German Shorthaired Pointer Colors & Markings
Updated: Sep 27
German Shorthaired Pointers come in a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, including liver, black, white, ticked, patched, and roan. While color is often one of the first things people notice about a GSP puppy, it tells you very little about the qualities that matter most in the dog.
Liver roan is by far the most requested color in our program. We are asked for it about 90% of the time. However, we do not make color our first priority. Health, temperament, structure, and hunting ability will always come before coat color.
A good dog cannot come in a bad color!
Below is our German Shorthaired Pointer color chart, along with an explanation of GSP colors, markings, color genetics, how puppy coats change as they grow, and why choosing a puppy based primarily on color can mean overlooking a better match.
German Shorthaired Pointer Color Chart
Nosam Kennels GSP Color Chart
Nosam Kennels originally created this chart, and it has unfortunately been reposted many times without credit. If you share or reproduce our chart, please credit Nosam Kennels.
What Colors Do German Shorthaired Pointers Come In?
German Shorthaired Pointers can have a surprisingly wide variety of coat patterns.
Under the AKC breed standard, GSP coat colors are based on liver or black. Dogs may be solid liver, solid black, liver and white, black and white, liver roan, or black roan.
White areas may be patched, ticked, roaned, or a combination of these patterns, which is why two German Shorthaired Pointers of the same basic color can look dramatically different.
Liver itself can also vary considerably in shade. Some liver GSPs are a lighter chocolate brown, while others are so dark they can appear nearly black under certain lighting.
One easy way to distinguish the pigment is the nose:
Liver GSP = liver/brown nose
Black GSP = black nose
Liver and black pigment should not occur together on the same dog.
Solid, Patched, Ticked & Roan GSPs
This is one of the areas that confuses new GSP owners most.
Solid dogs are predominantly one color without the white areas associated with patched, ticked, or roan coats.
Patched dogs have larger areas of solid liver or black over a white background.
Ticking refers to individual colored spots that develop throughout areas of white coat.
Roan creates a much more blended appearance, with colored and white hairs intermixed throughout the coat.
A puppy that appears very white when it is young may look considerably darker several months later as its ticking or roaning develops.
Liver vs. Black German Shorthaired Pointers
Black German Shorthaired Pointers can be confusing because black wasn't always accepted under the AKC breed standard.
The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America voted to remove black as a disqualification, and the AKC standard was revised in 2022 to allow black GSPs in conformation. Nosam Kennels was a voting GSPCA member during that historic change.
Black GSPs, however, are not rare simply because they were once excluded from AKC conformation.
Buyers should be cautious of marketing that presents black GSPs as “rare” or uses color alone to justify a premium price. Black is a normal color within the breed and should never be treated as more important than health, temperament, structure, ability, or responsible breeding practices.
German Shorthaired Pointer Color Genetics
GSP color genetics can become complicated quickly, but a few basic principles explain many of the colors seen within the breed:
Black is dominant over Liver.
Roan is dominant over white.
Solid is dominant over patched.
Two livers cannot produce black.
Two blacks can produce liver if one or both parents carry the liver gene.
Ticking and roaning affect the white areas of the coat, creating everything from lightly ticked dogs to heavily roaned dogs.
What GSP Colors Are Disqualified?
Under the AKC German Shorthaired Pointer breed standard, red, orange, lemon, tan, or solid white are disqualifying colors. These colors are outside the breed standard and shouldn't be confused with the normal variation seen in liver, black, white, ticked, patched, and roan GSPs.
Choosing a GSP Puppy Based on Color
Everyone is allowed to have a favorite. We certainly do!
The problem comes when color becomes the deciding factor.
Start by choosing a breed that fits your lifestyle and a breeder whose priorities align with yours. Then consider what you actually need from the individual puppy.
Are you looking for a hunting partner?
An active family companion?
A dog for hunt tests, NAVHDA, conformation, or performance sports?
A buyer focused entirely on finding the perfect shade of liver roan may wait much longer for a puppy or pass over a puppy that would have been an exceptional match simply because its coat wasn't what they originally pictured.
Color is something you see. The dog underneath it is what you have to live with.
Do GSP Puppies Change Color?
Yes—and sometimes dramatically.
Except for solid liver or solid black puppies, GSP puppies are generally born with a predominantly white coat and the larger patches they'll retain. Ticking and roaning become increasingly visible as the puppy grows.
That means a puppy that looks very white at birth may look substantially darker by the time it is several months old.
We can usually get a better idea of how a puppy's coat will develop before go-home, but we can't look at a newborn puppy and know exactly how heavily ticked it will eventually become.
Black roan from birth to 6 months
Liver Roan Birth to 6 Months
Black/white/patched/ticked birth to 6 months
Can You Tell if a GSP Puppy Will Be Roan at Birth?
Paw-pad pigmentation can sometimes give breeders an early clue about how a puppy's coat may develop. Puppies developing heavier pigment or roaning often show more pigmented pads, while predominantly white areas may correspond with pinker pigmentation.
Coat development continues as puppies mature, however, so we don't choose or match puppies based solely on what their coats look like as newborns.
Does GSP Color Affect Temperament or Hunting Ability?
Don't use coat color as a substitute for evaluating the dog itself.
A liver roan puppy isn't automatically a better hunting prospect than a liver-and-white puppy. A black GSP isn't inherently more driven because it's black. And a heavily ticked puppy isn't inherently better bred than a lightly ticked one.
When evaluating a breeding or matching a puppy, qualities such as health, temperament, structure, natural ability, trainability, pedigree, and the individual puppy's characteristics matter far more than coat pattern.
Looking for a GSP puppy?
Great details here and easy to understand, thank you for sharing! I was curious, has the parent club discussed adding tricolor to the standard given that FCI standard allows it and that it's not penalized in German, which is where the breed originated from? I've read that most all GSP carry the at gene but it's just masked by the dominant EE black gene... So it's there in the breed naturally and can happen if both parents are Ee and carry the at gene etc.. As a breeder, what are your personal thoughts on the color and why it's denied by AKC? Just curious, not wanting to start drama or a fight etc.!