All color variations of GSD’s share many of the same characteristics, and white German Shepherds continue their tradition of loyalty, intelligence, and obedience.
Of course, the biggest determining factor in their specific temperament starts in their bloodline and how they were bred by their German Shepherd breeder.
Were they bred for looks, personality, size, working ability, or a combination?
While you can’t change the bloodline, taking the time to work on training and care can go a long way in shaping your pet’s behavior.
Because of their superior intelligence, white German Shepherds can easily become bored, leading to mischief, destruction, or other outlets for their pent-up energy and anxiety.
It is essential that you give them the exercise they need, in the form of both walks and playtimes.
German Shepherds, in general, are known to be extremely loyal, almost to a fault, depending on how you handle them, so it’s important you socialize them early and often by bringing them around other dogs and people.
When they sense a threat to their owner or other member of their family, something primal is triggered, and they will do whatever they can to eliminate that threat, though they may be perfectly calm and gentle at home.
This can be a problem if they misconstrue someone’s intentions and wrongfully identify them as a threat, so again, socialization is the key to harnessing their fierce loyalty.
In addition to their loyalty toward their owners, they often “adopt” the children of the family as their own, which also has its advantages and disadvantages.
While this will make the family dog very protective of the kids, leading to the same potential overprotective qualities mentioned above, they can also begin treating the children as one of their own puppies.
In the wild, they nip, tug, and carry their puppies to care for and correct them, so any uncomfortable mouthing or rough behavior with the kids should be stopped and corrected immediately.
With German Shepherd dog training, it’s all about finding that perfect balance, so you can enjoy the loyalty and playful temperament of your dog, while saving the protective nature for when you really need it and an actual threat exists.
White German Shepherds are shunned by some as being too brightly-colored and easily noticeable to make good guard dogs, but they don’t know what color they are and will protect their family to their last breath.
Choosing German Shepherd names can be a daunting task, because it’s a very important decision in you and your dog’s lives.
Presumably, this is going to be one of your most direct forms of communication and one of your most used and recognized words to him or her.
As with any name, you have to decide if you are choosing a name based on the way it sounds, based on fitting your dog’s appearance, or based on their personality.
Some people choose to go with tried-and-true names that they’ve heard and liked before, while others want to have a completely unique and original name all their own.
No matter what you decide, this short list of example names for each breed will hopefully spur some ideas, so you and your GSD can get on a first name basis.
German Shepherd Names By Color
Since there are a few different colors and variations of German Shepherds, fitting the name to your dog’s color is a fun way to narrow things down.
Standard German Shepherds: No surprise here. The first name that springs to many people’s mind when thinking of german shepherds in general is none other than the one that made them famous, Rin Tin Tin.
Rin Tin Tin was a superhero of sorts, rescuing people and pursuing criminals in a variety of media outlets, from television, movies, toys, books, and more.
There may not be much originality here, but the cute smile you get every time you call him or tell someone his name will be well worth it.
White German Shepherds: What’s the first thing you can of that is white? Unless you live in the tropics, it’s probably snow, which grants itself to a cute name like Snowflake.
With white shepherds, there are a variety of fun and unique names you can choose that refer to their all white color.
Another white animal that conjures up feelings of love and happiness is a Dove, which makes for a great female name.
Black German Shepherds: All black shepherds lend themselves to a variety of names as well, since there are many things we think of when it comes to the color of black.
The most simple would be the old classic, Blackie. Straight-to-the-point and easy to say and remember.
For something a little more hard-edged, Tar makes for a great male name and almost sounds like it could be the name of a Roman god or superhero.
Other popular names for black german shepherds include: Shadow, Night, Cole, and Sharpie.
Whichever of these german shepherd names you choose, or if you decide to create your own, all that matters is that you use it enough for your dog to recognize it as their own.
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…
We’ve trained our white German shepherd to control her excitement and sit down before receiving affection or acknowledgement. This is great for making sure she doesn’t jump all over us or other people. You can see how excited she is to see me, then quickly transitions into a calm and submissive mode without me saying a word.
White German Shepherds attracted me with their bright white coats, so I traveled six hours and paid $500 to bring home Eda (exercise. discipline. affection.).
This was my first German Shepherd of any kind, and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the breed.
Black German Shepherds are probably the next line I’m going to look into.
If you are a proud White Shepherd owner, post your pictures here!
White German Shepherds - Eda Puppy
White German Shepherds - Eda 5 Months
I look forward to seeing all of your White German Shepherds…
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