Well having just returned from the malamute seminar, which was highly educational, I'm now abit confused about snow nose. I'm sure the speaker said snow nose was stress related and untreatable. Now I got up at 4.30am so aoplogises if I dreamt the whole thing. I'm now searching for references to snow nose and all I can find is that it's a seasonal change. Would someone like to clarify this for me please :rolleyes:
I'm asking because Taiko's nose is definitely developing this snow nose streak....is it because it's getting colder,if so will his nose darken again? Or is he stressed, he isn't at all happy at the minute as he's cutting back teeth. Any help much appreciated and honestly I did manage to take in most of the topics covered :)
Thanking you,
Julie :D

well one of my Goldens has had it the last 2 winters (he's 28 months) and it goes quite light only to return to black in the spring. I don't believe it's stress related at all and to me it seems related to daylight and sunshine hours. His changed over the course of a few days this year from black to pink about 3 weeks ago. The pup still has a black nose however.
Sara :)

I think you'll find it can be stress related amongst many other thing...search the board it has been discussed before. It can't be treated, it will often just go away :-)

Thanks, I'll do the search now.:)

Ok I've read through the related posts after doing a search. It makes much more sense now. So I suspect it's more seasonal but funnily enough the colour change does coincide with a minor food change (I bought wellbeloved small biscuits instead of the larger ones he usually eats)and he has chewed/buried/chewed an old plastic cat bowl that was in the garden. The plastic bowl is in the bin now. Are any of the other malamutes on the board developing this/do they usually?
Thanks :)

hi julie,
more eldest sibe has a snow nose. it is starting to get very prominent at the moment now the weather has turned colder, but the older he gets the less it fades in summer. some dogs' nose will darken again in the summer but this year, all year round, you could see it and it was not just a faint line it was definately there. in my sibe i doubt very much it is stress as he is the most laid back dog ever! it is untreatable as far as i know but i wouldn't worry as it does not cause any harm or discomfort. as i far as i know it is caused by the colder weather but i dont know why!
kelly + boys

Julie ...you didnt make yourself known yesterday :( Jacquie (Myatuk) Jane , Jean and I were all there .....

The speaker (Jannat Al Haddad) was the first person to bring Mals to the UK and so has had over 30 years of experience ..I too got a bit confused when she was talking about *Butterfly* nose and Snow nose. I havent heard of the former :) I have alays understood that snow nose is seasonal and that it disappears when the weather warms up.

Have to say I was under the impression that she thinks it is stress related and that once the Mal has it , all you can do is feed it seeweed supplements and hope that it goes ....it was the one point that left me quite confused ...you could always ring her ...her number is usually after her name in the breed notes in DW.

Love
Melody

I thought she put the butterfly nose down to stress, meaning that the pigmentation disappears completely in blocks or spots ( this is where she mentioned the American lady and tattooing!) The snow nose seems to come and go with the seasons. Kai is developing a snow nose now as he did last year, but it all but disappeared over the summer :)

Very good, wasn't it? :D

Yes , it was excellent :) First time I have met Jannat Al Haddad as well ...and it was nice seeing Jane , Jean and Jacquie again.

Ewwww at the thought of tattooing a nose again tho :(

:D

Mel

Ooh Melody, tattoing *again*? You saying you've had Hudson's nose tattooed already? Bet you haven't really ;)

Isn't it a revolting stomach churning thing to do to a loved dog, just to try and make winning a bit more likely? Makes me so cross to think about it I can't help thinking that it must be sooo painful for the poor dog :(

OOOOH NOOOOOO!

Can you imagine Hudson standing for that??!!

It was a revolting thought , yes ....some folk will , apparantly , do ANYTHING to help their dog win :(

Nice seeing you again Jean :)

Melody,
Would black gloss paint not do? or shoe polish and varnish it on ;) ;) :D
Dot

PS. Only joking incase anyone thinks otherwise :)

*Laugh*

As yet , Hudson hasn't had snow nose ;)

I would rather have him with a snow nose than resort to tattooing though ....can you imagine ? EEEEEEEEEEK!

:D

I wouldn't worry at all about a snow nose.Both my previous mals had them and all the time! My current one Chewi has developed a snow nose, and it would be hard to find a more stress free dog! I tried seaweed in the past, but didn't notice a difference in nose colour. As long as your mal is happy and well, in my opinion it doesn't matter. It isn't a fault and is acceptable in the show ring. Bets that when you visit a dog show next where there are mals, you'll see quite a few snow noses.
Hope to meet you soon. Hugs to Taiko.

I have always found this snow nose thing confusing. I have heard it put down to the time of year or to stress, ie bitches in season. Myself I have found it occurs for no reason whatsoever and no amount of kelp tablets get rid of it. Jasmine had a snow nose for 18 months so it couldn't have been the weather or stress. In fact the only thing that got rid of it was pregnancy, a highly stressful time for the body I would have thought. A few weeks after she had the pups the snow nose crept back and now its shining like a beacon again. I hardly notice it really and it dosn't count against them in the ring. Which is a good job in Jasmines case :)

Regarding the pigment loss in the nose:
I raise Poms in sunny southern California, I still have trouble with fading pigment. I just eliminated the plastic bowls and started on SeaMeal from Solid Gold health products for pets here in Ca. Although it is not a disqualifier for showing, I have found better success with use of a cosmetic product that you might find helpful. It is call "De Nose Nos" and produced by Winners Circle, PO Box 16027, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217 USA. It is a 2-step application, it will give a nice black nose for the day, it fades on it's own and the dog doesn't seem to mind it. Some judges just can't get past the pigment thing, especially in white dogs. It has helped me in the ring. I will try adding zinc, that is something I haven't heard of before. good luck and NO TATTOOING please~!!!

No substance that alters the natural conformation or appearnace, texture of coat etc, is allowed to be used on a dog going into a British showring. the only thing allowed to remain on the dogs coat is plain water, no laquer dye etc.

Thanks everyone feeling alot more reassured now :) It was the word stress that worried me. As Jayne knows I was concerned about Taiko cutting his teeth last week, he was so unhappy and I would hate to think he was suffering any more than any other pup teething. Thankfully he's back to his usual manic digger self this week. All bouncy and very vocal :D I swear he's had another huge growth spurt.
I did catch up with Jacquie just before the breed assessment started, to be honest it would've been so much easier if they'd given us name tags. It was like a treasure hunt trying to find the actual hall hosting the seminar but on the whole the actual talks were great. Being an absolute novice I learnt so much. I can look at Taiko now and check out his bones,stance,walk,and even the nice space between his back and his tail(phew!)....and yes I still think he's perfection on legs:D Biased????ME....no :) I was very impressed with Jannat Al Haddad, you could spend hours listening to her experiences couldn't you,she really is a fascinating character.
Julie :)
ps..FAO Jayne
I've managed to find one tooth, Anais was horrified when I showed her and doesn't believe it's her turn next, did you find any of Rosies yet?

No. Rosie has swallowed every single one so far. I dare say they are coming out the other end but I'm not going to go looking for them :D

You must search for them teeth Jayne, that's when you no you are a mum
(haha) Well all Pebbles pups go the weekend and Nikitas pups go the following weekend i will not know what to do with myself. They have been so good. the little girl i am keeping is crazy girl must be mad, cant wait to get her in the ring though.

Leah x