Hi

Can anyone with knowledge of Westie's tell me why Becks has developed a brownish line down his back? I have tried to search on the boards for this but nothing comes up.

Thanks

my westie has this as well it can be due to diet, my westie was a rescue dog and was fed on human scraps I changed him over to Naturediet lite for stomach problems and his fur has got alot lighter. Alot of people say that giving your dog vitamin C will help get rid of this but I would explore the food option first. Otherwise it could be a skin thing is his skin a bit scurfy underneath?

The dorsal stripe is quite common on westies sometimes more noticable when they are younger.

I have read so many reasons for it, so not quite 100% convinced one way or another yet. If your dog is healthy enough don't worry about it too much.

Sometimes it is more noticeable in a soft coat as the coat tends to look that bit whiter, sometimes a very harsh coat can have a slight wheaten appearance. Some lines are far more whiter than others.

One of my girls had it and at the time I was adviced to give evening primrose oil, which I did faithfully and it did go away through time but I never 100% knew if this is what made it go away or if it just got lighter as she got older.

Some people call it Orange stripe. It is not uncommon though.

Pam

The dorsal stripe is quite common on westies sometimes more noticable when they are younger.

I have read so many reasons for it, so not quite 100% convinced one way or another yet. If your dog is healthy enough don't worry about it too much.

Sometimes it is more noticeable in a soft coat as the coat tends to look that bit whiter, sometimes a very harsh coat can have a slight wheaten appearance. Some lines are far more whiter than others.

One of my girls had it and at the time I was adviced to give evening primrose oil, which I did faithfully and it did go away through time but I never 100% knew if this is what made it go away or if it just got lighter as she got older.

Some people call it Orange stripe. It is not uncommon though.

Pam

PS there are a few westie folk on the board who have had the breed quite a while so maybe they could chip in..

My Buddy had/has the orange stripe down his back. I say has/had because it is still there but much lighter. I also tried evening primrose capsules for along time with minimal success. He is fed naturediet lite so don't know if that's the reason it's faded or just that he's getting older (20months). By the way he's also a smooth coat.
Budmag

Thanks for advice. I am feeding him on naturediet, puppy so I will give it time and see what happens. He is healthy and full of life in every other way.