German Shepherds are marvelous dogs who boast many features that appeal to our eyes. One of their main features are the colors and coat varieties that they can have. In this article, you will find a brief breakdown of some of the colors and coats of a German Shepherd.
Different Types of German Shepherd Colors
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| Red and Black: This coloration is the most recognized color for the average person. This consists of red features that can accent the head, legs, neck, underbelly, and tail with a black “saddle”. The black can equally extend to parts of the chest as well as the head and face. These colors can vary from a deep red and black to a lighter pigmentation. |
Bi-Color: The bicolor contains similar colors to the red and black but in a different quantity. The more prominent color would be black with red/tan accents. These accent tints extend to the face, legs, underbelly, jaw, inner ears, chest, and eyebrows. |
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| Sable: The sable color represents the most common color of the German Shepherd. It consists of a combination of colors and each strand of hair can have 2-3 different colors. These strands of hair can have brown, black, silver and red along with containing a layer of black over them. There can be a few ranges like light sable, dark sable, and red sable. |
Black: The back color is precisely as it sounds, a solid black German Shepherd. This is a recessive gene in the German shepherd and can be a bit more uncommon. While an all-black German Shepherd is identified for its dark coat, it can still bear slight traces of color. Some areas that this can be observed are traces of brown in-between the toes or a narrow patch of white on the chest. |
Different Types of German Shepherd Coats
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Standard Coat (SC) |
Long Stock Coat (LSH) |
| German Shepherds are known to include a double coat. This consists of the topcoat as well as a thick undercoat. Two variations of the coat are the standard coat and the long coat. The standard coat is also referred to as a stock coat and can be seen in the first image below. The long coat is just how it sounds, a longer coat than the standard coat. The longer coat still maintains an undercoat while the topcoat increases in length. |
Common Questions
Q: What Color is a Show Line German Shepherd
A: Red & Black
Q: What Color is a Working Line German Shepherd
A: Working lines can come in a variety of colors such as: Sable, Black, Bi-Color
Q: What About a White German Shepherd?
A: Yes, there are white German Shepherds, however, the white color has been considered a disqualification for the German Shepherd Dog since before the first AKC breed standard. This is also a disqualification for the SV/FCI breeding standard. So while you can still obtain a white German Shepherd with AKC papers you would not be permitted to compete in the GSD AKC/SV/FCI conformation rings.
