I know! She started shedding a lot a few weeks ago and all of a sudden...she's an orange dog with a black face! I knew a sable would be a surprise though...I expect her coat to change for quite a while.
This stage is normal. They have something close to their adult coloration at about eight weeks, though a bit washed out. Then, they lose their puppy coat, but gain their adult undercoat, in which case (mine anyway) become orange. Then, about a month later they get their adult outercoat and look something like their final colors again. Then, as they mature, their outercoat gets kind of sparse, I'm assuming because of how fast they grow, and they'll start looking orangish again, though not nearly as bad, by the time they're 8-9 months old. Then they'll start to darken up, and have their final coloration give or take by the time their 15 months or so.
Thanks! They're totally asymmetrical though... One is big, wide open with a point on the tip...and you can see the other is a bit more concave, folded in on itself a bit (she has a bit of a kink in the ear where it attaches to her head) and its more rounded at the tip.
I'm sure I'm the only one who notices it though... But they are two totally different ears! (and it's not just regular puppy ear silliness, they're actually different shapes!)
Most shepherd's ears won't finalize until they're about six months old or so. You can get one or both floppy, coneheads and friendly tips all seeminly at random up until then. The reason is that the pup's developing teeth compete with the ears for calcium, and when the teeth start coming in, the body sends more calcium to them, which makes the ears get soft.
Here's our girl Zoey about a week after the all orange phase. She had just went through that deal (& was starting to get her adult coat), and looked almost identical to your girl at the time.
Here she is now...
edit-
and seeing the younger pic, here's Zoey at eight weeks. Your girl looks to be about on par with Zoey for color.
