silver tipping ticking ect opinions - Page 1

I'm looking for anyones opinions of the silver tipping on black and tan gsd's backs. What is your viewpoint and what are the origins, confirmation stance versus a solid black back. Thanks in advance.

personal opinion- i prefer the solid black backs. in fact, the more black the more attractive i find the dog usually!

well if you are talking about a female, I was told that the more of this the more estregin (sp?) she has....most males don't have it as much. I have seen some confermation males that have very little black and could only guess as that is because of all the line breeding and they have bred out the color of the dog.... Heather

heard a story that it represents a throwback to wolf ancestry -- i really don't know if that be true or if someone else was just talking from their ears instead -- but then again ... could be very possible

Ah, ha, another great - and often sensitive topic !! We love bi-colors -- and I recently saw a website where the breeder called a black/tan dog a bi-color I guess simply because the tan did not cover the whole shoulder - but it did run through the thigh and up around the stifle so I didn't get that at all -- anyway - about the "salt & pepper" I can tolerate some of it in bitches -- hate it in males -- I guess because my first bitch had some I grew accustomed to it but then when we got Doberman colored dogs -- no s&p involved there -- and glad of it -- I just saw a very dark puppy - same markings as a black/red Dobe - and between 8 weeks and 12 weeks it sprouted a SKUNK LINE of white hairs all down it's back into the croup !!How awful -- This does not belong on a dog that dark -- And if the "girls" get a clump of it on their withers - fine - but as it spreads down the back and they have a lot of it before they are even 3 years old - then I'm about ready to call that fading pigment,definitely not my preference. Competent and confident breeders will always tell you color is the easiest thing to fix -- but now people are not willing to bred to grey dogs - and there aren't even many good ones around - that was always a "fix" for pale cream dogs with "silver" -- yuk -- yet - some people breed those on purpose if they have a "market" - others will not ever have a sable involved because they feel they can never sell them -- We like to sell the dog on the inside -- instead. But I do agree it's difficult -- The Germans, God bless, have somehow got ALL the "show" dogs the same color now - with or without the help of Photoshop !! I miss the Nice Greys and dark Bi-Colors !! Did I get too far off the subject ?? probably - sorrry.

Silver tipping on topline is acceptable as characteristic in a female but not desirable in the male whose saddle should remain unbroken as a male with a broken saddle I believe is a sign of colour paling. Actually, with her suggestion of Estregin, Heather (Het) may just have come up with the reason it appears in females, although it is the first time I have heard of this, I certainly wouldnt rule it out, as it could indeed be the exact reason. I have always thought of this colouring as been natures way of distinguishing the female from the male (apart from size and strength of course). Just as the male in many species is more attractive than the female, be it in colour (such as in birds) or in coat/mane such as in lions. Not saying this is correct, just my thought. Sue B

I have also been told that this is hormonal in females. I have a male with very solid black saddle and all his daughters that I know and are now adults have this as well - no white or grey flecks - he is a son of a sable, and I think breeding with sables probably helps the problem.