As I'm sure probably everyone knows by now I'm getting a dobie in a month or so's time. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about colour - just want to make sure that the puppy I bring home is the right choice for him and for me. It seems likely that I'm going to have the choice between a brown and a black pup, so I've been doing some reading up about colours, and have learned that brown dobes are more likely than black dobes to have coat problems - ie develop a thinner coat or even baldness as they get older. Is this correct, or inevitable? I read ages ago that fawns and blues were susceptible to a condition called Color Dilution Alopecia - does this (or a variant of this) also affect brown dobes?

Confused!

Jo

A long time ago brown Dobes coats were poorer than blacks, but certainly not so much nowadays, most are every bit as good as the blacks. You still do see coat problems in all the Dobe colours, bald patches on the flanks are often a sign of thyroid problems are usually grow back with the correct treatment. If the mating was black to brown then I would have either black or brown, if the mating was brown to brown then i would be more inclined to go for a black if there were any.
Dawn.

Hi Dawn

If both parents were brown and a black pup was born I would want a dna test done to ascertain parentage :)

Two browns should not be able to produce blacks.

Christine

Hi Christine.
Yes I knew that, EXCEPT, I saw it once,(or so I am led to believe :D) and although I think the black dog got to the bitch who was brown, the owner still to this day INSISTS he did not! She had 12 puppies only one was black, their other male was brown the dog she says mated the bitch. Funny thing was the brown dog subsequently mated 4 bitches and produced nothing, the black dog however mated 3 bitches and produced 10, 7 and 7 puppies.
Strange, but true.
Dawn.

Hi Jo,

I heard the same as Dawn. I think when brown Dobes were bred initially, they had poor coats. Inproved breeding has now given brown Dobes a coat as strong as blacks.( read this - I'm no expert):)

Hi Jo,
As you know I have had 2 dobes before Taz. My first was a black dobe. She had a real bad problem with her coat. All along both sides she eventually became bald, we had tests and more tests, a biopsy, we changed her diet, endless times, I sought help from several vets but no-one could solve the problem. I think I have since found out what this was, though will never know for sure. My next dobe, Jaffa, a brown, had a wonderful coat, with no hair loss problems at all. So make of it what you will, and Taz's coat is beautiful and so is her mums, also brown. Are you still undecided about getting a black or a brown?
Bev

Hi Jo

I would suggest you take a look at the coats of the relations, the older the better as if coats are going to thin it is generally more evident in older dogs.

In the dilutes (blue and fawn) their coats are often "gone" by two with few of the longer guard hairs left just some of the slightly softer thinner ones.

I don't know how true this is generally but from the dogs I have seen the darker the coats the better they seem to be, with the really deep mahogany browns being better than the pale ones.

Christine

Thanks for your comments everybody.

The doggy relations that I've seen all have great coats, and the brown dam of my pup has a lovely coat. I'm sure it's absolutely fine - I'm just being a worry-wort.

Jaffa - unless there are some major developments over the next few weeks, it seems very likely that I'm getting a brown. Can't tell you how excited I am! Time seems to be going quite quickly though - mainly because I'm using all my spare time visiting friends and doing stuff that won't be as easy to do when pup first arrives.

Hope Taz is doing ok!

Jo