Pink Nose Or Cherry Nose Dogs

[Brucebriz]

Recently I became the proud owner of a puppy. He has a pink nose and since taking him out a number of people have commented that dogs with pink noses are inclined towards aggression. I have heard of cherry nose pit-bulls that are said to be more aggressive than other ones but had never heard of the nose colour being an issue in other breeds. Does anyone have any experience with this issue...?

[Rysup]

Thats new to me.

[Crisovar]

What is going to make your dog more likely to be aggressive is the temperament he has inherited from this parents and the way he was raised by his breeders and continues to be raised by you.

Train him and socialise him, you can make or break this puppy his nose wont.

[Brucebriz]

Thank you both for the reassurance. I do take him out every morning to meet other dogs at the end of our street and he is eager to meet and play with anything from a Maltese or Shitzu to Great Dane (the range thus far) and the only time he has exhibited aggression is when he and our cat are wrestling eachother and if I tell him to stop (and when necessary the cat to stop) they both oblige...will focus on training. Unfortunately I didn't meet the parents.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Brucebriz

[Kirty]

He sounds lovely. What breed is he? If his nose is very pale, you might need to put sunscreen on it.

[all that glitters]

I've learnt not to listen to 'people in the park' they often have ridiculous comments and things to say

[Rappie]

I've learnt not to listen to 'people in the park' they often have ridiculous comments and things to say

I have heard of some survey that says 'people in the park' rate higher than dog trainers and vets for 'where I get health information about my dog'.

[WreckitWhippet]

I've learnt not to listen to 'people in the park' they often have ridiculous comments and things to say

ain't that the truth

[Stolzseinrotts]

I've learnt not to listen to 'people in the park' they often have ridiculous comments and things to say

Very wise words!

[Snout Girl]

if thats the case then we have one aggressive lethal border collie on our hands!

[Jed]

No one yet has discovered any linked genes between red/pink noses and agression.

Red/pink noses occur in a lot of breeds - American Pit Bull Terrier, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Papillon, Chocolate Labradors, Yellow Labradors carrying a dilute gene, Border Collies, some Australian Shepherds, Kelpies and Collies. Those are off the top of my head, and I am sure there are quite a lot more, either caused by a dilute gene, or the colour of the dog itself. Some colours in some breeds have "self" coloured noses.

Any cross of any of these dogs or breeds can have a red or pink nose.

There is even a dilute colour in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, which always has a red or brown nose.

It doesn't matter whether your dog's nose is pink, red, black or green, if you raise him right, and socialise him from puppyhood, provide good traiining and proper care, and treat him as the good friend he wants to be, you will raise a good canine citizen.

And if you are concerned that he may have inherited his red nose from an APBT ancestor, be aware that there are far more beautiful, friendly, well trained APBT than the other sort. APBT have been, and are search and rescue dogs, detector dogs, aid dogs for the disabled, movie stars, guide dogs, trained army and police dogs and mascots, and good old homely family pets, who dote on their families and their children. They have been the pets of choice of Presidents and movie stars, not just sickos like Michael Vick. The pit fighters are the minority!!

[tdierikx]

Training and good socialisation is always key to raising any good canine citizen.

I have also heard the rumour about dogs with red noses - in relation to a Labrador no less! I will say that if my 2 dogs have a spat, my yellow Lab girl is much nastier than my Rottie/Pittie girl.

I wouldn't put much stock in nose colour being a presiding factor in any aggression issue in any single dog though...

T.

[Brucebriz]

I am much reassured by the complete absence of anyone else hearing about pink noses being a pre-disposition towards aggression . I appreciate the point re "park-ology" in temrs of a place for garnering info about dog behaviour and dog health.

In terms of training is there any specific action or technique that is useful in managing/discouraging aggression and or any signs to look for beyond:

1. always make sure hands are gentle (use voice tone to express disapproval only)

2. discourage through stopping play (and if appropriate saying ow!) if biting is happening

3. watch for dominant behaviour, like humping, hackles and more than playful biting when pup is playing with other dogs

4. distract pup away from other dogs that might be behaving "badly" (too rough or dominant) without making a big fuss about it.

Sorry for all the questions, I am not trying to by pass seeking out professional training like obedience classes etc, but I am just interested in trying to work out what is best to do between Puppy finishing puppy pre-school (which is next week) and starting obedience training whenever he is old enough to do that (hopefully not too far away).

[Erny]

In terms of training is there any specific action or technique that is useful in managing/discouraging aggression.

Be your dog's leader. Not as you think of yourself, but how your dog thinks of you.

This calms with you being calm and assertive. Setting guidelines and boundaries, and steering your dog to observe them. Being consistent. Being fair. Being clear.

As a leader, you gain the respect of being the one whom your dog defers to - the right to 'govern', to make the important decisions. With leadership comes the responsibility of protecting your pack (ie dog). So not only do you train your dog to play/interact appropriately with other people/dogs/animals, but you also make sure that other people/dogs/animals interact appropriately with your dog (or not at all).

Aggression is usually based in an element of fear. So exposing your pup incrementally (ever increasing) to new/novel experiences in ways where your pup's confidence is encouraged and traumatic experiences are avoided, will go a long way as well.

