Walter is this the same litter that you spoke about in the thread that you started about "excited about new pup, need input' in November? If it is, I think that you should be more concerned about the temperment of the pup then what color it is. Since you are new to working shepherds & have little to no knowledge or experience of these dogs, the litter that you are looking at (if the same one from the earlier post) are VERY strong line dogs, & for the most part with little exception, not one that really is for beginner owners. You may be taking on much more then you are ready for just getting a dog from these lines without worring about colors. But this was discussed at length on that thread.

 Quote: Walter Chong

 Quote: randy allen

Walter,
All sarcasm aside (it wasn't aimed anyone here at the moment), what is more important to you? Color or temperament?

Both

I somewhat agree with you, you lay out big bucks for a high speed lowdrag go fast what ever, you want to pick out the color too

Walter, there is a good liklihood of there being BOTH colors in the litter. My bicolor female was bred to a dark sable male and I had a bicolor pup, 2 solid blacks (one is the pup in Randy's sig pic) and the rest were varying shades of sable- some extremely dark:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/Jenwilliams918/Aria%20vom%20Eisenherz/CalebAnza046.jpg

And some were medium sables: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/631522.html

I understand that you want your pup have both temperament and color...but I assure you, once you get your pup home, even if it's purple, if he/she has good temperament, you will like it's color. I had one lady who really wanted the very darkest sable I had. It wasn't the right pup for her. I showed her pics of Alice (the lightest one) and told her that was the right pup, and she has fallen head over heels in love w/her and her color. Color is truly not important...and if it is, you'd be better off w/a conformation/pet breed than a working breed.

I'm not just saying that b/c it's someone else...I practice what I preach. When I set out to find a breeding female, I didn't even address color. She ended up being a bicolor that I find gorgeous, especially now that I know her! And solid black dogs are my least favorite...but I have TWO! ;-) If it's the right dog for you, you will love it regardless of color. JMO.

Sorry Walter,
Both doesn't compute. Not saying it isn't possible, just that color and coat is very far down the list of what one should be looking for.
Working line Gsd people don't pay attention to color schemes. They may come out in any of a number of combos, or a solid color for that matter, but that is all very secondary to, at it's core, the dog brings to the table.

Here is some very good advise.
Forget color, put it at the bottom of your list. Better yet erase it, color or coat is no long an issue.
There, now you can concentrate on getting the dog you always dreamed of.

I am in agreement with the majority. I would never choose colour over temperament or working ability. I am someone who out of curiosity has looked into colour genetics and coat types. But neither is of high importance when looking for a GSD unless you are looking for a show dog and want to avoid the disqualfying fault of white.

Black sables are not the product or a combining of sable and black alelles. They are a sable which has a very wide black banding. If you want a black sable, better to cross two sables with at least one being a black sable. Although a black sable can potentially come from any breeding where one parent is sable.

Black sables are a rare extreme form of agouti banding. It can often be mistaken for self black at first glance. The black banded "tip" is most of the hair shaft.

A cross between a sable and a black in GSDs will produce pups with the following potential genotypes and phenotypes.

If the sable parent is homozygous sable, all pups will be sable and carry the recessive black allele.

If the sable parent is heterozygous sable (one dominant sable allele and one other allele) then:
Each pup has a 75% chance of being phenotypically sable (a sable pup). 25% chance of being homozygous sable and 50% chance of being heterozygous sable (carrying a recessive of another pattern). And a 25% chance of being whatever pattern the sable parent carried for the recessive allele.

Here are three links to genetics papers involving coat colour in dogs.

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/AK8yS7kj6AomEJMzSgcebYISTifmEBoCUP8cwHNzfAZknERChA5XzvC0cCKRiZBUci9i6ceO2b9bB754KzkVRQ/ColorReviewage_1664.pdf

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/AK8yS294fP0mEJMzwSv7HTq74ml7lm3wmZKHcmqgUI0T1xGdlWuYJMEew98eTP3XkSkeQFTGmDiEJTZZUZYhmA/BlackCoatColorScienceCandille.pdf

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/AK8yS8zK1YYmEJMzKvoQghf2qo1WaD9_eCl0gZCjSUXJq467vFW-B8E34MqBajxyGYpum3Xi37gakWKwSd-N9g/KlinkageGenetics.pdf

I attempted to add a pic of a back sable but was not successful.

Joy, your links a broke

 Quote: Dennis Jones

Joy, your links a broke

They didn't work for me either.

 Quote: anne jones

Walter is this the same litter that you spoke about in the thread that you started about "excited about new pup, need input' in November? If it is, I think that you should be more concerned about the temperment of the pup then what color it is. Since you are new to working shepherds & have little to no knowledge or experience of these dogs, the litter that you are looking at (if the same one from the earlier post) are VERY strong line dogs, & for the most part with little exception, not one that really is for beginner owners. You may be taking on much more then you are ready for just getting a dog from these lines without worring about colors. But this was discussed at length on that thread.

Yes Anne, is it the same breeding stock I am asking, and I really appreciative your advice too but since I have no control of choosing the right pup and this is totally laid on the breeder choose the right temperement puppy for me.

Jenni and Randy,

I think you guys are right, color really isn't a big issue as long as he has a good temperement.

To the OP's original question
Black is the most recessive in GSDs and sable is the most dominant. Two different sables A&B. not sure which is which or how to tell but one will produce sable no matter what it's bred to.
As much as we may hate to admit it I think we all have a color preference. This was discussed some yrs back on this forum when it was mostly all working dog folks.
In picking my first GSD I tested the litter for 3 wks. It came down to a bi colored bitch and a sable male that tested identical. I chose the sable cause that what I liked in color.