FAQ's About Blue and Liver German Shepherds
(Frequently Asked Questions)

Question: Are Blue and Liver German Shepherds a different breed from traditionally colored German Shepherds? Are they a mixed breed?
Answer: Blue and Liver German Shepherds are no different from traditionally colored German Shepherds. They are in fact purebred GSDs, and  often are born in a litter with traditionally colored littermates. The Blue and Liver coat colors and skin pigmentation are each caused by receiving two copies of a recessive gene. The Blue gene is a dilution gene which dilutes any black pigment present on the dog, and the Liver gene completely blocks the formation of black pigment alltogether. Visit our Genetic Information Page  for a simplified explanation of the genetic activity that causes these two colors to be expressed.

Question: Can Blue and Liver German Shepherds be registered as GSD's?
Answer: Yes, since it is simply a color variation, they are fully registerable by the AKC (American Kennel Club), the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club), the UKC (United Kennel Club) and all other applicable registries.

Question: What sanctioned events can Blue and Liver German Shepherds compete in?
Answer: Blue and Liver German Shepherds can compete in any sanctioned event except in the Conformation ring. The object of winning in the Conformation ring is to exhibit a dog who most closely meets the breed standard which in the case of the German Shepherd Dog states that the Blue and Liver coat colors are faults, and a nose leather that is not predominantly black is a disqualification from the ring. Because of the effect of the Blue dilution gene and the Liver blocking gene, Blue and Liver German Shepherds don't have black nose leather. Here is an excerpt from an article published in the June 1960 issue of the GSDCA Review:

"We believe that many have wondered why the new Standard explicitly demands a black nose. As the blues have grey noses and the few surviving livers have brown noses, we think the reason is clear. It is the one means to bar off-colors in the show ring. If they are not allowed to be shown, they will not be bred from by serious breeders. There is no more reason to allow a German Shepherd Dog with a grey or brown nose in the ring, than to allow a white German Shepherd Dog with a black nose, in our opinion. The off-colors are due to recessive genes, and they could become so strongly entrenched in the various bloodlines that an average of 25% of every litter could be off-color."

It should also be noted that the UKC did not change their standard regarding German Shepherd pigmentation to disqualify the blues and livers until several months after Ch. Jodel's the Phantom earned his title in Conformation in the late 1990's. "Dunny", as he was also affectionally called, has his own page of photos on this site here.

Interestingly enough the rise in Blue German Shepherds today is in part due to the heavy line breeding done on two particularly popular stud dogs. In America, "Lance of Fran Jo," and in Germany, "Uran v WildsteigerLand," were so heavily bred upon that an article was written in the 1999 annual edition of German Shepherd Dogs (by Dog Fancy) which said that,  "America and Germany have bred themselves into a corner". Many of the dogs today carry one or more of these two aforeamentioned stud dogs (or close relatives of them) in their pedigrees. Many times the pedigrees are literally peppered with these two lines (as in my Gypsy's case). Both of these stud dogs are known blue carriers. For a more complete listing of dilute carriers please visit this page located on another site. As for Blue and Livers competing  in other venues they are not restricted from any other sanctioned event. They may legally compete in  Obedience, Agility, Flyball, Herding, Schutzhund, etc.
Because Blue and Liver GSDs do not meet the breed standard, many breeders of show dogs feel they should not be bred.  However, many other people remember Max von Stephanitz's admonition, "A good dog can never be a bad color," and as such they enjoy competing in non-conformation events with their "non-traditionally" colored German Shepherd Dogs.  Blues and Livers are also used successfully as Therapy Dogs, drug sniffing dogs, search and rescue, and any other function that a "standard" GSD can fulfill.

Question: Does the Blue or Liver color affect their health, intelligence, working ability, or temperament?
Answer: No. The coat color is simply that. A color. It has no effect on intelligence, temperament, or working ability. As of now, no evidence exists that these coat colors affect their health in any way. It is true that other breeds have problems with blue coat colors; Dobermans are a good example and can often suffer from skin problems like Alopecia. This however, is not the case in the German Shepherd breed.

Question: How can you tell if you have a Blue or Liver German Shepherd? What is the difference between Blue and Liver German Shepherds and traditionally colored German Shepherds?
Answer: Livers are quite easy to spot. They will have no black pigment at all. This means that, as well as coat color, their nose leather, eye rims, lips, etc. will all be varying shades of brown, rust, or red.  In puppies, toenails are usually white and foot pads pink, sometimes as adults turning to varying shades of tan. They often have green eyes, especially as pups. Blue eyes are often seen as well. Usually by 6 months or so their eye color has changed,  often to an amber or light brown color, perhaps with a reddish tint to it. Eye color as an adult varies greatly. Coat color also varies, like the Blues there is a distinct difference in the coat color of Livers. In particular a dark brown Chocolate color and a more reddish Cinnamon color.
Since the Liver gene simply acts upon the color of the dog, this has nothing to do with the pattern of the colors expressed on the dog. For example you can have a Liver and Tan Saddle back, a Sable Liver, a Bi-color Liver, or even a Solid Liver. A solid Liver has received two copies of the Solid Black recessive pattern gene. This solid or "self coloring" pattern gene is often mistaken as a black color gene. Since the Liver color gene blocks all formation of black pigment, Phoenix still retains the solid color pattern of the solid black recessive pattern gene (also referred to as a self coloring gene), thereby producing a dog who is solid Liver in color with no tan points. More photos of Phoenix and other dogs will be added as I remodel the photo pages and add many more pictures of Blue and Liver German Shepherds currently sitting on my computers hard drive.

Blue German Shepherds can sometimes be harder to spot as adults, particularly "Steel Blues" which are much darker than the "Powder Blues." A Steel Blue can be so dark it can be mistaken as a Black and Tan to the untrained eye. However, if you place a Steel Blue next to a true Black and Tan, the difference is obvious. Since the dilution gene acts upon all the black pigment, the dog's nose leather is actually grey; although it may be dark enough to appear black, it will not look that way when viewed next to a dog with true black nose leather pigmentation. Likewise, the dilution gene affects the eye color as well as the pigmentation of the eye rims, lips, toenails and foot pads. Steel Blues and Powder Blues are simply darker and lighter effects of the same blue dilution gene caused by as of yet unidentified modifiers on the chromosone.
The same pattern rules for Livers listed above also apply to Blues. As puppies, Blues are very noticeably different from their normal colored littermates. They are born a silver\gray color which then turns to a bluish gray. Powders are born with a noticeable silver sheen on the tips of their fur and retain this for the first week or two after being whelped. Over the course of the first year of their life Blues will change drastically in coat color as well as eye color. Over the next few years they will continue to change but at a much slower rate.

See photos of Blue and Liver German Shepherds

Special Thanks to Ashley for proofreading and helping with the editting of this page.

*The views expressed on this page are strictly the opinion of the author, Darlene. If you have information that can confirm or dispute anything you see here, please feel free to contact me. Also, if you have any other additonal comments that you feel would be useful to this site, please don't hesitate to contact me as well.  Constructive feedback is always welcome.