That Colour Thing ..

A lady posted a photo of her lovely GSD on a L/C page on Facebook, she said she had just taken on the bitch and had never owned a sable before and asked were there any colour changes she could expect. This top photo was the one she posted.
Now I'll be honest, a quick glance on a small screen and many of us would say it's a black and tan .. but look closer and you can clearly see the undercoat is red. By the time I saw the post maybe 10 - 12 people had posted that this was not a sable but a black and tan. I was wary but said that in my opinion the owner was correct. Feeling a little out on a limb in the post I then immediately messaged Katrina, the font of all knowledge, and asked her opinion, she said yes she's a red/dark sable.
When I came back to the post later this

second photo had been been posted, from this it's clear for all to see that bitch is a sable, and a stunning one at that too ... but no say the so called "Experts," they were not having it. The post got rather heated with some insisting quite aggressively that this bitch was black and tan, one expert even telling us we should research the breed before making false facts about colour. Well you laugh or cry ... Katrina has owned sables since the 80ies and has written books on the breed and Belinda has been involved with the breed all her life being the daughter of Judy Pilling of the famous Gorsefield kennels. There were a few other breed enthusiasts who also tried to convince the "Experts" of the correct colour of this bitch .. oh and me ... little me in Wales who has loved the breed since childhood. The post got out of hand with admin eventually closing it with the statement this bitch is a sable!

Krizzie

So why so much confusion .. do people just think a sable is a pale wishy washy coloured dog, as Steve expected with Ross? Steve still insists Ross is not what he expected, but there is no doubts Ross is a sable. Simply sable is black-tipped hairs, the rest of the hair can be gold, red, to yellow, silver, grey, or tan. The darkness of the coat depends on how much of each hair is black versus the lighter color underneath. A sable is born a sable and need one sable parent (though white can sometimes mask sables) they darken with age and coat changes, a sable can not darken into a black and tan and neither can a black and tan "fade" into a sable. Remember the lady who insisted Krizzie was sable when it was impossible for her to be one?
If you don't have puppy pics to prove your dog is a sable all you need to do is part the hair and see if each hair is two tone. In all colours and shades they really do look very different to a solid coloured saddle black and tan dog. I guess when the saddle is faded like Krizzie, Tali and Asha then the pet owner can become confused .. again look for the black tipped hair and remember once a sable always a sable .. no matter how much they darken.

Photos of Ross' colour changes have been well documented so I thought I'd share these two photos of another sable that is currently very important to Blanik. This beautiful puppy that grew into a stunning adult is the lovely Zalu .. hopefully the sire of our next litter. Isn't he just amazing! (and that is not a word I use lightly!)