Noche going thru a color change?

edited December 2008 in Shiba Inu (柴犬)
I just noticed that Noches is developing a light brownish hue in his black coat ..but from his head straight down the center of his back...is this normal in black tan shibas?...I know some say they have a "redish" hue in the black coat..but this hue isnt all over on noche..so naturally im curious.

Comments

  • edited November -1
    do you have a pic?

    the black and tan experience we had was that the undercoat can either be of a brownish hue or a gray one. In spots, I think its natural to see the undercoat hue because the fur parts or lays a certain way. In the sunlight, sometimes our b&t would look like she had auburn highlights in her fur, but it was just a beautiful reflection I think.
    He could be working through his puppy coat already too and some undercoat is pushing up, which is also a natural thing.
    Or he might end up being more red faced when he's full grown - more tri color than traditional black and tan. Is it happening on his face too?
  • edited November -1
    I can't be of any help. I do know that my Sake who is 5 months old is starting to turn red in parts (she is cream). She is getting a red "skunk stripe" down her back.
  • edited November -1
    I noticed with Tetsu as he grew that his undercoat went from gray to cream. When you look at him he looks black, but when you pet him backwards you can see how white the base of him fur is. His coat maintains a slight reddish tone to it, but it hasn't turned any redder than it was as a puppy. Coat color change hasn't been too noticeable with Tetsu as it has been with Tikaani, our Siberian husky. Tikaani started out looking white with a spot of reddish gray on the face, but now he's turned gray along his sides and back. He looks like a different dog now.
    I think as they grow older from puppies to adults, their coats will change drastically even if we don't notice it. If his parents are two different color types, that may affect it as well. If his mom was a red and his dad was a black and tan, he might be showing a little of his moms genes.
  • edited November -1
    Kristin, I know you mentioned Sake's skunk stripe before. I've noticed that Remy has a very slight darker stripe along his back. You can only see it in certain lights, but it's definately there. I don't know whether it's developing or if it's always been there. I think it's just that I'm noticing more about him the longer he's been with us.
  • edited December 2008
    Sake's is def getting redder.

    You can really see it in this picture:
    image
    image


    It travels ALL the way down to the tip of her tail. She also has some red on the back of her back legs.
  • edited November -1
    Wow, that's quite a pronounced colouration!! Remy's is nowhere near that noticable, though the end of his tail is quite red and his ears are almost all red. His right ear is even redder after a little incident last night, but I'll save that for another thread (don't want to go hijacking this one)
  • edited November -1
    I think it is the undercoat that is showing more(on the right and left sides of his back the undercoat is more white)...he was shedding a lot of black hair for a bit and I do see small black hairs underneath, so he could be flipping coats. As far as teh face markings go, I havent noticed any changes in that...but it is puppy hair...so wil have to wait and see like you all said.
  • edited November -1
    Akira has some sports that have become more reddish and the colour is not spread evenly through his coat. I remember reading that black and tan shiba should look like a rusted kettle (I guess those black iron Asian kettles) so I don't know but it might be it.
  • edited November -1
    Guinness is also starting to change color, his face is getting lighter, and the top of his head has all of these red highlights coming out, i wonder if his head will turn red. My dad's Cream shiba has a red skunk stripe starting to form down his back as well. Its so cute!!!
  • edited November -1
    I started a thread a few weeks ago that asked about the coloration change in Shibas muzzles. The community was kind eough to upload before and after pics of their Shibas. You can really see the change in a lot of the pictures. There are also full body shots as well.

    I'm on a cellphone right now so I can't link it for you, sorry. I'm sure the thread will help you too!

    -Joe
  • edited November -1
    Yeah, body shots!

    Sorry (I've been up all day).
  • edited November -1
    Here are your body shots...this is noche then
  • edited December 2008
    These are a few from now
  • edited December 2008
    antoher, here you can see the red hue on his head...
  • edited November -1
    No idea why these are so large
  • edited December 2008
    Tetsu kind of has that, more of a tan color though, but not enough to be noticeable from a distance. Generally you can see it more where the ears meet the head. I got worried when I saw the color coming in as well, though he was gonna have a white head, but he seems to maintain his black. I don't think Noche's gonna be a red head, but who knows.

    As far as your picture size, it's probably cause of your camera. Camera pictures are huge and the best thing to do is shrink them down. If you don't have a fancy art program like Photoshop, you can get away with an OS art program such as MS Paint.

    With MS Paint, you can open the image and go under Image-Stretch/Skew and bring the width and length down to 25%, or whatever looks best.

    BTW, how old is Noche now?
  • edited November -1
    Tosca has a bit of a stripe as well, but, as she was a rescue, I don't know whether it was there at birth or not.
  • edited November -1
    Noche is getting close to 14 weeks, the first pic is him around 8 weeks, he has grown a bit since then (pushing over 12 pounds now). His brothe and sisters looked almost all identical to him, so I don't think he will turn red, I just have to wait and see his overcoat grow.
  • edited December 2008
    New development in his coat....the tan hairs have black roots...so no idea whats going on here...and there are grayish/white hairs also with black roots...so weird..Maybe hes been dying his hair...doh!
  • edited November -1
    That's supposed to be that way. Shibas should have urajiro with, in some areas, a grey or bluish cast to the roots. Tri colour shibas will have a banded coat hair (as do reds and sesames) that will appear to have alternating bands of black and tan.
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