ok, so now im convinced tucker is a panda shepherd!!
wow, some of those dogs look just like him
and im kidding, i know he's a mutt!

http://www.pandashepherds.com/photo_gallery
the one top right looks like him except for the spots!

hmmm...

he really does look just like one doesn't he!!

Jennifer: My dogs have made some great plastic bowl creation art. Especially when I forget to remove the bowl from the crates after they eat. LOL

Huskies do come in many colours. Such as black, silver, red, solid, tricolour or mixed with white.

Catahoulas are very difficult to identify in shelters because they can literally be ANYTHING. ANY combination of black or red with white, tan, brindle markings, solid brindle, sable (yellow), piebald, saddleback, hound tricolour, excessive white, blue merle, red merle, brindle merle, sable merle, dilutes (silver and lilac) .... there are even more combinations possible than Australian Shepherds and Great Danes. Eyes can be brown, gray, amber, green, blue, or marbled.

Here is a great link to see some of the different variations of Catahoulas (this is a breeder's site) http://www.doubleott.com/photos/

I have a Catahoula that is mostly black with some brindle trim. His brindle is very dark, and he is often mistaken for a black Labrador (?) when we are out walking.

In answer to Alyssa's question. Yes, liver (and blue) GSD's occur but they are considered "serious faults" by the AKC, so breeders don't usually breed them. You can see some pics here: http://www.justshepherds.com/colors.htm However, the dog would either be black or liver; the partial discoloration on the nose that occurs does not have anything to do with the dog's genetic colour (though the tendency to have nose colour fade, as with dogs whose coat darkens with age for instance, could be inherited)

Angela, thanks for the clarification.
I know liver (and blue) Shepherds exist, but I guess my limited knowledge of genetics was maruading about town yesterday.

I'd forgotten that the liver and blue colorations are caused by the dilute gene, and therefore liver-colored leather (or even partial liver colored leather) could occur as a result of the dilute gene in an otherwise correctly colored dog.

My husband had a liver GSD named creatively enough (:rolls eyes, "Rusty", that he adored. He gets rather defensive when I tell him it's faulty. His response is, "Well yeah, but he wasn't a show dog, and I never bred him. And he could really kick the crap out of the decoy. What's faulty about that?"

There are 3 possibilities on the black gene BB (Black) (Bb) black carrying blue, and bb (blue). The blue gene can cause lighter eyes (tan/yellow) and in older dogs make black look faded. Liver color comes from a different gene or allele that masks black.

If you breed two Black German shepherds Bb X Bb - you could have black or blue color in the dogs. Check out Willis' book for a more detailed explanation.

Alyssa - on the B locus the dog is either Black or brown (liver). Liver is NOT a dilute colour. Dilute lives on the D locus.

A BB dog is phenotypically (physically) black and can only produce black puppies when mated to another black. A Bb dog would be a phenotypically black dog that carries the gene for liver/chocolate (example: a Black Lab that can produce chocolate puppies.) A bb dog is phenotypically red/liver/chocolate.

Blue is the dilute form of black (BBdd) and lilac is the dilute form of liver/chocolate (bbdd).

So for example, a normal Black dog such as a Dobermann is BBDD. A BBdd dog would be silver (like a blue dobe or a weimaraner). A liver/chocolate dog is bbDD (red Dobe). A bbdd dog is a "fawn" dobe, also called "isabella".
(edit: for pics see here: http://www.dpca.org/PublicEd/PEC/PECFourColors.html )

There is also a Dominant Black allele (K). This allele carries fawn (like a Malinois or fawn Great Dane) and brindle (kf and kbr). A K or k dog has black nose, eye rims and lips.

Edited by Angela Burrell (02/23/2009 05:15 PM)
Edit reason: added link

What is it about plastic bowls that may cause dogs' nose to lighten?

I want to know this as well. Reese's bowl is plastic.

There are a few theories, including polycarbon epoxy resins used in making hard plastics, or plastic dermatitis.

Thanks Connie.