Ay Fawn German Shepherd Information

I had never heard the term "Ay Sable", much less know of their existence, as "Ay" is a genetic code for a color in the canine genome.  It is documented in the Great Dane, Pug, Chihuahua, Belgium Malinoi, and other such canine breeds.  As it turns, out there are many Ay Sables showing up throughout the GSD gene pool, they have been called: reds, crèmes, and tans.

I personally feel they should be called "Ay Fawns", as that is what they are called in other breeds such as the Great Dane. 

They are showing up when white GSDs are bred to a colored GSD; which leads me to believe this color / pattern has been hiding in the white GSD pedigree. 

This is how I came to have one myself.

I bred a white female (whose pedigree is at least four generations of white GSD) to my liver / tan male.  She had eight puppies; four aw sables (traditional sables) and three ay sables (Fawns).  I kept an ay fawn female, and named her Mya.

Three fawns on left, four sables on right at three days old.	Five weeks old: Showing black stripe down the backs of the regular aw sables, and none on the Ay sables.	Five weeks: Mya on left, other 2 Ay on right.
Five week old Mya.	Five week old faces of three ay fawns, Mya is in the middle.	Pink Collar “Rani” as a young adult.
Pink Collar “Rani” at nine weeks.	Pink Collar “Rani” as a young adult.

As you can see from the pictures above, Mya started out a light crème color and as her coat matured, all traces of black fur disappeared.  Ay’s may or may not have black hairs mixed in their coat.  If you think you have an Ay and want to have DNA documentation proof positive you can contact www.vetgen.com for the test.  There are now at least four DNA documented Ay Fawns.  This gene is inherited autosomal dominant, meaning all it takes is one parent to be the color to get it in the offspring.  This Ay color can be as light as Mya, or as deep rich red as a mahogany boxer.

Mya was bred to my white male, Tunder, and she gave birth to: whites, one saddle pattern, and four Ay Fawns; one of which we are keeping, her name is Pumpkin Pie (watch for her page soon). Pumpkin Pie has a curious pattern on her, and we will be testing soon to see if it is what I think it is.