Hi not sure if this is the right place to post this, My Dobermann is 4years old liver & tan and a spayed female just recently i have noticed her coat becoming lighter in patches on both her shoulders and either side of her head - she is healthy as far as i know and is fed on james wellbeloved her coat has always been in good condition other then some occasional dandruff. Is the colour change just down to her age? Does anyone have any ideas why her coat is getting lighter in places and if there is anything i can do to stop it spreading?
Hi............My Liver and tan Doberman Boo is 2 and I feed both mine on JW.I have to say her coat is not patchy but its not as glossy as my black and tan dog..........if its not itchy or disturbing her i wouldnt worry too much.but if you are concerned mention it the vet.....I wonder if it might be hormonal?...Take care...........
Thanks for replying, you might be right it coud be hormonal - she is quite a dark liver colour so the lighter brown patches are fairly noticable to me but dont bother her in the slightest i will mention it to my vet when i take her for her booster in january. Boo is a great name by the way
They do tend to 'fade' with age, 4 years old is quite young though. It may just be a slight change in coat because of the colder weather and you may not have noticed so much in the past. Coat condition is partly down to food but ours always have very good coats even though they are fed on lower grade food. Its just their line of breeding that seems to have very glossy coats.
One of our liver pointers faded to a tan colour. She had always had a dry coat and i think the fading started around 4-5. I think genetic factors also contributed to it in this case as there seem to be strains who share a similar coat. Our youngest has a totally different, glossy, deep coat like her mum.
Thats interesting i didnt think of the breeding line with regards to her coat but that would make sense i tried to research her pedigree online but cant find any pictures relating to the names on the pedigree only half brothers and sisters possibly- shes the first dobermann we have had and all our other dogs (wolfhounds etc) had long not smooth coats so maybe it wasnt as noticable - thanks to everyone for their advice
sorry, i know this was ages ago, but i've found a paper called: "A Noncoding melanophilin gene (MLPH) SNP at the splice donor of Exon 1 represents a candidate causal mutation for coat color dilution in dogs" this (although i'm no expert) acknowledges that coat colour dilution is inherited as a recessive trait and that there seems to have been a gene located that could code for this.
Hi, just seen the thread and thought I might add something? Firstly, get rid of the dry food and onto raw...did this myself several years ago and the difference is vast. Secondly feed your dog seaweed, this helps with the pigmentation of the coat; my bitch has a brown father and her neck was starting to show brown, but the seasweed helped her pigmentation and now it never appears. All the best
Thanks for your replys mse2ponder and kozzi, It might be inherited in which case not much i can do but i will try the seaweed where do you get yours from? She has raw chicken wings and legs three times a week and I would love to change her onto raw completely but she wont eat any veggies and although i know lots of people say dogs dont need any veg but im not 100 % convinced yet so may have to do some more reading on here to make up my mind.
yep, sounds like a plan.. she could have inherited a predisposition to it.. but you never know what seaweed can do! keep us posted!!
Brown (liver) pigment is indeed inherited as a recessive and is a mutation of black. Black is the natural, wild type pigment and is the strongest, with the most resistance to fading caused by environment (diet, sunlight etc). Brown pigment being less robust than black, does tend to show fading, often the coat is thinner and shorter than it would be on a black, sometimes with split ends. Spaying is also going to contribute to this, as this usually extends the retention time of the hairs, so they are kept in situ longer.... more time to show damage.
Just seen this...... this gene is responsible for some coat defects, but not in this case, as the OP's dog is brown. The MLPH mutation is responsible for dilution which causes the blue or lilac colour in Dobes. If the OP's dog had this mutation, he would be lilac (isabella) not brown.
Wow you guys know so much about genes etc i think i need to do more reading, her coats in good condition very glossy everyone at agility comments on her shine but the patches are now on each shoulder and she is also becoming lighter on her head too - thanks for all your help, how should the seaweed be added to her diet? in her food or in a supplement? thanks again
You might find an improvement in the spring when she moults, though a spayed bitch will moult less than an entire one. Sorry can't help with the supplements... not my area, though I wouldn't be surprised if it does help.
