What You Need to Know BEFORE
You Buy a Liver or Blue GSD Puppy
The color standard for the German Shepherd Dog
The German Shepherd Dog varies in color, and most
colors are permissible. Strong rich colors are preferred.
Nose black. Pale, washed-out colors and blues or livers are
serious faults. A white dog or a dog with the nose that is not
predominantly black must be disqualified.
1. Livers and blues are not rare
Webster’s defines rare as being held in high
esteem due to the infrequency of the occurrence.
Depending on who one is talking to this may or may not be true of
blues and livers. These colors are infrequent only because they are
a cosmetic fault within the standard of the breed. If one’s pair
of dogs are liver or blue or are carriers of the liver or blue gene
then it is highly likely and fairly easy to produce these colors
within that breeding pair on a consistent basis, thereby eliminating
the “rare” definition. For those who fancy the color they are held
in the highest regard, however for those who follow the standard to
the letter liver and blue are not sought after at all and so are
infrequent in their production for a totally different reason –
lacking of high esteem – and thereby eliminating the “rare”
definition for those people as well. Liver and blue simply stated
is a recessive gene that occurs anytime two carriers of that
particular recessive gene are bred together, the same is to be said
for solid black which is an acceptable color and so is not often
dubbed as rare.
2.Livers and blues are not as healthy as
other colored German Shepherd Dogs
The answer to this is truly a study in genetics.
The genetics behind your puppy determines it’s general health and
the health conditions that it will be predisposed to.
If the parents of your puppy are not healthy or carry the genes for
particular health problem then the likelihood that your puppy will
carry these genes or display this problem is very high. Color is
only one of hundred qualities that a puppy inherits from its parents.
To that end the only argument that can realistically be made toward
the health of a liver or blue being in any more jeopardy than a normal
colored dog is this. Since the liver and blue are not as common as
the other colors their gene pool is smaller and thereby more
concentrated. However with the intense linebreeding that is going
on with other lines it is just as likely that you will have the same
problems there and those particular animals don’t carry the off color
genes.
3.Is a liver or blue right for me?
Only you can answer that question. If your interest
is the AKC conformation ring then you would be ill served by
a dog of either color. If you are looking for a companion then
the color is simply a matter of what is best suited to your eye and
is not a serious consideration for choosing a dog. If you are looking
for a working dog, select a pup out of stock that is doing what you
would like for your puppy to do and color is once again not a serious
consideration. Understand that should you elect to own a liver or
blue German Shepherd Dog that you will be putting yourself up in the
public eye so to speak and there are those who will feel it is their
duty to educate you as to the mistake you have unwittingly made.
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blue dog, if that doesn't work try the other one : )
