A friend of mine has purchased an eight week old CKCS blenim, pup 50% of it's nose is pink is this a fault or will the nose turn black with age, this pup was sold with papers.

I don't know specifically about cavs, but generally if a dog's nose isn't fully pigmented by the time it is 3 months old, it won't ever be. A tiny amount of pink will gradually shrink (with dals it can take years), but not half the nose.

It doesn't mean the pup is any less well-bred. It's just a fault, like all the other faults dogs have, and is one that makes it not a show or breeding dog.

The breeder knew that this pup was for showing and breeding, and was bought for a 10 year old.
But having said this the breeder has offered a full refund.
But the young boy will be upset by this, and not an ideal introduction to breeding and showing for him.

What a shame for the poor lad. I'm glad the breeder offered a full refund, but surely shouldn't have sold a "purely-pet" puppy to someone who might want to show and breed? Once you've brought a pup home, it's very difficult to take it back.

Hi, tell you friends not to panic - Cavs can take ages for noses to "fill in". Often, you will notice a few tiny black spots appearing in the pink area, and then they start to join up. So whilst it is not guaranteed that the nose will turn all black, there is a good chance. I used to breed cavs, and it was not unusual for a nose to be still 'filling in' at almost 6 months! In 1 or 2 cases, little bits of pink still vanished after 12 months! (Not good for the show ring of course!). I have known lots of cavs with succesful show carreers who went to the new home with pink noses (particularly Rubies and Blenheims).

The breeder should have a good idea of the rate of colour development on his/her own lines, and perhaps a word with the stud dog owner might be useful too?
Gwen