Can anyone help? I read on the boards a few weeks ago about lack of pigmentation on noses & there was some supplement that seemed to help. Can anyone give me the info or on which board it was on?
Many thanks in advance.
Caroline.

have you tried doing a search? go to search & try entering pigment or pigmentation. hope that helps :)

elderberry...thats what you want

well your too late to pick some but fi you go to dorwest herbs website they do elderberry and something supplement for pigmentation

What breed of dog do you have Caroline?

Cor!!!!! this is really helpful, my old bullmastiff bitch always has dug big holes in the garden, I thought that the funny sort of grey tinge on her conk was from the mud. Upon closer inspection her nose has gone a sort of light grey colour. She was speyed when she was only 2, the dreaded pyometra, so am unsure if it was hormonal, but surely it cant be? She has never ever lacked any pigmentation before, its only recently, and to cop it all i have entered her in the veteran stakes at LKA. So folks black nose urgently required! any spare ones please send to....................

It's Elderberry and Nettle that Dorwest do.......this is a liquid that can be given all year round. They also do Kelp Seaweed Powder or Tablets which helps to maintain pigment throughout the winter.....but they should only be given in Autumn and Winter as they can cause overheating in the Summer months.

Could you expand a bit on the relationship between kelp and overheating please?

Our soil is deficient in iodine so, presumably, the food which I feed the Boxers is similarly deficient. I have been adding approx. one to one and a half teaspoons of kelp granules daily to their food.

We are now coming into summer and as Boxers tend to be susceptible to overheating should I cut down, or cut out the kelp?

Their basic food is raw lamb, cooked pasta and veg. I also add egg yolk, or dollop of yoghurt, or sardines, or cottage cheese, or tiny tin of cat food daily.

Hi Shadowboxer

Quoting from Dorwest Herbs "During the Summer months Kelp should only be given sparingly to dogs & cats that are prone to skin problems associated with over-heating"

So it sounds as if you can still give it......but at a reduced doseage.
If however, you were to see early signs of skin problems flaring up you would know to stop the kelp.

I think when giving kelp to dogs, you need to be sure they have no problems at all with their thyroid.

Christine, Spain.

Hi Caroline, I remember reading a post about lack of pigment. I think the people on the board were recommending Pigment Plus. If you type "snow nose" in the search I think you'll find the posts.
Best Wishes
Jan

It was me with Moose's snow nose !

Try here

Look at Pigment Plus.

HTH

Lucy

Lucy,

How is it working??

One of mine had a slight fading in hers, It is just slight but there. First time I have personally ever seen it. Anyway I picked up the Dorwest Elderberry and Nettle. ( 25 % Elderberry and 75% nettle) £10 approx for a small bottle I am not sure how quick it should work. I think I see a slight improvement since using it. I have been soaking a biscuit in it and giving it to her probably more than the 1/4 teaspoon though. time will tell.

Still not got the one you recommended will need to get it.

I alway give Kelp and seaweed anyway so that didn't work LOL

Pam

She has just a bit of pink now either side so I am thinking about brown boot polish now !! :D :D

Seriously it has improved so much as she had a totally pink konk before !!

I am going to finish the bottle and see how it goes.

I will take a picture of it and get it posted on the LRNW !

Lucy
xx

Lucy LOL ,

Boot polish now there is a thing may be better than the black marker that was suggested to me ;-) lol

I was just going to mail you as for 3 days cannot get in LRNW on my work Laptop. Now I think I have been on it since I deleted all the cookies etc but cannot get in. I manage from my home pc oK. Have mailed them..

Hugs Pam

Elderberry and nettle is good stuff!! Not sure about the pigment plus....they dont even say whats in it!?? Pigmentation can take time to improve and particularly in the darker months of the year!! Best to maintain it with Kelp oR elderberry and Nettle!! if your worried..also bitches will loose alot after a season too!! Also genetics come into it too......if the dog was born with poor pigmentation you cant alway improve it....you cant change the colour of a dog only improve what it has!!

hope this helps
Skip

Sorry, but I believe that if a dog's got light pigment, then it's got light pigment and that's that! You can buy all the products that people can sell you to feed to or apply to your dog, and I bet it won't make any significant difference. I had a pink-nosed dog whose nose varied from pinkish brown to sooty - but that depended on the season of the year. It's really a hereditary issue really - just like human hair/eye colouring.

That doesn't apply to dark nosed dogs who develop *snow-nose* which is what I am assuming is being talked about here.

Melody :)

I find this interesting as in Schips we have a coat colour test we can do which will also tell us the nose colour ergo we know which dogs carry the correct black pigmentation we require regardless of coat colour.

I have 3 golds 1 who is losing pigmentation with age and has an almost pink nose now at 8yrs, her toe nails have always been light, she had a black nose for about 2 yrs then it started to fade, her DNA test showed she didn't carry the black nose pigment we require --- she was part of the developement group for this DNA test so I got alsorts of interesting info. My male is very dark gold some call red within the breed, his toe nails are very dark brown but not quite black and he has tested for the black nose gene, I now have his daughter of 4 wks who is very black around her face and on her pads, but her toes are still clear, so now I wonder, will she have the lighter gene from her grandfather or the darker nose gene from her father lol.

Yes you are right Mel as Moose used to have a lovely shiney big brown nose once upon a time :)

In simple terms gentics is what the dog is born with and you are stuck with if not correct!!
Any supplements will only help if the dog has the pigment to improve in the first place!
So for winter nose or after a season or in the darker months of the year when the dog is not getting as much sunlight a good source of iodine is a good idea!? Kelp or the liquid mentioned earlier is a good step IMO

skip

Just for information re: kelp/iodine - it affects (stimulates) the thyroid gland - that's why it is used to promote hair growth. Even in humans kelp recommended not to be used where any sort of thyroid overactivity is present.

My bullmastiff girl has the darkest black nose in the summer but come this time of year i can see it changing to a lighter brown. So anything that helps to maintain colour at this time of year is a great help.
Karen.

This has confused me. I knew once upon a time, of a bitch who when born has the best pigment you could wish for. Then on her first season, which if I remember rightly was in the Autumn, her nose went pink. There was no history of lack of pigment in her line, this could be traced back at least 5 generations!!!! The vet wasn't much help to the owner as they were told it was not hormonal due to her age, and it must be hereditary. How can this be?? Does this snow nose appear in most breeds of dogs or is it common in certain breeds? What can be done if a dog gets snow nose? Does anyone know if it is something the dog recovers from or is it something that will appear each winter. Can't be much fun if you've bought a dog to show and it develops this problem