Unusual markings!(Weimaraner) General Chat

my new weimie puppy is 10 weeks on wednesday and we have noticed that half way down her tail she has quite a few white hairs!!!
being that she has excellent pedigree and her mum or dad didnt have this i am wondering why she has?! do you think she will grow out of it?
if not, does anyone know if this will make a difference if i decide to show her

any comments please

I don't know if she'll grow out of it. It could be recessive from further down one of the lines, I know they can sometimes have white patches on their chest.
I honestly don't know if it will affect her chances if shown.

You would need to read the standard. It may be that white hairs are highly undesireable but I really dont know. You can access it from the KC website.

My dog had ginger arm pits until he was at least over a year Never mattered in the ring though...

awwww, bless.
Lovely thanks for that i will look it up! i am hoping she will grow out of it!

From the KC standard:

Colour
Preferably silver grey, shades of mouse or roe grey permissible; blending to lighter shade on head and ears. Dark eel stripe frequently occurs along back. Whole coat gives an appearance of metallic sheen. Small white mark permissible on chest. White spots resulting from injuries not penalised.

After an injury, whatever colour the dog, the hair can often grow back in permanently white. Maybe she was bitten in this area by a littermate, in which case the mark shouldn't be penalised but it sounds as though it possibly would be penalised for showing if it was more in the nature of a natural white area.

I was going to ask if it could be from a previous injury, I was talking to the owner of a black lab who has a white patch on his bum which was from an absess.

Are they on the top of the tail, about a third of the way down?

Are you thinking maybe someone changed their mind about docking?

Not at all, but I have seen a few Weims and Boxers with white hairs in that spot, all Borders (although not docked) have a line of silver hairs in that place.

Interesting you say that Dawn, I've seen several dogs of various breeds with hair of a different colour that far down their tail...

There is a caudal gland about a third of the way down the top of the tail in some dogs and some breeds, where the hair is a different colour, texture or length (it is also evident in other canids such as wolves and foxes).

This is where all Belgians and some huskies and others have that small section of black hair, a third of the way down the dorsal (top) surface of the tail.

Of course while Weims were routinely docked no one would care if there was white hair on a bit that wasn't staying on the dog.

I was thinking the sane thing as Tass... All the breeds that used to be docked have somewhat random tails as the tails were never considered when breeding... I love the rottweillers random tails I have seen straight to full curly in the show ring only thing they all had in common was wagging it so hard it looked like it might fall off!

yes it is about a third of the way down her tail.
its very fine, not really a patch just looks like shes got a bit of paint on her that is wearing off slowly! lol

It won't be an issue in the ring - if you do a tail examination I bet a lot have them in a similar spot!

Dont worry, its normal.

its about a 3rd of the way down definatly not anything to do with docking because i know the breeder well and this is not something she likes.
im not that fussed but just interested to know if it will effect showing. she cost me £850 so would be dissapointed if i couldnt show her because of a white mark

ok thanks all.

There are no disqualifying faults in any UK breed standard so there is nothing to stop you showing her

Did you not notice it before you bought her ?

This is rambling off-topic a bit, but I was wondering what the function of the caudal gland is (scent I would guess?) and whether removal of it via docking affects the dog in any way, e.g. behaviourally?

It is a scent gland, although absent or vestigial in many dogs. It is also a sex hormone responsive gland and, where present, it can be more evident where there are higher testosterone levels i.e entire males and when there are problems with over active prostate glands.

When these glands are active they can also produce a greasy secretion, as with "stud tail" in entire male cats. it is also evident in the same place on entire male ferrets.