Is a pristine white German shepherd an albino or is it normal?

I've seen pure black German shepherds and god knows they are rare enough. Now yesterday I saw this pure white female German shepherd at a friend's place. He says I can have one pup from the next litter, but I'm apprehensive. Could there be problems with the pups? Is my friend's pet an albino?

No. There are white german sheperds. They are normal and healthy. Jennifer Aniston has one actually ; ).

Only if the animal has pink eyes is it considered a true albino.

they are pretty and if I'm not mistaking its very rare to have an albino German Shepard

To be a true albino, the dog would have to have pink eyes. Albinism is a total lack of pigment everywhere in the body. My guess is the dog in question has normal eyes, and a white coat.

The white German Shepherd Dog is not an albino. They do have their own club> http://www.wgsdca.org/Currently, they can be shown at AKC shows in obedience, agility and other disciplines, but not yet in the conformation ring.The only problem that I have heard of pertaining to White GSDs is that their ear tips often require sunblock during summer.

Nah they are a breed of dogs. Lol believe it or not the first time I ever found out about a White German Shepard was when I was watching Dr. 90210 and one of the plastic surgeons brought one home. As a puppy it was HUGE.And then a few months ago, when i carried my shepard puppy for his shots, someone brought in a White shepard. WOW. I want one!!!!!!!!!!!

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Albino ANYTHING has NO PIGMENT!!!*&* White in GSD is a MAJOR/DISQUALIFYING ***FAULT***!!! BAD ,WRONG & NOT CORRECT!REPUTABLE breeders don't breed FAULTS!

While I know that Wikipedia must be taken with a grain of salt, this article seems pretty accurate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_German_ShepardThey are beautiul dogs, though.

German Shepherd Dogs with white coats are not accepted by many kennel clubs, particularly the AKC. Despite this, the snowy shepherd has a worldwide following that is pushing to have it recognized as a separate breed or as a viable color for the GSD. There are two clubs in North America that promote the white German Shepherd.The white GSD has nearly the same standard as the regular GSD, except, of course, for the color. In addition, to differentiate the dog from an albino, a white German Shepherd should have dark eyes and black lips, eyelids, foot-pads and nose, with dark nails. Black, blue or gray skin is desirable.White supposedly adversely affects a dog's working abilities. A white dog blends in with sheep or goats, lessening its visibility and herding effectiveness. Also, a white coat stands out against a grassy or brushy hillside, making the dog an easy target for prey animals.

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Actually, neither all white or all black German Shepherds are very rare at all. When the first official litter of German Shepherd Puppies was registered in the early 1900s, there were pure white and pure black ones in the litter, however, the pure black ones you would not know they are pure black until they are adults. Even though white German Shepherds are born white, most other German Shepherd Puppies are born black. The actual first German Shepherd was Sable in color. Most people think of the black and tan to be the "traditional" colors, however, its not, its the sables, however, now those are the rare ones to find. As far as your friends dog being an albino, not likely. Even though it is white, it would not be considered an albino unless the nose was pink and the eyes were like red or blue or pink, then you would need to worry about health problems, so for now all you would have to worry about is the usual hip, elbow and heart problems. Now for another kicker. Your friends white German Shepherd, there is only about a 2% to 5% chance that she will even have a single White Puppy in that litter.