APPEARANCE

COLOR CHART GALLERY
Visit our Color Chart Gallery [HERE] for photos showcasing the above referenced colors and coat types of  both puppy and adult  … plush puppy, plush adult, smooth puppy, smooth adult.

We are still gathering photos; please be patient while we work.  Do you have one you’d like to contribute? Email photo at least 640×480 in size, with your Shiloh’s name, sire/dam, date of birth, and color name noted, to design@shilohshepherdpedigrees.com

Size:

The Shiloh Shepherd Dog is powerfully built and well-balanced, with proud carriage and smooth, effortless gait. This gentle giant should appear longer than tall. The desired height can be no less then 28″ for males and 26″ for females.

Coat Length:

Shiloh Shepherds come in a variety of colors, patterns and two varieties of coat length.

plush coat

plush coat

Plush Coat variety has a close fitting double coat of medium coarse guard hairs, with a softer undercoat. The head and muzzle, back of the ears and front of the legs and paws are covered with short smooth hairs. The neck has a distinct “mane” that extends to, and covers the chest, with slightly shorter hair covering the remaining torso, not to exceed 5″ in length. The “feathering” inside of the ears and on the back of the forelegs should not exceed 3″ in length. Show Grooming should include the trimming of all excess fur from between the toes, around the pads, and the removal of all “tufts” from among the “feathering” inside the ears.

smooth coat

smooth coat

 

Smooth Coat variety is a double coat of medium length. The outer coat should be dense as possible with hair straight, harsh, lying close to the body. The hair around the neck area should be slightly longer and thicker. The head including the inner ear and fore face, legs and paws should be covered with shorter hair.

Colors & Patterns:

Shiloh Shepherd coat colors may be “shades of black with tan, golden tan, reddish tan, silver, and cream” or “various shades of richly pigmented golden, silver, red, dark brown, dark gray, or black sable”. Thirty-three possible varieties are recognized. Solid black or solid white are also acceptable as long as nose, lips, and eye rims are solid black. White markings are discouraged except for small patches on toes or the center of the chest. Pale, washed-out colors are discouraged. Eyes are dark to light brown, almond shaped and of medium size.

Dual Color:

Duals develop into a two-toned pattern. When born, they are much darker then when they reach maturity. As a dual puppy grows, the lighter (ground) color spreads upward and outward up the legs, chest, underside and around the cheeks and ears. Dual colored dogs should have a pure black back. Duals as adults may vary from the saddle marked dog with very little black on the dog other than the saddle and muzzle,all the way to very dark dogs that appear nearly black. Duals also usually have silvering through their coat at the neck, across the withers and down the topline.

Note: pure black means that the entire hair from the tip to root is black with no other color under the black overlay. Any dog that has white hairs mixed with the black near the wither and/or croup is considered to be “salted” or to have “ticking”. This is a sign of a faded pigment gene, but the dog is still considered to be dual colored.

Sable Color:

sable color

sable color

Sables have a distinctly colored undercoat that possess only a black overlay. If you run your hand along the dog’s back (standing the hair up as you go) from the tail to the wither and his or her black hairs have different colored roots, then your dog is a sable. There are many variations of the sable pattern. Sables may appear very light,with little black present, all the way to having so much black in their coats that they may appear solid black when seen from a distance. Sables are noted by multi-colored individual hairs, though they may be masked by dark or black guard hairs. Sables go through many lightening and darkening stages of coat development before reaching their maturity.

note: Golden Sables always have a light chest and show no black markings on their shoulders or thighs. Silver Sables are very, very rare and are often a light gray sable is mistaken for them. Silver Sables always have a pure white undercoat.

Solid Black Color:

shiloh3-black

solid black color

Solid black with only a small white marking on chest and/or toes. Some will occasionally have some brown hairs on the back of hocks and between the toes.

“Solid is a recessive gene – both parents have to carry it to produce it. True solids come in black, blue, liver, and isabella. If BOTH parents of a litter are solids then all resulting puppies will also be solid patterned – NO saddles, bi-colors, sables, etc.” ~Kerstone Shepherds

Solid White Color:

shiloh2-white

solid white color

Solid white is pure white with no other colors (except possibly some “off-white/beige” highlights) is acceptable as long as the nose, eye rims, and lips are solid black.

“White is a recessive gene in German Shepherds. Both parents must carry the gene to produce it. Two whites bred together will produce ONLY white puppies, no other colors. White is a masking gene, virtually hiding the dog’s true genetic color (example, this dog is “masking” a traditional black & tan, but also carries a gene for the solid black recessive.) Most whites have black pigment. Some have what is called a “snow nose” where it is dark in summer and lighter in winter…White is a ‘masking’ gene and covers up the dog’s true color. That is why ‘white’ dogs often have cream, or blonde tint to their coats. Any white dog “masking” a rich black & red, or rich red sable, is more likely to have cream showing through the white. Whereas, a white masking a light silver sable, or black & silver, will have a more pure white coat.

The white spotting gene causes white spots or blazes on chests, faces, toes, or tips of tails on colored dogs. The white spotting gene is NOT the same gene responsible for solid whites! White GSDs may tend produce puppies with white on them because you wouldn’t be able to tell if the white parent had a white spotting on them.” ~Kerstone Shepherds

Bi-Color Pattern:

bi-colored pattern

bi-colored pattern

Bi-colored dogs are are two-toned with black as the dominate color. Bi’s can be quickly identified with having their black color forming a “v” low onto their forelegs either directly to or below the pastern (these black points must be clear and strong) and black on their hocks. The toes (not just the nails) also appear to have black lines painted on across the tips. A dog is not considered to be “bi-colored” unless he or she has these distinct black markings. The overall appearance of bi-colored dogs should be mostly black with lighter accent colors.

Note: Bi-colored sables have the same bi-colored pattern as the bi-colored duals. The only difference is that their actual color is sabled instead of solid.

Saddle Pattern:

saddle pattern

saddle pattern

Dogs with a Saddle Marked pattern are two-toned (duals) with a pure black back. The pattern appears literally shaped like a “saddle” with the black riding high on the hip and shoulder.

Most “saddle” patterned dogs have solid black saddles. Most also have tan “ticking” (tips of fur shaft is not black) coming through on the shoulders and back.

Many call the tan hairs down the top line a “bitch stripe” . Often referred to as a “light” dual (i.e. light black/cream).

Blanket Pattern:

blanket patter

blanket patter

Dogs with a Blanket pattern are two-toned (duals) with a pure black back. The pattern appears like a “blanket” with the black riding low on the hip and shoulder, yet not dipping low and having the distinct markings such as with a bi-colored pattern. Often referred to as a “dark” dual (i.e. dark black/tan).

THE SCIENCE of Color & Pattern

note: follow the links below to learn more about color and its genetics in detail 

Learning the Parts*:

  1. parts-doglip corner (flew)
    1a. jaw (lower)
  2. muzzle
  3. foreface
  4. stop
  5. skull
    5a. occiput
  6. cheek
  7. crest (of neck)
  8. neck
  9. withers
  10. back
  11. hip
  12. croup
  13. tail set
    13a. point of haunch or buttocks
    13b. tail or stern
  14. thigh (quarter, haunch)
  15. point of hock
  16. metatarsus
    16a. hock
  17. lower thigh
  18. point of stifle
  19. loin
  20. ribs
    20a. chest
  21. abdomen
  22. bottom line
  23. elbow
  24. feet (paws)
  25. pastern
  26. forearm
  27. upper arm
  28. shoulder blade
  29. forechest
    29a. prosternum (breatbone)
  30. shoulder

References: