Also known as clear sable, Ay sable, or dominant yellow, fawn is a rare German Shepherd pattern. Fawn German Shepherds fall under the sable category. They have broad areas of yellow pigment with almost minimal dark hairs bleeding through the coat.
Fawn GSDs are predominantly red to yellow in all pigmented areas and range in shading from deep red to almost white coloration. The light-colored red to yellow hairs is concentrated on the dog’s face, legs, and underside (ventral surface).
They have minimal to moderate dark shading/dark overlay covering the dog’s upper side (dorsal surface). Dark shading is caused by the presence of banded hairs in form of light-colored hairs with dark tips.
The shading usually appears on the dog’s back/saddle, the top of the head, ears, back of the tails, and sides of the body.
Although fawn is rare GSD coloration, the gene responsible for fawn (Ay sable) has been present in German Shepherds for a long time since the early days of domestication.
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Fawn German Shepherd genetics
All coat colors are controlled by the interaction of various color genes. These genes regulate which pigments are produced, where they are produced, the pigment structure, and the intensity of pigment.
But which pigments are these to be exact? Eumelanin and pheomelanin.
- Eumelanin is black by default but can be modified by other genes to appear liver/brown, blue, or lilac/isabella.
- Pheomelanin is red or yellow by default by can be modified by the intensity gene (I). The intensity gene controls how rich the pheomelanin pigment is and can reduce its intensity to light red, tan, cream, light cream, blonde and off-white.
Eumelanin and pheomelanin are responsible for all possible coat colors. Pure white is due to the absence of either pigment.
The fawn coloration is controlled by the ASIP gene (Agouti signaling protein). ASIP regulates where and when red/yellow pheomelanin pigment is produced at the cost of the dark eumelanin pigment.
There are now 6 known variants (alleles) of the ASIP gene: Ay>Ays>Aw>Asa>At>a in the order of the most dominant to the least dominant. The lower you go on the dominance hierarchy the more eumelanin is produced and the darker the pooch appears. Learn more about these agouti alleles here.
Ay or dominant yellow is the specific allele responsible for the fawn coloration. This is the most dominant allele in the agouti series. And since genes are inherited as pairs, each from one parent, a dog only needs one copy of Ay sable to appear fawn regardless of the second allele.
However, the second allele can affect how dark the shading is. For instance, a pup that inherits two copies of the Ay allele from both parents (Ay/Ay) is lighter and has a more uniform yellow coat with almost no dark shading. But Ay/Aw, Ay/at or Ay/a dogs have darker shading.
The Ay sable gene causes some hair banding on the dog’s upper side while the underside remains red to yellow and almost clear of dark hairs. Banding is characterized by darker and lighter areas on individual hairs due to alternating of eumelanin and pheomelanin pigment during hair growth.
In the beginning stages of hair growth, the pigment-producing cells load dark-colored eumelanin pigment on the hair shaft and then switch to the production of light-colored pheomelanin pigment. This is why clear sable pups tend to appear darker than adult dogs.
Most fawn GSDs tend to have a dark mask covering the face that is caused by the Em gene (melanistic mask). Dark brindle stripes can also show on the fawn dog if the brindle gene is present.
Color variations
Various colorations fall under fawn. They include;
- Blue fawn German Shepherds are those with diluted eumelanin pigment causing it to appear. The blue dilution will be visible on any areas with eumelanin pigment including the dark overlay, melanistic mask, skin, nose, eye rims, lips, and eyes. Their eyes will appear hazel-blue with bluish skin.
- Liver fawn German Shepherds have modified eumelanin pigment causing it to appear brown in any areas that should have been black. Their skin, nose leather, eye rims, lips, and coat shading will be blue with hazel-green or amber eyes instead of dark brown eyes.
- Tan German Shepherds are those whose pheomelanin pigment has been slightly diluted by the intensity gene to appear light red or brownish. Only the coat is affected since pheomelanin is only present on the coat.
- Some Brindle German Shepherds are also fawns with dark brindle stripes showing on the pheomelanin sections due to the presence of the brindle gene (Kbr).
All these dogs can produce fawn GSD pups of various shades depending on the genes they inherit and how they interact.
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