Puppy to Adult color progression

Comments

• Nekopan

  December 2008 edited November -1

  Almost all Shiba pups are born with black muzzles. It fades as they grow older. It's almost impossible as a pup to see how the urajiro will turn out. It's also difficult to judge which will be reds and which will be sesame. I suggest if you want a red with good urajiro, pick from a breeding in which the parents demonstrate good urajiro.
• lindsayt

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  By 18 months the black mask will usually fade out, BUT, you can better tell by looking at older siblings, parents and grandparents. If the breeder has a lot of adult dogs with black masks (undesirable in conformation), there is good chance your pup will retain a black mask as well. I think sesame dogs are allowed to have more black on their faces, maybe a little on the sides of the muzzle and under the chin without fault, but it looks ugly on a red (from a conformation standpoint). Sometimes you see a completely black muzzle and black sprinkle all over the face on an adult which I think at this point breeders don't want in their programmes. Again, it's just a variation in colour that usually fades as they age.
  
  The 1st pic is Beebe at about 4 months, it's poor quality, but you can see a little of her mask. She had quite a dark mask as a baby. Short of counting her sesame hairs, I guess she is a pet quality red sesame (I still want to call her Dirty Red).
  The next pic is her just before Thanksgiving at 16 months, she still has a bit of black under her chin.
• sunyata

  December 2008 edited November -1

  Nola had an almost completely black mask when she was born, it has faded, but is still prominent.
  
  Nola at about 9 or 10 weeks:
  
  
  Nola recently at about 6 months:

  From Family Photo Shoot - 23 Nov 2008

  It will fade more as time goes on. But some will probably remain under her chin since she is such a dark sesame.
• brandon_w

  December 2008 edited November -1

  The black on the muzzle tends to fade, especially on Shibas that are Red and not at all Sesame or "Dirty" Red.
  
  Here is an older picture of Nemo and Turi, might be my oldest picture of the two. They are over a year and their muzzles are still kind of dark, especially Turi.
  
  
  A very recent pic of Nemo:
  
  
  And Turi:
  
  
  They are both a bit over five now.
  
  A note on that first picture, it was my first weekend with Nemo, and my friends had adopted Turi about two months earlier. They were so excited when they saw each other at the dog park. They were not at all excited to be leashed and posed in a picture together.
• ILuvMy2Shibas

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  Guinness at 3 or 4 weeks
• ILuvMy2Shibas

  December 2008 edited November -1

  Guinness about 2 weeks ago i've notices that his is starting to turn white, but his black on his snout is almost gone!!!
• CrimsonO2

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  Ichi's coat very much reflects everyone's sentiments here. I think his muzzle will fade but I'm keeping an eye out for the black underneath his chin because it's still quite strong.
  
  I'm uploading 4 pictures to show Ichi's progression from 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and then 2 shots at 15 weeks to show how different his coat looks after blowing the puppy coat.
  
  You can see the black bar/hash mark on his tail in the last pic (Guess the Nihonken clue).
• tobyshiba

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  
  
  That was as dark as Toby's muzzle ever got. A few weeks later, we brought him home ( 8 weeks old ) and it was gone.
  
  And this is him now; ( 11 months old )
  
  
• BradA1878

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  With Nihonken puppies, I have noticed that they are born with a very high contrast ratio and then, as they mature to adults, the contrast ratio of their coats gets reduced.
  
  So if a puppy has distinct markings, they will probably keep those markings but they will not be as easily seen in the adult dog.
  
  ----
• KFontaine04

  December 2008 edited November -1

  Miso didn't have a whole lot of black even as a pup. He has a bit on his face and at the tip of his tail.
  
  Miso at 12 Weeks old
  
  
  Miso at one year
  
• Zinja

  December 2008 edited November -1

  This thread has helped me greatly! I thought there was something wrong with the parents because most of the puppies had the unfavored black markings, but didn't want to ask.
  
  Thank you all... I hope my shiba will be as beautiful as everyone's doggies!
• MommyofNiko

  December 2008 edited December 2008

  It will fade.
  Niko at 3/4 weeks
  
  Niko at 6 weeks
  
  Niko at 1 year
  
  Niko now