German Shepherd Puppy Question...

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LolaLady

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Good Morning! :)
After a bit of advice... Attached is a photo of the puppy who is soon to come home with us. He is 5 weeks old at the moment so we have a couple of weeks to wait yet, but we've paid a deposit on the understanding that he will be a quite dark, long haired, big male. The breeder is now telling us that he might not turn out to be long haired after all - can anyone tell from this photo how he might turn out, as we told the breeder from the outset that we have our heart set on a long haired dog.
Many thanks in advance xXx


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He is gorgeous, but we're just worried that he won't grow to be what we originally said we wanted, and what the breeder originally said he would be...
 
Are you specifically wanting a long haired one? If so you need to get one from long haired parents who are both bred from long haired parents. Here you have a 50/50 shot and may end up with something inbetween.
 
Wow. 51kg is huge.
It can be hard to tell even at 8 or nine weeks but doesn't look coated to me. I'd just enjoy him, whatever coat type he is. At this time of year I can confirm that maintaining even a semi longhaired GSD coat is a total pain ;)

Agree with Equi, all breeding can be a crapshoot and a LC from this combination is not guaranteed. My LC came from two SC parents, the father carried the LC gene. I wouldn't have one normally/by choice but he's a smashing dog and I'm sure yours will be too.
 
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We were hoping for long haired, having had both long and short haired before, but we're just unsure how to proceed now as the breeder has asked our thoughts now - obviously she's unsure of what she promised us so we need to make a decision now - hence my question asking for advice and if anyone could tell from the picture :)
 
This is my GSD at 8 weeks
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And now at 20 months
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Not the best photos sorry. His dad was long coated and his mum was short-medium, probably a bit closer to short. He was one of the shorter coats of the litter, but they where all pretty similar (ie huge fluffy teddy bears!) and I would say now he's a good medium. I'm not an expert in GSD coats I'm afraid so can't offer more help. Also he seems to have a double coat so I'm not sure if that effects things, like I said, no expert as he's my first one.
 
Thank you so much for the photos, it really helps to see what a medium coat would be like. Your boy is gorgeous! This is the first time we're getting a puppy - I had 2 others when I was little - so we're just a little nervous about what we're getting as we have an idea in our head of what we would like xXx
 
I would think he would be normal coated, it is always difficult to tell until 6 weeks unless they have massive coats . Both parents have to carry the l/c gene to produce a long coat and then it's not guaranteed.
 
LolaLady said:
Thank you so much for the photos, it really helps to see what a medium coat would be like. Your boy is gorgeous! This is the first time we're getting a puppy - I had 2 others when I was little - so we're just a little nervous about what we're getting as we have an idea in our head of what we would like xXx
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Thank you. I was a bit like that as I knew I wanted a red sable but obviously the pups look nothing like the adults so it was a bit of a leap of faith as he's my first and his was the only litter I saw as they ticked all the boxes.
 
MurphysMinder said:
I would think he would be normal coated, it is always difficult to tell until 6 weeks unless they have massive coats . Both parents have to carry the l/c gene to produce a long coat and then it's not guaranteed.
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Thank you for the reply, sorry for the silly question but what does normal coated mean? Is that like a medium coat or would that be a short coat? xXx
 
There's only two coat types in the standard. Long and short.
Long can run from anything from frills on the thighs and ears (which would be described as a semi LC, but definitely couldn't be considered a short coat) to full on hairy bear types. Many longcoats have no undercoat, which is considered a fault/undesirable, as they are then not 'waterproof'.
 
Gosh, thank you. There's so much to learn about GSD, and I'm so glad there are such knowledgable people as yourself around to ask questions :)

I know it's hard to tell, but in your opinion do you think he will be long or short coated?
 
Short would be my guess but it really isn't possible to say for certain until he's older, mine was about 14 or 15 weeks before it became apparent that he had far too much hair :p. If he is a short, you'll spend a lot less time pulling the local undegrowth out of his coat.
 
