My experience with sables are exactly what you are saying. At around 3 months they do get lighter and have the black markings down their back and around their tail. They will get darker as they get older. A dark gray sable male I had as a baby puppy was very light tan with a black face and black strip down his back. As he got older he was all most a black sable. He was BOM Charan's Quicksilver. He had 12 pts both majors and I lost him to toxic gut before he finished. Angie Martin Charan GSD's Home of 08 So. Pacific BIM Ch. Charan's Masquerade of Kimber Co-owner/Breeder of Int'l Ch. & US Ch. Charan's Magic Spell of Sandroc Kimber's Faith of Charan (pts) Dam of above sable sisters -----Original Message----- From: Amy Greenhut <genoaktortoise@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: German Shepherd <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sun, Sep 22, 2013 2:09 pm Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Sable Color Question This is my first experience with sable babies. They were really dark when they were born. They are three months old today. Their coats are getting lighter. They have this black thick stripe down their backs and some black markings around their whole tails. Is this what sables usually do get lighter and then darken up with age. Their sire is a black sable with almost a solid black face. He was not like this when he was younger. He seems to be getting darker as he gets older. The dam is a bi-color. I was just wondering from some of you experienced sable people if this is what usually happens....TIA!!! Amy Greenhut Justrock German Shepherds Gen Oak Leopard Tortoises And Tortoise Rescue Board Member Last Hope Safe Haven http://www.lhsh.org Behold The Turtle. He Makes Progress Only When He Sticks His Neck Out A Quote By James Conant ===========================================================================POST is Copyrighted 2012. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ =========================================================================== ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2012. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================