I have a three and a half year old male pure black cocker spaniel. Over the last six months he started to go really grey!

Can anyone help by throwing some light on this as I am quite concerned.

No need to be concerned unless you show him, it is most probably a genetic colour that he carries, worth mentioning to your dogs breeder, but not a health issue. :-)

But if your worried as with anything pop him down to the vet.

I've heard that the solid black dogs can go grey much earlier than others... nothing to worry about

Is he intact or neutered? The latter can have some weird affects on the colour/texture of the coat.

> Is he intact or neutered?

Clipping, rather than handstipping, can also lead to early grey.

My in-laws got a black mini schnauzer pup & he was clipped all his life and died a silvery grey.

It's not unusual for the blacks in our breed to start getting grey hairs by 3 yrs (nothing to do with neutering either). By the time they are 6 or 7 they look really grizzled. One of the reasons balcks aren't very popular in my breed, I think. It seems there is a genetic link as some lines seem to keep their black better than others.

Our terrier x is a sort of brindly brown on his back with lighter brown legs and black points to his face. He started to go grey around his muzzle at 2 years old and now at 4 years old has grey eyebrows as well - he does live his life at full speed though so my theory is that he has packed enough in to his life so far as a dog three times his age :-)

To be honest going grey isn't really a sign of the dog (or person) ageing per-se.

My Dad had his first grey hairs at 19, and currently at nearly 77 years old could easily pass for 65.

My sister found my niece's first grey hair at the weekend . She is only 8 years old !

When I was younger we had a JRT  and his muzzle turned grey at 2 , but he lived a very long and happy life :)

Is it true silvery grey or a sort of reddish fading? Black dogs can fade if they spend a lot of time in the sun, and we have had a lovely few weeks weather!