How could you walk away from him because his coat is too short? I don't mean that nastily, but he is dead cute!
If he ticks all your boxes regarding breeding, what does an inch more of coat make that less won't?
 
LolaLady said:
Thank you for the reply, sorry for the silly question but what does normal coated mean? Is that like a medium coat or would that be a short coat? xXx
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Sorry, as CC says I should really have said short coat. Tbh I actually put correct coat first and edited it, for so many years long coats were considered a serious fault I still struggle to get my head round it. I had a similar situation to the breeder of this pup, when someone had put a deposit down on a pup who was possibly a long coat . They were adamant they wanted a l/c so when I decided the pup was more likely to be short I offered them the deposit back , which they took. I am sure they would have grown to love the pup whatever his coat, but I didn't want to risk any doubt this would be the case. I suspect this is why the breeder of this pup is advising you of the doubt about his coat.
 
Thank you :)
The breeder has been brilliant keeping us up to date with the puppy & offering us a refund or pick of her next litter. We're not walking away yet, just asking people's opinions on how he may turn out. We have just been waiting a long time for the right moment to get a puppy and have had our hearts set on a long coat xXx
 
Voice of doom here and I'm probably totally wrong, but is the breeder trying to produce long haired? I'm not sure I'd want to get a dog from them, if that's the case. Are the parents hip scored (and if so, what were the scores and what is the breed standard/looked for score?)? That, rather than coat, would be my primary concern, although I completely understand wanting a particular look. I know one short and one long hairs, both beautiful.
 
Whilst I agree about health testing, and while it is hard for some to accept, the SV, parent club of the breed in Germany has approved the breeding from and exhibition of long coated dogs for the past few years, classified as LSH (Long stock hair). They have their own classes/progeny groups etc in Germany and at SV sanctioned events in the UK, so two sets of classes for each age group!
 
cinnamontoast said:
Voice of doom here and I'm probably totally wrong, but is the breeder trying to produce long haired? I'm not sure I'd want to get a dog from them, if that's the case. Are the parents hip scored (and if so, what were the scores and what is the breed standard/looked for score?)? That, rather than coat, would be my primary concern, although I completely understand wanting a particular look. I know one short and one long hairs, both beautiful.
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I'm another who would look for health and temperament. Can't see the photos but there are some silky sable pups around who look and move as though they've got a lot of Mal in them. In which case you'll end up with fluffy ears and pants.
 
Fellewell said:
I'm another who would look for health and temperament. Can't see the photos but there are some silky sable pups around who look and move as though they've got a lot of Mal in them. In which case you'll end up with fluffy ears and pants.
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Do you mean Mal as in Malinois, because all the GSD x Malinois I have seen have very short coats, as Mals have lost coat than a short coated shepherd?

I would agree though that hip and elbow scores and temperament of parents are more important than coat length.
 
MurphysMinder said:
Do you mean Mal as in Malinois, because all the GSD x Malinois I have seen have very short coats, as Mals have lost coat than a short coated shepherd?

I would agree though that hip and elbow scores and temperament of parents are more important than coat length.
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Isn't the op talking about long coats? I was referring to a cut and shut, a mixture of both and they're all KC reg...
 
Yes op is talking about l/c Gsd. I thought you were saying that a dog with a fuller coat might have mal in which I couldn't understand as they would probably have shorter coats ? I have seen the odd KC reg supposedly pure Gsd that I would suspect had mal in, look almost like Dutch herders :p
 
I have met the mother but only seen photos and been told about the father. As far as I am aware they are not mixed breeds. Hip & elbow scores were ok, but I was under the assumption (having spoken to a few breeders) that hip scores aren't always that reliable because of the position the dog is put into & the way the camera is placed? Are the lay of the hips genetic - will good hips get passed on? I thought perhaps that it's not guaranteed? You've lost me with the cut & shut Mal comments though.
We have been looking for temperament and good scores above all, but we're also hoping to get a l/c xXx
 
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