ARE WHITE SHEPHERDS ALBINOS? WHAT ABOUT PIGMENT?
No. The White Shepherd should have dark (preferably black) skin pigment. The nose, lips and eye rims must have color and be completely filled in. The skin of the entire muzzle may be dark as well. This dark skin will often show through the sparse coat on the top of the muzzle. It is commonly believed that all albino animals will have milky or chalky white skin pigment, light eyes with pink or red pupils and colorless, white hair such as you might see in the common lab mouse. In many species, including humans, albinos do exhibit these physical characteristics. However, today we recognize cases where albinos will exhibit colored (non-white) coats and blue eyes. (The so-called “white” Doberman Pinscher is such a case.) They are properly known as “Tyrosinase-Positive” or partial albinos. For this reason, any White Shepherd that may appear with blue (or pink) eyes or with a total lack of skin pigment is disqualified by the Breed Standard and should never be used in any breeding program.
