From: janicki@gblaut.enet.dec.com (Victoria Janicki)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Black GSDs
Date: 10 Sep 92 13:51:29 GMT
Reply-To: janicki@tuxedo.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton,MA


In article <BuBrBB.DEw@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, schlumpf@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu
(Kay Schlumpf) writes:

|>As the time approaches for us to bring Siegfriend home (like FRIDAY!)
|>I am beginning to think. The breeders say it looks like he's going to
|>stay black and that it's not a common color. Are black GSDs THAT
|>rare? I didn't see many in the books, but then, not a lot of them had
|>good photographs so I could tell.  Are black GSDs banned from the
|>show ring like the white ones? They told us he wasn't show 
|>quality, conformation wasn't right, but I forgot to ask about the 
|>color.  I don't want to show him anyways, not in conformation
|>anyway, maybe in obedience, depends on  a lot of stuff. They
|>mentioned that he could bring in a lot of money as a stud just
|>because he was black, well, we were going to get him neutered
|>anyways but just out of curiousity, would he really?
|>
|>Well, thanks in advance for all responses!!!
|>
|>Kay Schlumpf
|> 
 
Hi Kay,

Black German Shepherds are uncommon but not rare. The black color is
a recessive gene which accounts for the lower #'s. If you breed two blacks
together you will always just blacks in the litter. If the two parents
carry the black gene you have the chance to get some blacks in the 
litter. A black German Shepherd (GSD) puppy will be all black at
birth and certainly by the time they are 3-4 weeks old you will be 
able to tell if they are bicolor (mostly black with tan points) 
or solid black. Bicolor result from having the black gene present.
(One of my dogs is a bicolor. His sire is solid black and his mother 
black and tan). Black is accepted in the AKC show ring as well as 
the SV show ring. The problem with blacks is that the color emphasizes
any conformation faults compared to the regular black and tan. Only the
white German Shepherd is ineligible for AKC showing. 

While the remark about bringing in alot of money via stud fees may have
been a casual remark, be aware that people do hype up supposedly "rare"
types of a breed to make a quick buck. In GSD's, long haired dogs are
a major fault and should be sold as pets but some people call them 
exotic and charge more! A good black GSD will command the same stud 
fee as an equivalent black and tan or sable dog. My dog's father's 
stud fee was the same as the other SchIII, Koer'd dogs in the kennel.

Color should be secondary to the overall health, temperment and physical
soundness of the dog. Even saying that, I find the black GSD a very
striking animal. You will find that the black gene is more prevalent
in the East German and German working lines than the American and German
show lines. There was an American Kennel in the 1940's that bred only
black dogs and put many AKC championships and obedience titles on them.
Today Bauernhof Kennels (American lines) seems to be carrying on that
tradition.

As an aside, please note that a very large GSD is not necessarily a
"better" dog no matter how fit the dog may be. The GSD standard is for
a medium large dog(20-25" at the shoulder) as befits a working breed.
A very large dog (over 120 lbs) while very impressive, is just not as
agile as a smaller dog. As you get chance to watch obedience, agility,
Schutzhund you can begin to see that size is not always an advantage.

Enjoy your new puppy. Be prepared for people to be confused as
to his breed. Some might think he is a Belgian Sheepdog or lab cross. :-)


--
Victoria Janicki
Digital Equipment Corporation
Littleton,MA
(UUCP)	                {decvax,ucbvax,allegra}!decwrl!tuxedo.enet!janicki
(INTERNET)              janicki@tuxedo.enet.dec.com
(domain-based INTERNET) janicki%tuxedo.enet@decwrl.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs