Molly is a shiny dark coated chocolate lab. Her coat is usually very dark, sort of Green & Blacks 90% cocoa colour. However, this summer her coat has turned a fascinating shade. Her dad is also a dark choccy, her mum a fairly light yellow. Molls has now developed pale tips to her coat, mostly on her tail, and partly her sides. She actually looks as if she's had highlights. It's quite pretty, although her tail does rather look as if it belongs to another dog Has anyone else's chocolate developed this trick in the sunshine?
Choccies can be prone to patchiness, I think. It happens through sun bleaching and also when they shed.
My lab Bella has a dark, glossy black coat but this summer has developed a red brown hint, particularly down her legs. Within her litter there were a couple of golden labs and a red-fox lab so it must be in her genetics. It will be interesting to see if her coat goes darker again in the winter my hair goes lighter in the sun so makes sense a dogs might too.
Monty's coat is a disgrace this summer. He's really dark chocolate, but has these ginger patches around his legs, which i thought were dead hair, but they they dont brush out. He hasnt had a proper moult this year, just an endless shedding and changeable coat.
It's nothing to do with genetics of coat colour. It'll just be the sun bleaching. Some dogs are more prone to it than others. You can buy special sun screens that protect their coats if it bothers you. My Willow gets slightly brown areas on her snout. It's only to the extent of where her tongue reaches when she licks her lips, so it must be something to do with her saliva.
Our friend's choccy lab had light brown/blond highlights after spending so much time outside last summer. Now, after spending most of winter curled up inside, he's back to his dark brown.
