Deciding on what color German Shepherd puppy to purchase

As German Shepherd Dog breeders we often get questions about color (Click the link to see available black German Shepherd puppy we have for sale). And this makes sense. How we feel about the aesthetics of a thing is a very human response. When my spouse feels tired and overwhelmed, she enjoys spending time outside. She finds the colors in nature soothing. Years ago one of my relatives intentionally chose dark red colors as the theme for her bathroom as a means of making people not want to spend time in that room. She hoped it would move people through the restroom. When buying a car, one of the first things many people will consider is the color. No, not that car, I don’t like the color. Dogs are not cars, and in this article I hope to give some practical reasons for how to think about the color of a German Shepherd puppy. How important should it be when it comes to buying a German Shepherd puppy. Are there some colors to avoid? And if so, why? With several decades of experience as dog breeders and trainers, we have learned a thing or two about what to look for. We hope you will find these tips useful when searching to purchase your next GSD puppy.

Should I Buy a Rare Color German Shepherd Puppy?

Let’s start here! For the sake of this discussion, we are assuming our reader is looking to add a new puppy to their home. Modern genetics testing has made testing for color cheap and affordable. This has allowed dog breeders to selectively breed for specific color traditionally not seen in many dog breeds. This breeding for color has become quite popular around many dog breeds. Such as practice has become common among many German Shepherd Dog breeders. Most colors in dogs are recessive genes. In most cases a puppy must inherit a specific color gene from each parent in order to visually present with a specific color. A black German Shepherd puppy, then, is black because it has inherited two copies of the black color gene from its parents. The puppy does not inherit two copies from one parent. Rather, it needs one copy from each parent. Some color maters, the merle pattern, is a single dominant gene. With the merle gene, a dog only needs one copy of the gene to present with the merle pattern. Technically, merle is a pattern, not a color. Colors requiring two copies of the gene to present require both parents give a puppy a copy of the gene in order for that puppy to show that color.

So Why Might Breeding for Color be Considered a Problem?

Actively breeding German Shepherds for a specific color nearly always results in lower quality dogs. Consider the following reasons why this will nearly always be the case. Any dog breeder worth their salt will admit that breeding great dogs (in any breed) can be difficult. It tends to be really difficult. Here at Czech Working Line, we often laugh that the traits that seem the easiest to pass along are all the traits we don’t want. That sums up dog breeding in a nutshell. And its not to difficult to understand why. If the goal is to raise better and better dogs, then selecting for the highest levels of performance in obedience, tracking and protection work— the end goal of the German Shepherd Dog breed— means that producing really great dogs requires selecting for traits not present in most dogs within that breed. Selecting for the highest expression of these traits means the breeder is working to produce a higher caliber of dog that is common within the breed. The attributes that are more common are more easily expressed. A mediocre drive, a mediocre protection instinct, these are common. They are the average within the breed. So, being average, these average traits are easily expressed. Dogs with an amazing ability in obedience, tracking and protection work are hard to find. But, what does this have to do with color in GSDs? And why might buying a German Shepherd Dog primarily based on color turn out to be a mistake?

Buying a German Shepherd Dog Primarily for Color Might be a Mistake Because….!

Producing great German Shepherds whose ability to thrive in obedience, tracking and protection work— whether as a true family companion dog or in something more serious like law enforcement or Shutzhund— requires a dog with an above average genetic predisposition. When dog breeders narrow their gene pool to those few dogs within the breed carrying the recessive gene for a non-standard color, they limit their gene pool. Rather than selecting for dogs with the highest expression of character traits that allow the dog to do the work for which the breed was developed, the gene pool is radically reduced. Dogs bred for color are rarely going to be the dogs with the best temperament, best working ability, best protection instincts. Non-standard German Shepherds such as white German Shepherds or blue German Shepherds were specifically bred for these rare colors. In elevating color over character, the highest caliber pedigree dogs are passed over. Inferior dogs are bred because a DNA test shows that inferior character dog has a rare color. Do this over and over and the dog breeder cements in that inferior genetic profile.

Buying a Rare or Non-Standard GSD Will Often Result in the Purchase of a Dog with an Inferior Temperament!

How important is temperament in your next puppy? If you are primarily looking for a dog to hang out with and go on walks, then you might never notice your dog is overly stubborn or hard to train. Many owners never train their dogs. And in some cases, the joy you get from owning an unusually looking dog might be considered a great trade off. And that is not wrong. With that said, most of our German Shepherd puppy buyers here at Czech Working Line tend to be owners that are purchasing a dog with a specific working goal in mind. This is typically true whether the dog will be a family protection dog, a personal protection dog, or a more serious trained deterrent dog. German Shepherds were developed as working dogs. By working dogs, we mean this breed was designed to do a specific purpose, not just warm the couch. German Shepherds were specifically bred as highly trainable dogs that would excel in tracking and obedience work. For sure, not every person trains their dog in both tracking and protection work. But as a working dog breed, German Shepherds that are unable to do the work for which German Shepherds were developed are not much more than an empty shell. And this is why buying a rare color white or blue German Shepherd might be a decision you could regret.

