German Shepherd Dog: Size, Colours, Lifespan and Genetics

The German Shepherd Dog is a large herding breed created in Germany in the 1890s, and Canada's third most popular breed. Its standard colours, sable, black-and-tan and solid black, are versions of a single pattern gene, and long or white coats come from recessive genes that two short-coated, coloured parents can carry. In UK veterinary records, German Shepherds lived a median of 10.3 years.

At a glance

A breed built for work

In the 1890s, Captain Max von Stephanitz, a German cavalry officer, set out to build a versatile herding dog from the best German farm dogs, as the CKC's breed page describes. The breed reached North America in the early 1900s and became a household name after the First World War through Rin Tin Tin's films. German Shepherds have since worked in policing, tracking, guiding, detection, search and rescue, avalanche rescue and herding.

The breed is Canada's third most popular, and it's No. 1 in the CKC's central Ontario zone, as our list of the most popular dog breeds in Canada shows.

Sable, black-and-tan and black: one pattern gene

Most German Shepherd colours come from the A locus, the agouti gene (ASIP), which decides where black and tan pigment go along each hair and across the body. Its versions rank in a fixed order of dominance:

German Shepherds played a part in working these out. A 2004 study found the variant behind the recessive solid black coat in black German Shepherds, and a 2005 study from the University of Saskatchewan identified the sable version in fawn and sable dogs of 22 breeds, and found black German Shepherds among the dogs carrying two copies of the recessive black variant. The tan-points pattern, which gives both the classic black-and-tan and the saddle, was traced to a short DNA insertion in a 2011 study.

The order makes the pattern predictable. Because solid black sits at the bottom, two black German Shepherds can't have sable, agouti or black-and-tan puppies: neither parent has those versions to pass on. Two sable parents can have black puppies if both carry recessive black, and black-and-tan puppies if one carries tan points and the other carries tan points or recessive black. Other hidden recessives, such as white, liver or blue, can still turn up in a litter when both parents carry them. Our coat colour hub explains how the agouti gene fits with the others.

White and other rare colours

A white German Shepherd isn't albino: it has the dark nose and eyes of a pigmented dog. This kind of white comes from two recessive genes acting together, according to a 2019 study of white dogs that included White Shepherds: two copies of the e variant of MC1R, which limits the coat to red-yellow pigment, and a variant of MFSD12 that dilutes that pigment almost to white. White isn't one of the colours the CKC lists for the breed. Rarer liver and blue German Shepherds come from the brown and dilute genes.

Long-coated German Shepherds

The CKC describes a short, close outer coat, but some German Shepherds grow a long, plush one. Long hair in dogs usually comes from recessive variants of the FGF5 gene: a puppy needs a copy from each parent, so two short-coated carriers can have a long-coated puppy, about one time in four. Our guide to long coats explains the gene, and our guide to shedding covers what a dense undercoat means for your floors.

How long do German Shepherds live?

A study of 12,146 German Shepherds in UK veterinary records found a median lifespan of 10.3 years. The most common causes of death were musculoskeletal disorders, at 16.3%, and being unable to stand, at 14.9%. The problems vets recorded most often over a year were ear inflammation, osteoarthritis, diarrhoea, overweight and aggression, which was more common in males.

In a UK Kennel Club survey of owners, the median age at death of 279 German Shepherds was 114 months, about 9.5 years, and the authors counted the breed among the shorter-lived of the 25 breeds compared. Bigger dogs tend to live shorter lives in general, as our guide to why big dogs have shorter lifespans explains. The PuppyGenes report doesn't include genetic disease or health screening, so health questions belong with your vet.

Temperament and energy

The CKC describes the well-bred German Shepherd as stable, sensible, intelligent, quick to learn, loyal and protective of its home. It was bred to trot all day, so although it's relatively calm indoors, it needs a lot of outdoor exercise. The CKC also warns that the breed's popularity has attracted irresponsible breeders, and advises being very selective when choosing a puppy.

Those are breed tendencies, not promises. A 2022 study of more than 18,000 dogs found breed explains only about 9% of behavioural differences between individual dogs.

Shepherd mixes

German Shepherd ancestry is common in mixed-breed dogs. In a study of 919 shelter dogs in Phoenix and San Diego, German Shepherd turned up in 8.5% of the dogs at one shelter and 12.0% at the other, among the 10 most common breeds at both. If your dog came home as a "shepherd mix", our guide to DNA testing a rescue dog explains what a test can add, and our guide to German Shepherd mixes covers size, coat and colour in crosses. If you're weighing a test, our guides to whether dog DNA tests are legit and dog DNA testing in Canada cover what to check before you buy.