Roxey....is she getting a real snow nose?

[anna_66]

It's the strangest thing. Roxey's nose turned a little light last year, but not much. Anyway here is a before & after pic...

September 25,2003

November 24,2003

What in the world has happened?! Can you believe such a change is 2 months

Does anyone else's husky's nose do this?

[DogLover9501]

Did roxey rub it or burn it anywhere?? Or maybe its a normal change that happens?? lol Im not sure

[Glacier]

It's perfectly normal for husky's noses to change pigment. A true snow nose has a very pink stripe all the way down the middle of the nose. Hoodoo gets one in the winter, but during the summer it goes back to like Roxy's is now. don't worry about it, doesn't mean anything is wrong with her. It's just a husky thing--they are odd dogs you know!?

[K9soul]

Tommy's nose did this some too. Just seemed to lose some pigmentation. I think it is pretty common with some breeds.

[captain]

Oh Roxey ......... what a change!!!

A snow nose ...... Had not heard of it before, but glad it has been pointed out. Gonna keep my eyes open for it from now on ....

[Samantha Puppy]

Samantha's has started turning lighter down in the bridge between her nostrils and below them. Not much lighter, just a little. What causes that? I've just started noticing it in the last month or so. Her birthday is late June 2002.

[K9soul]

I did a bit of looking around and found a few things about this and possible reasons:

"The various causes of loss of pigmentation of the nasal planum (the usually black portion of the nose):

1) Dudley nose -- loss of pigment seen in a number of breeds for unknown reasons in which the nose is black when dogs are young but fades to brown or sometimes even white as the dog ages.

2) A transient form of the above condition may exist or it may be something else, but some dogs do lose some pigment and then recover the normal coloring of their nose over time.

3) Labradors, Golden retrievers, Bernese Mountain dogs and Siberian huskies may have seasonal variation in the color of the nasal planum, usually lighter in the winter and darker in the summer. The cause of this is not known, either. Some vets refer to this as "snow nose".

4) Vitiligo can cause loss of pigment of the nose and it may also be part of a syndrome of immune mediated disease in which hypothyroidism also occurs, so perhaps this is the link to loss of color of the nose and hypothyroidism but if it is, the hypothyroidism is thought to occur after another disorder causes the color change. Dogs with vitiligo normally have development of patches of white hair or white hairs scattered in the hair coat. I don't think that loss of pigment in the nasal planum only is likely with this condition.

5) Contact dermatitis can cause loss of pigment in the nose -- some dogs are reported to be sensitive to the plastic that is found in some feeding bowls, for instance. Continual irritation of the nasal planum from a cause like this might lead to loss of pigment. Usually the lips are also are inflamed or may have pigment loss if they are dark, too.

6) We see dogs with discoid lupus and with phemphigus that have loss of pigment of the nasal planum, usually patchy but sometimes most of the planum is involved. There are also usually skin sores around the edges of the nasal planum, on the bridge of the nose, around the eyelids or places like that. "

Mike Richards, DVM
10/6/2001

From reading here I'd suspect in your case and also my golden retriever's case it is most likely #1, 2 or 3, since none of the other symptoms seem to match.

Hope that helps

[anna_66]

How thoughtful of you K9soul, but I think Glacier is right. I just never thought that it would go back & forth from the blacker than black nose to what she has now.

Glacier, you say HooDoo gets it in the winter too? So, does it do it every winter? And why? I think it's so cool!
My husband says it's because she keeps digging so much she's rubbing the black right off

[shais_mom]

Originally posted by K9soul
Tommy's nose did this some too. Just seemed to lose some pigmentation. I think it is pretty common with some breeds.

Keegan's does the same thing

[Glacier]

Originally posted by anna_66

Glacier, you say HooDoo gets it in the winter too? So, does it do it every winter? And why? I think it's so cool!
My husband says it's because she keeps digging so much she's rubbing the black right off

Hoodoo's nose changes every winter. i think it has something to do with sunlight and UV rays--kinda like tanning. We don't get much sun here in the winter and that's when his nose turns paler. I don't know for sure why it happens, but it's very common among Northern breeds.

Hmmm, Hoodoo loves to dig too!

[K9soul]

Here's a shot of Tommy's nose.

[anna_66]

Originally posted by Glacier
Hmmm, Hoodoo loves to dig too!

Who knows, they could be rubbing it off

[Logan]

It happens every year to Honey and Lilly, Anna, and we rarely get "real" snow in SC!!!

Obviously, Honey's nose hasn't started turning quite yet:


I don't have closeup shots of the others right now, but it will be interesting to see how Zipper's nose does this year, since it is our first year with him. It appears that his is already a bit "pinker"

[ramanth]

Wow Roxey! You're becoming quite the cameleon!

Didn't Nebo get a snow nose?

[wolf_Q]

Nebo has a definite SNOW NOSE! He developed it rather quickly, even had it last year with his first winter.

His actually stays throughout the year but gets lighter in the colder months.

Here's a pic...this was taken last summer it's a bit lighter now.