At Czech Working Line, We Never Breed Rare Color German Shepherds.

For our family. This isn’t something we ever plan on doing. With a commitment to raising the bar on how our litters perform, this requires we use the highest caliber pedigree we can possibly find. And even when we do this, not every litter turns out to be a home run. Produce dogs with better and better performance is really hard. And its is near impossible to achieve this goal unless we are matching the absolute best proven working line German Shepherds we can find. Choose breeding stock based on color even though their ability to perform in obedience, tracking and protection work is inferior. What will you get? Simple. You end up with litters of what might be cute puppies, but their temperament will nearly always be inferior. And with nearly 100% certainty, their offspring will almost always be sub standard! Since our goal is to produce German Shepherds that work well, which the highest caliber temperaments, this means we simply can’t afford to roll the dice on sub-standard genetics. Temperament absolutely must be of the highest standard. And this is why we as German Shepherd Dog breeders only pair standard color German Shepherd’s. We want our options as wide as possible. We want the biggest set of options on which dogs to pair. In order to do this, we stick with standard, common colors for the German Shepherd.

We Do Not Breed Rare Colors or Show Line German Shepherd Dogs

Here at czechworkingline.com, we don’t do this! Lets discuss. Our first goal in our breeding program is to produce healthy dogs that live a long time and are super easy to train. That is set in stone. It is non-negotiable. Because we are breeding for health, this immediately rules out show line German Shepherds. There is not space or room in this article to discuss in detail why this is. For more context on why we don’t breed show line German Shepherds, see here. In brief, the roach back of show line dogs is basically a physical deformity. Further, many of these dogs are never tested or required to pass exams proving their ability to excel in obedience, tracking or protection. Show dogs are put in a show ring and chosen for how closely they look like an artist drawing of what a show dog ought to look like. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Do this for three or four generations and many of the dogs in a pedigree can quickly be dogs lacking in the basic ability to do “German Shepherd work!”

Which Colors are Standard in German Shepherd Dogs?

The most common standard color among working line German Shepherd Dogs are variations of sable and the color black. American show line dogs are nearly always a red and black saddleback. But as we pointed out earlier, the health problems with the show line dogs are just awful. So we don’t mix these in with our working line dogs. For nearly a century, working line German Shepherd dogs have been ubiquitous with sable GSDs and black GSDs. If you are putting temperament and character as the highest priority, then these are the colors from which you will want to choose. Standard colors present dog breeders with the most options. And more genetic options provide far greater opportunity to breed dogs with great genetic ability. And here at Czech Working Line, this is what we are all about. We are committed to producing healthy dogs, that live a long time and are super easy to breed.

Should I Buy a Sable or Black German Shepherd Puppy?

If your first priority is character and temperament AND you are wanting a sable or black German Shepherd puppy, then your options are wide open. Not so with red and black saddleback as this color is nearly always a show line dog. And certainly not so with rare color, non-standard white or blue German Shepherds. But if you appreciate sable German Shepherd puppies or black German Shepherd puppies then your options are wide open. Why is that? Simple. These two colors were the standard, base color in the first century over which the German Shepherd Dog breed was developed. This means there are a ton of great dogs with these color profiles. Therefore, choosing to buy a sable German Shepherd puppy, or a black German Shepherd puppy won’t limit your options. In fact, some of the world’s top working line German Shepherds are known for producing a really dark black sable color, in addition to litters of black puppies. With sable and black being the most common and widely available, choosing one of these traditional colors won’t get you into trouble. You can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak! While this is definitely not generally true for rare color white or blue German Shepherds, and while its not generally true for the red and black show color dogs, sable and black color dogs were the most dominant and common colors during the development of GSDs as a breed. So, you want to purchase a truly striking black sable German Shepherd puppy? Or a solid black, German Shepherd puppy? Go for it. Start with pedigree. Verify your litter comes from proven working lines. Find a puppy from proven parentage where dogs in that pedigree were put through their paces and required to pass IGP exams. And after doing this, further select for color. Do this in this order, and you should end up with a smart, healthier puppy. The kind that will bring you joy for years to come. Specifically looking to buy a black German Shepherd puppy. We produce plenty of these here at Czech Working line. Give us a call to see what we have coming up. All our puppies are AKC registered. They all come with a health guarantee.