Black dog fur turning brown?

SeanMadd

My dog is only about 7/8 months old, so it's not old age. He's a sheepdog(not an old english) mix, being mostly black and white on his chest. The backs of each of his legs are turning a brownish colour. I gave him a bath yesterday so see if it would change, but hasn't. It could be from the sun, but I also have an 11 y/o black labrador who has remained black in the sun. What could it be?

moving_home

Like you I originally thought it was from the sun but according to my groomer, it is dead hair that needs to be brushed out. It should come out very easily (you should be able to actually pull it out with your fingers). A good groom got rid of all the brown bits on my black cocker spaniel. I now use a slicker brush which gets rid of it all and it is the best thing I have bought for her (they only cost about €5 in comparasion to the amount I have spent on fancy brushes previously)

kylith

Some dogs will naturally change colour as they age. It's completely normal and nothing to worry about.

Tranceypoo

I have a black dog and he turns half brown this time of the year, I don't think it's dead hair because he's very short coated and brushed regularly and hardly anything comes off him, I think it's because as far as we know he's half black lab and half staffy and I'm thinking the staffy must have been brindle coloured cos that's the colour coming out, funnily enough our foster dog is half collie half boxer and I noticed her turning brindle colour just recently and I just thought the boxer half must have been brindle as well, now saying that, she might need a bit of brushing, she's not long coated but not as short haired as our lad, but it doesn't look like 'dead hair' if you know what I mean, it looks like part of her coat. Could it be your dog just has some brindle coloured mix in him?

Meteoric

With Black Labs the undercoat can be a different colour and when moulting can create the impression of different colour, mostly brown my Arnie looked almost purple in patches. Black labs don't fade in the sun but I know the Chocolates do, is a problem places like South Africa or Australia.. Sheepdogs might be prone to it too?

liquoriceall

My mostly black and white basset has some nasty brown patches on his black areas, these areas also look and feel coarser, I think its probably a lack of something (he has colitis) so he is on a tonic at the moment with iron in it so hopefully it will improve
Im basing this opinion on the fact that when we had cows that this happened to the vet would give a tonic fo a lack of something

Inexile

My collie x changed colour as she aged. When I got her as a pup she was brown with white markings. Then brown and black speckles came through her white bits. When she got to about 6/7 months her coat turned blacker and another couple of months later she went changed colour again. Now the last inch of most of her brown hair is black. She looks like a dog that has been lightly smoked on a BBQ! Its not dead hair (she has been groomed recently) its just her colouring.

SeanMadd

Well my dog is not old or long-haired, so they're not the problems. Is it because of the time of year? Do dogs start moulting now and will this brown hair be back to black during the summer? I tried brushing it(not with a slicker, I don't have one yet ) and the hair didn't come out. Any other suggestions would be appreciated