Black German Shepherds – How and Why?
There are many different color variations of GSD’s, including black/tan, white, and all black german shepherds.
While the most common and famous (thanks to Rin Tin Tin) are black and tan shepherds, all white and all blacks are becoming more and more common.
Unlike the white, the black German Shepherd doesn’t come with any particularly interesting backstory or AKC banning issues, but they do share something in common: both solid colors are the result of recessive gene expression.
An all black shepherd comes about from simply expressing the gene for all black coloring, instead of the traditional black and tan.
They more closely resemble the standard GSD’s than white shepherds do, because many standards are mostly black anyway.
WGSD’s (white german shepherds) are more rare due to both recessive genes needing to be expressed, and they come with their own backstory and controversy, including the AKC not fulling recognizing them to this day.
It’s also worth noting that black german shepherds can still carry the recessive white gene, so while not likely, it’s entirely possible for two all black shepherds to produce a White American Shepherd, one of several different official German Shepherd names.
If you’re like me, and prefer solid-color dogs, BGSD’s are a great choice, because they have the exact same great characteristics of any standard German Shepherd.
They are loyal and very intelligent, making for an excellent guard dog and/or family pet.
Whether it’s the best or worst of both worlds, I have an all white shepherd who frequently turns all black, depending on how muddy the backyard is that day!
Black German Shepherds
As you can imagine from the picture above, black shepherds are also much easier to keep clean, or at least keep “looking” clean, since the dirt will blend right in.
Some say black german shepherds make for a better police attack dog, because the brighter tan and white colors are easier for criminals to spot and avoid, though they don’t stand much chance either way…
Aug 16, 2010 | 7 | black german shepherds
