Jannyj

I have heard back from the company supplying the collars to retailers and their vets opinion was a trauma around the collar area the most likely cause of the white hair. Not the collar we put on him. Either from the dogs first collar or even suggesting the umbilical cord may have caused trauma which has led to white hair which may appear weeks after the trauma. The vet did think it may grow out. When our boy goes back to our vets for his next vaccinations I will see what they think of the trauma idea.

What a fascinating page! Argh accidentally hit send too early. And again! You wouldn't happen to know of a similar page - found it once and couldn't find it again - it was like the page you linked and was about merles, double merles and when white would pop up? This is an interesting link. From what I have read and now seen I am sure the collar is the culprit for the white hair. I was hoping someone else's dog may have had a similar reaction but doesn't appear to have happened.

Our pup had no white hair at 10 weeks, the skin is the same pale white where the white hair grows as where his brown hair grows. There is no visible scarring, no irritation. I'll send a hair sample when the collar is returned.

If the pup had the white hair when we first got him I would think it was a mismark, but because the vet thought it was a chemical reaction we thought it was the collar. The white is not in the areas expected of mismark, chest, feet, groin and underarm only around his neck. Having the hair analysed sounds like a good idea. The company who distribute the collars has asked for it to be returned to them to look at, don't know if they would test it.

Thank you for all the ideas... I guess because the white hair goes completely around the neck at a varying width, under where the collar was and there is absolutely no other white or pale hair on the pup, it seemed like the collar was the culprit. I was wondering what chemical is impregnated in collars to make them reflective. I did Google and learnt that white chest patch and paws are a throwback, but I thought that was from Canadian bred Chocolates. Our vet thought it was a chemical reaction and asked if we had used a flea collar, we haven't. There is no irritation on the skin. Both parents are all chocolate, no white and the other 7 pups from the litter don't have any white markings.

Here are two photos. Document1.docx Document2.docx

We have had our chocolate lab since he was almost 10 weeks, now 17 weeks old. We used a collar which was reflective and as it was too big when first used the reflective side was in contact with his neck hair. There is white hair from the roots around his neck, a bigger patch at the back of his neck, he did not have any white hair when we first got him, we noticed a small amount of white hair then before we knew there was quite a bit. Our vet has not seen anything like this, no flea collar or chemicals have been used on the dog, collar taken off when bathed. The breeders who have both parents are also puzzled. A spokesperson for the company who import/sell the collars suggested it was a natural flaw in the dogs coat. They also have not heard of loss of hair colour caused by these collars. Of course if he was a golden we wouldn't have noticed. I have attached a photo. Does anyone have any ideas?