Saturday, December 31, 2011

Get Familiar With White Haired German Dogs

By Heinz Kaufmann


The German Shepherd dog has been raised in different types over the years. One such type is the white German chocolate puppy which is also called the American or Canadian White Shepherd. It was basically brought up as a companion and show dog. It is sometimes referred to as the Swiss Shepherd dog or the Berger Blanc Suisse.

The existence of White German Shepherd is believed to have been as early as 1882. Being cross-breeds of wolf dogs, these canine types are often referred to as witty and attractive.

Though some records point that White German Shepherds were first recorded in 1917 from Ann Tracy's pack of hounds. In due course, in the 1920s, a person named H.N. Hanchett imported these types to the United States. It has also been recorded that the first 15 years of white shepherd breeding produced mostly white puppies.

White German Shepherds are considered to be common. The breeder of the original German Shepherd is Max Von Stephanitz. He also had some white varieties and mixed with the European line of original German Shepherd. This process resulted to a new subspecies, Shiloh Shepherd.

Because of its color, owning these types were forbidden in the US GSD Breed Standard in 1933. Later on, in 1968, they stopped allowing these to be show dogs. Meanwhile, in Germany and some parts of Europe, a mass killing of these types were common as a result of the ban.

The ban was resulted by a belief that these dogs were albinos. But research today proved that the condition was caused by a gene locus MC1R. Hence, the color was not because of albinism or any gene irregularities.

In countries such as Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark, White German Shepherds were considered a different breed. 1969 marked the birth of an organization in Germany to serve for the protection and welfare of these dogs. This went Europe-wide and afterwards in 1977, internationally.

You should not consider the white dog an albino. It does not have discolored eyes, eyelids and nose as well as pads which is a common trait in dogs suffering from albinism. It should preferably have a snow white coat but others with broken color are also accepted. The medium length coat has slightly longer hair around the neck.

The nose of the white German Shepherd should be black. The snow nose usually fades in the winters and this is an acceptable trait only if the nose becomes darker in warm weather and does not remain pink. The White German Shepherd puppies are very obedient and reactive to training therefore making excellent house pets for children and families.




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