I know that there are kennel restrictions on the White German Shepherd regarding shows, but I want to know if there are any differences between the White breed and the "normal" breed (apart from the fact that they are differently colored). Are they separate breeds? What are the differences between the two breeds?
the white one doesn’t have to sit in the back of the bus
White German Shepherds and German Shepherds are the same breed, only White ones have genetics that make them white. People often consider them different breeds because of that, they try to keep white ones breeding with white ones to get more white ones. No difference, only their color is different.
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AKC standards do not acknowledge "white" as a color for the german shepherd dog. A white german shepherd is simply a substandard color of the german shepherd and is not its own breed as many think.
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the white one doesn’t have to sit in the back of the bus
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Colour that is all.
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LOL @ big joe!
There isn’t a difference between the two aside from color. Contrary to popular belief, white GSDs do not suffer from health issues due to their color. The AKC really needs to recognize this and adjust their breed standard.
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They are the same breed. Just the color.
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Nothing really – its just that the breeders don’t like white Shepherd and therefore, it was not an accepted color in the breed standard.
Personally I think they are cool looking and maybe one day they will be accepted.
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White GSDs have been bred for color over temperament, conformation, and working ability…most of them have softer temperaments that a standard GSD, and very few of them can work. You will never see one doing protection/police work.
Sure, there are plenty of poorly bred "normal" colored GSDs out there with soft, sharp/shy temperaments and no working ability…however if you get a white one, your virtually guaranteed of this (even if you get one from an ethical breeder).
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In the German Shepherd the white is caused by a masking gene which is why they have dark nose, eye rims, etc.
In Europe they are separate breeds and there are some here in the states that would like to separate the white coated GSD from the others.
Contrary to what someone else said, there are great white GSDs out there. You do not see as many working but you also don’t see American Line GSDs working either.
I have seen pictures of white GSDs in Schutzhund – and doing quite well at it. There are white GSD breeders out there that are doing all the right things – they are harder to find though.
ETA- I meant masking gene in the sense that it masks the color from showing not masking as in their dark face
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[Barb]:
There is NO "masking gene" involved in self-white. Join my group (address below) or Danielle’s http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Genetics to do some learning.
The true "masking allele" is E^m, the one that produces a dark mask on many breeds. To be self-white, a pooch of any canine breed must be e^ e^ (to block the production of eumelanin (dark pigment)), so cannot posses E^m. It must also be homozygous for one of the 2 recessives that block the production of phaeomelanin (tan pigment).
[Dd (is on vacation)]:
Despite the AKC’s own arrogant opinion, the Standard of the GSD has NOTHING to do with the AKC – the GSD is NOT a Yank breed (although the NAmerican Ski-Slope Dogs that masquerade as GSDs in AKC & CKC rings sure are Yank & Canuck deviations).
And although fanciers of white will never accept it, the FACT is that there is NO HERDING BREED that is white. Every herding breed (and not all dogs translated as "Shepherd" are herding dogs – many, such as the Anatolian, are guarding dogs) is required to have a contrasty coat, with a dark area on top. The 2 most obvious reasons are that sheep don’t respect/fear white dogs the way they do dark dogs, and a yellow-white dog is hard for the farmer to see as it walks among the sheep (which is why the guardian breeds ARE usually yellow-white & woolly – the predator thinks the guardian dog is just a stupid sheep, which gives the dog a better chance to get close enough to catch it).
[confused]:
It depends on WHICH GSD and WHICH white GSD you are talking about.
To make it a little easier, let’s consider a litter with both white and non-white pups in it.
Okay, obviously the genetics are close to the same in both sets of pups, although random mixing during the meiosis stage that produces gametes (sperm, ova) plus random chance as to which sperm fertilises which ovum makes it immensely improbable that any 2 pups are actually genetically identical.
The key difference is that the white pups have a pair of both sets of "blocker" alleles – they are homozygous for the e^ that blocks eumelanin, and homozygous for either a^ or the as-yet-unidentified other allele that blocks phaeomelanin (some of us us have been calling it c^d just to give it a name, although DNA research has since proven that the C locus has the wrong chemistry to do that particular blocking). Whereas the non-white pups have avoided the full set of 4 alleles (2 pairs), but are very likely to have at least one of the set.
No damage has been identified as caused by either of those "blocking" alleles, nor has any damaging allele been identified as closely linked to either of them (unlike blues, where there is associated organ damage in some breeds, though not in GSDs. But some versions of the 2 pairs of alleles that create self-blue GSDs do seem to produce brittle ear-hairs that rub off between moults).
• So, in a single litter, the answer to your question is "No significant difference except the lack of hair-colour".
But as soon as you expand from the "litter-mates" situation to the "whole breed situation", the answer changes dramatically.
See, the genes for colour are the least important aspect of a functional breed – and both the German Shepherd Dog and its very similar rival the Belgian Shepherd Dog (with its 4 coat-based varieties, despite that the AKC arrogantly changes 3 of the varieties into separate "breeds" and ignores the 4th variety) were developed to be VERY functional breeds. Ignore the vague rebel documents independently invented by the KCs in Britain, Canada, the USofA (after all, the breeders & judges & professional handlers in those countries ignore ALL Standards!) – the only valid Standard of the GSD is at http://www.fci.be/uploaded_files/166A1991_en.doc and you’ll see that it specifies that dogs inadequate for one or more of a GSD’s many functions are to be disqualified.
Okay, now enter the weird worlds of "show-is-all" and "pet-is-all", with all those ignorant-but-highly-opinionated people who consider that THEY (despite having never herded 400+ unfenced sheep, never having had to see-off predators, never having produced a competent guide dog, etc etc) know better than do the very experienced representatives who get sent to conferences where the International Standard of the GSD is debated and, if deemed necessary, modified (e.g., it is expected that as of 2010 the langstockhaar coat will be allowed, but as a permanently-separated variety, not as part of the main GSD breed).
As a result, in addition to the outright crap produced by ignorant BYBers and the near-crap sold through pet-shops, those advocates of "my opinion is what counts" have produced deviations we sneeringly refer to as AlsatiOns or Banana-Backs or Frogs’ Behinds or German Crouchers or NAmerican Ski-Slope Dogs or Prick-Eared Bassets or Titanic Tail-Tuckers, depending on which inappropriate exaggerations they possess.
Okay, on that basis, the American White Shepherds aka White German S
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