Very confused regarding my white german shepherd.

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Very confused regarding my white german shepherd.

by Ron
(Oklahoma)

Hi i own a 9 week old white german shepherd puppy. I got him from a couple that had the male and the female (I saw both) they looked 100% pure shepherds.

I'm confused because whoever see's him asks me if he's a Labrador when i took him to the vet she as well asked if he's a Labrador.

I will upload a recent photo of him please let me know what you think of him. Shepherd or Lab?!

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Very confused regarding my white german shepherd.

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Jun 07, 2011
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People said the same about mine
by: white gsd owner

Your pup looks just like mine did as a baby. Most people dont even know about white gsd's, so dont worry about it.

Mar 10, 2011
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Help?
by: Anonymous

I'm going through the same dilemma, did you find out if it was a German Shepherd?

Sep 25, 2010
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Hard to tell from the pics,could be either way
by: Anonymous

In the photos its difficult to ascertain what the dog looks like structurally. A typical Lab has very different proportions from a typical GSD. Labs are more square bodied whereas a typical GSD overall is a bit longer than tall. A typical Lab has less angulation front & rear than a typical GSD does.

As for everything else, the ears aren't a reliable indicator at this age. Many different factors determine when ears come up & stay up, a few of these are thickness of cartilage, width & length of the ear, softness of cartilage, curvature of the ear, whether the ear is set high or low on the head, etc.

It's possible for a GSD puppy to have a coat as short as that of a lab puppy and very few white GSD pups are actually WHITE. Most are varying degrees of off-white or darker. Such whites are genetically usually reds or tans and for some reason, the white gene's effect doesn't completely override the effect of the red/tan gene. Whites who appear snow white or close to snow white are usually genetically silvers. The white gene is separate from the genes that determine colored dog's color & pattern, the white gene acts the same way as if you dropped a white sheet over a GSD of any typical GSD color/pattern, hiding the dog's color/pattern.

In the end, there's no way to be sure a dog is purebred unless that dog's parents are purebreds of the same breed, registered by an organizatoin such as the AKC, SV, UKC, or other reputable registry. Parents registered by any one of the many so-called registries who require only photos & owner statements that a dog is purebred or other such flimsy proof, may or may not be purebred.

This is why, if being sure a dog is purebred is really important to you, a person should buy a puppy from an AKC registered litter.or in other countries, a litter registered through an internationally recognized reputable registry.
If what you want is a good companion or a dog you can compete with in performance competitions such as rally, obedience etc, AKC's rules have provisions for allowing a dog whose parents aren't AKC registered to stll be able to compete in performance, obedience, agility, etc
This is the link to the AKC page of instructions for applying for an AKC alternative number if you decide you want to try to earn performance titles with your dog.
http://www.akc.org/reg/ilpex.cfm

Sep 02, 2010
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No worries!
by: Anonymous

I have a solid black GSD and I hear that he looks like a shepherd too people aren't used to seeing a shepherd thats all one colour so don't feel to bad :)

his ears will raise when teething is near complete :D and even if on the very very slim chance your baby is a lab chances are you will love her just the same :)

~Kristen~

Aug 27, 2010
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It A Shepherd
by: Anonymous

Hey! i have a 9 month old WHITE german shepherd too who looked same as urs when she was yours's age. same eyebrows and fur and tail. ears didnt stand up until months later. urs is a shepherd. just make sure she knows ur the alpha dog, and love her and never hit her :)

if u ever r interested in talking abt ur shepherd (cuz i am) and since ur the only person i know who has a white gsd, u can contact me at raghed_22_ch@hotmail.com

Aug 01, 2010
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white German Shepherd
by: John Lentz

I'd wait till your shephed's ears raise. My shepher up looked a littl strange until he started raising his ears.

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Very confused regarding my white german shepherd.

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Very confused regarding my white german shepherd.