Edited January 28, 2010 by Erny

[tdierikx]

The hackles thing can be misleading also... I've actually noticed that when my foster pups play with each other (all thoroughly enjoying themselves with no aggression), that their hackles can be raised down the entire length of their bodies... however, when the hackles are only raised at the shoulder area, that is when we can see the play turn into a less friendly situation. My adult Lab also raises her hackles down the entire length of her body when playing...

T.

[Greytmate]

Given that the brown, liver or red skin-pigmented dogs are discouraged within some breeds, and given that the dilute which would give you pale eyes as well as a paler nose, is also less deirable in some breeds, you could probably say that a dog with a nose of that colour is possibly less likely to be well bred than the dogs of those breeds with black noses, and therefore may be slightly more likely to have undesirable temperament characteristics as well as physical ones.

But that is a pretty big stretch for me to even say that.

I do not the think that nose colour and behaviour are genetically linked, although I am open to look at any evidence that can show proof of a link.

[Bjelkier]

The hackles thing can be misleading also... I've actually noticed that when my foster pups play with each other (all thoroughly enjoying themselves with no aggression), that their hackles can be raised down the entire length of their bodies... however, when the hackles are only raised at the shoulder area, that is when we can see the play turn into a less friendly situation. My adult Lab also raises her hackles down the entire length of her body when playing...

T.

My Lab does this too while playing.

[Brucebriz]

Given that the brown, liver or red skin-pigmented dogs are discouraged within some breeds, and given that the dilute which would give you pale eyes as well as a paler nose, is also less deirable in some breeds, you could probably say that a dog with a nose of that colour is possibly less likely to be well bred than the dogs of those breeds with black noses, and therefore may be slightly more likely to have undesirable temperament characteristics as well as physical ones.

But that is a pretty big stretch for me to even say that.

I do not the think that nose colour and behaviour are genetically linked, although I am open to look at any evidence that can show proof of a link.

That is a very interesting way of looking at the situation, especially as you have stated it in a manner that allows for different possibilities like less desirable traits vs more desirable traits...very refreshing relief from the (excuse the pun) dogmatism with which I have been told about red/pink nose aggression out in "the park". Fingers crossed I hope the nose colour is only a matter of diligent sunscreen, perhaps zinc (?), application when outdoors.

For those interested to know, yesterday evening shortly after I had posted this thread, the pup in question set about playing with the resident cat and shortly into their play session drew my attention when the cat let out a reasonably loud meow (in pain) noise, when I told pup to stop, he trotted up to me to sit at my feet looking very sorry for himself and a little guilty, he had a large tuft of cat hair in his mouth...needless to say I was somewhat taken aback and doubly concerned about aggression and left him to sit at my feet for close on five minutes before I verbally released him to play again...t

The cat's attempt at revenge later on was similarly halted and both separated for about half an hour...today seems to be going fine. Cat and pup are as bad as each other when it comes to provoking the other to play so discipline must be meted out equally when fun and games turns to tears...

[melzawelza]

Given that the brown, liver or red skin-pigmented dogs are discouraged within some breeds, and given that the dilute which would give you pale eyes as well as a paler nose, is also less deirable in some breeds, you could probably say that a dog with a nose of that colour is possibly less likely to be well bred than the dogs of those breeds with black noses, and therefore may be slightly more likely to have undesirable temperament characteristics as well as physical ones.

But that is a pretty big stretch for me to even say that.

I do not the think that nose colour and behaviour are genetically linked, although I am open to look at any evidence that can show proof of a link.

That is a very interesting way of looking at the situation, especially as you have stated it in a manner that allows for different possibilities like less desirable traits vs more desirable traits...very refreshing relief from the (excuse the pun) dogmatism with which I have been told about red/pink nose aggression out in "the park". Fingers crossed I hope the nose colour is only a matter of diligent sunscreen, perhaps zinc (?), application when outdoors.

For those interested to know, yesterday evening shortly after I had posted this thread, the pup in question set about playing with the resident cat and shortly into their play session drew my attention when the cat let out a reasonably loud meow (in pain) noise, when I told pup to stop, he trotted up to me to sit at my feet looking very sorry for himself and a little guilty, he had a large tuft of cat hair in his mouth...needless to say I was somewhat taken aback and doubly concerned about aggression and left him to sit at my feet for close on five minutes before I verbally released him to play again...t

The cat's attempt at revenge later on was similarly halted and both separated for about half an hour...today seems to be going fine. Cat and pup are as bad as each other when it comes to provoking the other to play so discipline must be meted out equally when fun and games turns to tears...

From how that situation sounds I would pretty much guarantee that wasn't aggression. Puppies play hard. That time is when they learn how NOT to play, and your cat let him know. The fact that you could only call him and he came up to you shows that it wasn't aggression. He was just playing, albeit too hard. Stress less

[spottychick]

Nah that wasn't aggression!! He's just playing. If he was being aggressive the cat would be seriously hurt and he wouldn't have stopped when the cat squeaked and you asked him to stop. Sounds like the two of them will get along famously in the long run - your pup is just treating the cat like a fellow pup and doesn't understand yet what he can do with his teeth etc. I wouldn't intefere too much or you could destroy the bond their creating. Of course if it's getting too rough you need to gently teach both of them how not to hurt each other - rather like you would with a couple of overly boisterous but nice kids - but mostly they will sort it out themselves.

I'd be more concerned about what the cat can do to the puppy!!!!

As for the pink-nose = aggressive people in the park comment - Pah! Bollocks