Livamol For Black Coats?

[Clyde]

Not the best photo but it shows the racing strip down the spine and brown sides! I even spoke to the Dane expert on genetics in the US and she was baffled how a solid black puppy turns brown (and this happened before desexing).

A friend of mine got a solid black Dane juvenile bitch. She is now chocolate brown.

[Alyosha]

Copper deficiency can cause fading as well. Black or dark animals can have significantly higher trace copper requirement than light coloured ones. Adding seaweed powder to food can bump up trace minerals safely.

[piper]

He looks to be the same colour as a seal Boston or Border Collie. This is believed to be caused by incomplete dominance or a modifier to the KB genes that should make a black dog a solid colour but sometimes they allow the A series of genes the dog has to show through. Seal is usually the sable pattern ayay showing partly through the black. Fawn pugs are actually sable genetically so the genes for fawn are there in all dogs but for it to show as fawn the dog has to be kyky. If it is KBKB or KBky the dogs should be black but sometimes they are seal. There is no genetic test for seal yet.

Seal was my thought too but I knew I would never explain it right and hoped you would see the pictures to explain it :)

[RuralPug]

With black pugs, the "rust" can either be genetic or it can be enviromental (diet or too much sun exposure) or a mixture of both. Years ago for a short while I housed a "black" girl who would have been called bay had she been a horse!

A reasonably good indicator is the belly skin - if it is a dark bluish colour, then you have a genetically solid black coat. If pink or pale, then the coat may never be a true rich black. I have always added kelp powder to my pugs diet to enhance the black - it works for pigment in the fawn as well (provided the genetic black is present).

Haven't time to find it but a diet study was done and conclusively showed that black dogs can turn visibly brown if certain trace elements are missing from the diet. When it is re-added to the diet they will turn black again. The colour changes happen within I think it was six weeks in both directions. I remember reading the study and being chuffed because I'd been feeding kelp for years and it was quite high in this particular enzyme - science proves "breeder's myth" to be actually correct!

[BC Crazy]

I think with my boy it is battling the elements not genetic. My girl tends to through a little red trough her coat & pants as well but not as bad as Sonny does. Their coats are very shiny though & I rake out their under coat often.They are brushed daily. I might put them on a Seaweed sup. Natural Solutions has a good one. See how they go.

[Dory the Doted One]

With black pugs, the "rust" can either be genetic or it can be enviromental (diet or too much sun exposure) or a mixture of both. Years ago for a short while I housed a "black" girl who would have been called bay had she been a horse!

A reasonably good indicator is the belly skin - if it is a dark bluish colour, then you have a genetically solid black coat. If pink or pale, then the coat may never be a true rich black. I have always added kelp powder to my pugs diet to enhance the black - it works for pigment in the fawn as well (provided the genetic black is present).

Haven't time to find it but a diet study was done and conclusively showed that black dogs can turn visibly brown if certain trace elements are missing from the diet. When it is re-added to the diet they will turn black again. The colour changes happen within I think it was six weeks in both directions. I remember reading the study and being chuffed because I'd been feeding kelp for years and it was quite high in this particular enzyme - science proves "breeder's myth" to be actually correct!

I had a rottie who went a very unattractive red colour after I had switched her foods.

Switched her back to the old food and her colour returned to black.

[BC Crazy]

I have heard the it can be a food related thing Dory. I know when I was feeding more dry food than I do now there was one particular brand that made Sonny's

coat much more red than it is now & he lost all of his luster.

[Danois]

Nope - ours is not food related. Tried supplementing it to no avail and he's on an excellent diet.

Interesting theory on the belly skin colour.

[Alyosha]

Danois I would hazard a guess to say that it may be genetic rather than anything else as your guy has maintained that deep colour on the spine. A canine version of "countershading"? Does he come from all black lines or is there the possibility of a dilute gene in there?

[Danois]

This is his pedigree -

http://www.quintessa.net.au/cgi-bin/geneal.pl?op=tree&index=86814&gens=5&db=Quintess.dbw

[RuralPug]

Interesting theory on the belly skin colour.

Danios I only meant that to apply to black Pugs - I have never thought to apply it to other breeds, but it guess it could apply where the same genetic black is present. You could be in a position to check it out in your breed, although you may feel the need to explain why you are bending down to scrutinise their undersides!

[Cala]

In my opinion the Mars Coat King and the Furminator are to harsh for use on a Border Collies coat, have used the colour stuff and didn't notice a difference.

[minimax]

I keep meaning to look at both Pugs bellies but keep forgetting! Max has a really hairy belly (most unlady-like!) but her coat is dark shining black although her mum is fawn and the whole litter was black (I recall her breeder saying something about her dad having never thrown a fawn pup? could be making that up but it sticks in my mind for some reason :laugh: )

Boston does have a pinkish belly from memory, I'll have a look tonight when he throws himself on my lap for bellyrubs.