# modern dog noses



## powerdog (Mar 20, 2011)

In the old days, dogs with black noses had black noses. Now I see more and more dogs - - including my 3 month old puppy -- whose noses look like the black has worn off to reveal the pinkish brown base underneath. 

I'm just curious. What's the deal? Are these noses cheap imports? They don't make em like they used to!


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## trumpetjock (Dec 14, 2007)

Call me crazy, but I think dogs with black noses still have black noses.... and dogs with snow noses, have snow noses. I know plenty of "cheap imports" with nice full black noses. I wish finding a good dog was as easy as finding the blackest nose...


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

I've heard that when a dog's nose that was black turns lighter in the middle, it's because of a vitamin D deficiency caused by a lack of sunlight. Because it's most common in the winter (Because we have less hours of daylight in the winter) it's called "snow nose." If the color of your dog's nose is really important to you, perhaps you could spend more time in the sunlight with him?


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

I don't think some tiny evolution with dog noses has occured to make dog noses from a century ago any different from modern dogs. Both of my dogs have black noses, most black dogs (or dogs that are mostly black) do.


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

4 of my dogs noses are grey, what does that make them? 

But seriously puppies are not born with black pigment, it comes later (although this may not be for all breeds it certainly is for bulldogs), the black pigment fills in over the pinkish nose. Snow noses can happen that causes the pigment to fade away, this is generally a temporary thing. Right now my 3 week old puppies pigment is almost all filled in, there still is some pink though.


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

Willow's nose started turning pink at about 3 yrs of age. She's 12 in this pic. She always got a lot of sunlight, and though we live in a Northern country (Canada), it doesn't seem to differ by season. People used to say it was from plastic dishes, though she's had stainless steel her whole life.
I really can't say whether this is more prominent than it was decades ago. Our family dog when I was a kid was an American Eskimo and hers stayed black throughout her lifetime, but I can't recall ever seeing an Eskie with a pink nose. Is it more prominent in certain breeds?


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## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

This is really disgusting....LOL! But Bella's nose doesn't change color. Her little anus changes with the seasons, however! She has that curly tail, so it gets a lot of sunlight. In the summer it darkens and in the winter it turns - uh - more pinkish...
((eew))


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## JessCowgirl88 (Mar 15, 2011)

my newest dog Chisum, has a balck nose with a pink stripe lol xD i think its the cutest thing


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

Maybe nose pigment has nothing to due with plastic dishes or sunlight, perhaps it is a predetermined thing like graying hair.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

What if an unpigmented spot becomes pigmented with time? Kit had a pink spot on her nose until around age 2, and now it's gone (see pics).


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

FWIW the chocolate lab I had as a child had a brown nose that turned pinkish and crusty at the top. The vet said it got dried out because his tongue wasn't long enough to lick the top part of his nose. He said dog's noses were only wet because they licked them. I always thought that explanation sounded absurd, but never really looked into what was really going on either.


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## Pareeeee (Sep 29, 2009)

ChaosIsAWeim said:


> But seriously puppies are not born with black pigment, it comes later (although this may not be for all breeds it certainly is for bulldogs), the black pigment fills in over the pinkish nose. Snow noses can happen that causes the pigment to fade away, this is generally a temporary thing.


Not so with my pup Fidget, when we got her at 10 weeks up until she was about 5 months old she had a jet black nose, and now it has gone pinkish-brown in the center. Maybe she has vit-d deficiency? She gets walks and/or games of fetch outside practically every day...


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

I wasn't talking about older puppies, young puppies it fill in. I was kind of making the point that the noses are really pink with the black pigment over top of it. Fading can happen for numerous reasons, I don't think their is one consensus idea that makes sense more over the other.

Even pregnant/nursing dams lose pigment sometimes, in fact my girl has lost pigment recently. Licking the pigmented areas a lot can make a dog lose pigment, basically like chapped lips.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Squash has a mottled nose, but it's gradually filling in more black. It will be interesting to see if it fills in completely black or not as he matures. (This picture was taken today.)


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## Pareeeee (Sep 29, 2009)

I found an interesting link...
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesconditionsfaqs/f/snow_nose.htm


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

Not all crusty noses require you to go straight to the vet. Dogs can something called a cauliflower nose, where crusty bunches form on top of the nose, which is easily treatable at home.

Some dogs take longer than others to fill in pigment, some never fill in fully. I am actually surprised at how quickly my young ones are getting their pigment. I don't remember my first two litters getting pigment this early. But I may be wrong, I will have to go back through pictures.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

My puppy had a white spot on his nose when I got him, which was really cute, but it gradually got smaller. Now it's completely gone


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

My dog's nose is brownish with a few pink spots and initially my husband thought it was a sign of not being purebred (not that it matters to us), but our dog's coat is liver tricolor and they typically don't have black noses. We hadn't been familiar with liver tris before so it was new information to us. As for dogs whose noses _were _black then turned, I've never thought about it... could it be exposure to chemicals/household things?


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

GottaLuvMutts said:


> What if an unpigmented spot becomes pigmented with time? Kit had a pink spot on her nose until around age 2, and now it's gone (see pics).


In Aussies that is called a "butterfly nose." The pink generally fills in more with age.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

Maggie used to have a black nose that faded to brown. I thought it was snow nose, but it never went away, despite spending plenty of time in the sun. She has ceramic bowls too and doesn't rub her nose on things so I think her nose is just meant to be brown.


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## lauren17 (Apr 14, 2009)

Boomers nose was mottled as a puppy but mostly filled in over time. Its called butterfly nose and is common in aussies. It usually fills in at around a year old but some like my dog still have a little pink but it is a fault in the breed. 

7 weeks









1.5 or 2 years









7 years just has a tiny pink spot on the left side


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

I have to add... whether the brown/pink noses are desirable by breed standards or not, I think they're adorable and endearing


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## EscVelocity (Mar 31, 2011)

Sometimes I think a dogs nose fades because of age too, for the same reasons hair turns white or gray. Some are lucky and don't get the change until much later, but some can change prematurely. I got my gray hair at age 24 or 25. *sigh*:hurt:


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## JessCowgirl88 (Mar 15, 2011)

huh so my newest dog chisum who is 2, has a snow nose how funny  ive had lighter colored dogs before and none of them ever had it. how interesting. Winter is white, and her nose is all black and she is only 1 lol. oh well i still love my chisum all the same, snow nose or all black nose  as long as he is healthy, thats all that matters to me


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