German Shepherd Dogs

Over on retrieverman today, he did a very good post on the early German Shepherd dogs. According to the text he quotes, the early German Shepherd Dogs could be:

Black, reddish brown, grizzle, or brindle (solid colored or with tan),
White, or white with patches of color.

What have we got here in genes?

Today's German Shepherds come in tan with black saddle or black mantle (and other colors), so the "with tan" must mean the the author is not being very specific and is clumping both of those patterns into "with tan" along with the usual "with tan",

which make me guess that some of the other color descriptions might be parent categories, not specifics -

unless German Shepherd Dogs back then did not come in both saddle/mantle AND tan points -

and since "with tan" would more imply tan points, that would be saying that the most common color in German Shepherd Dogs today (the tan with black saddle/mantle) was NOT an original breed color - it was not even listed!

That would be like IF today's German Shepherd Dogs were usually all white, but white was NOT an original color -

but wait, white IS listed as an original color - but saddle/mantle is NOT!

Could it be that breeders have been breeding what was the rejected color?

Not only that, but that they have rejected most of the original colors, in favor of a rare breed color?

Thanks for reading:
http://thepdkc.blogspot.com/

and if you want to read the post that I am commenting on, it is:
http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/

more on "Masson and retrieverman" post, here.

permission to cross post.