud) and not cream. A very good website if nobody believes me is www.whitegermanshepherd.org

The AWSA (in the USA) has established their own registry (but people still dual-register their dogs with AKC). It's just a club trying to get the American White Shepherd Dog recognised as a seperate breed....for more info, look here:

http://www.awsaclub.com

Apparently the AKC & CKC have said that they would gladly recognize the white shepherd as a separate breed if they (AWSA) could 'prove' that they are genetically a different breed. As yet, they are not, as they still use coloured dog's in their gene pool and so are still GSD's (albeit White ones!).
If they do become a separate breed, they will no longer be able to breed to colored German Shepherds.
Probably the reason why they do have a 'different' look from your 'standard' GSD is because if you breed for colour alone then it's pretty obvious that confirmation and other 'standards' are going to suffer? (although that's maybe not the right word!!)

Hi All,

The White Shepherd Clubs within the countries that still allow a white shepherd to be crossed with a black and tan one cannot be seen to be credible to the kennel clubs if they wish to apply for breed separation. How can they be a separate breed if they are breeding to coloured dogs?

Here in Australia we do not allow crossing whites with black and tan dogs because we are trying to acheive breed separation.

By the way, serious White Shepherd breeders do not being breed for colour alone at all. In England from the info I have heard so far they are only breeding for colour, as some breeders don't even know their dogs faults or even x-ray them. Here in Australia the structure of our whites is always being improved and we have even had GSD people say to us that their conformation is quite good, although very similiar to the GSDs of the 70's - which many pet owners prefer anyway, as they don't want a GSD bred for just the showring that cannot work properly because of extreme topline and rear angulation!

Another thing, the GSD has something like 138 genetic diseases, whilst the White Shepherd breed has only 54! There is some credible scientific evidence which does indicate that white haired animals may be more placid than darker haired. This seems to hold true for the White Shepherd.
Brooke Taylor, President, White Shepherd Association of Australia

Hi all,

I was just running across the boards looking for information on sheperds when I came across this old thread.
There is actually a recognised breed of white sheperds in the Netherlands, but they are Canadian white's rather than GSD's.
I live in the UK and currently own a white GSD, who I love to pieces, but I will agree with anyone if they say their temperament is
not what you would expect from a black and gold GSD.
She is very reserved towards strangers and even though she makes a wonderful and obedient pet towards us and other animals, I would not use her to breed.
The dog we really wanted when we bought her as pup was the canadian white, but as the breed is not recognized in the UK, we were unable to get one here.
With the pet travel sheme importing a dog would mean we would not be able to get the pup anywhere before 9 or 10 months old, which was not acceptable for us as I wanted to train the pup myself and obviously you are missing out on a very important socializing period.

We have considered starting up the line of Canadian whites ourselves in the UK, but as things stand now with UK law, we will have to start with two adult dogs.