APPEARANCE

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 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 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

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:

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:

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 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

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

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).

Learning the Parts*:

1. lip 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:

• Shiloh Shepherd Breed Standard {www.issdc.com}
• Shiloh Shepherd Coat Colors, ISSR {originally located at  www.shilohshepherds.info/issrShilohShepherdsCoatColor.pdf} 
• Illustrated Breed Standard {www.shilohshepherds.info/issrIllustratedBreedStandard.html}
• Colour & Pigment by Linda Shaw, MBA {www.gsdinfo.co.uk/Breed%20Info/Colour%20&%20Pigment.htm}
• Coat Color Genetics 101 {embarkvet.com/resources/dog-breeders/science-corner-coat-color-genetics-101-2/}
• Black German Shepherd: How are These Dogs so Rare? by Camille Bataille, 7/23/2020
  an explanation of the genetics behind color and pattern in GSDs {www.anythinggermanshepherd.com/black-german-shepherd-what-should-you-do-to-get-this-rare/} 
• German Shepherd Coat & Color {https://gsd-living.com/coat-color/}
• Sables :Genetics & Myths by Fred Lanting { http://siriusdog.com/articles/color-sable-genetics-breeding-shepherd-grau.htm}
• The Genetics of Coat Color in the White Shepherd Dog by Michael Handley {www.wsgenetics.org/coat_color.htm}
• The German Shepherd Dog by Ernest H. Hart*
• Canine Genetics Primer (includes colour) {www.tenset.co.uk/doggen/indexus.html}
• Details about the traditional saddle-back pattern {www.total-german-shepherd.com/German-Shepherd-Coat-Colors.html}
• DNA CHROMAGENE Coat Color Testing {www.vetgen.com/canine-coat-color.html}
• Dog Coat Colour Genetics {www.doggenetics.co.uk/}
• How to Measure Your Dog {www.lgd.org/library/measure.htm}