Hi everyone, I just though thought I'd post here to check if this is normal. Loki is now 10 months old and a few months ago I noticed the skin around his belly and back legs was now black instead of pink, and now it seems to be all over that his skin under his fur is this colour. I've seen pics of other, older yellow labs that still have pink skin. So is this normal? I just want to make sure it's not some sort of weird disease. Thank you. Here's some recent pics of Loki including one showing the skin
Hi @Sarah B, firstly Loki is just awesome! On the dark skin, we also have a yellow lab that has had her pinker skin turn darker and I believe that it is because of genetics, and is perfectly okay - expected even. So I wouldn't worry about him being ill. Someone that knows more about this will come along and use the correct terminology and explain it all. But just to be sure you better post more photos of Loki so we can check (my way of seeing more photos)
This was interesting: http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/yellow-pigment.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Retriever_coat_colour_genetics
His skin looks normal to me. Snowie started off with black skin on his tummy, and over time it became pink and brown and black - mottled. One thing to look out for though is a fungal infection, which can present as blackened skin. I didn't recognize this in Snowie - he licked a lot around his balls, where it was esp black. I asked at puppy school and was told it's fine. But actually, I should've been using an antifungal shampoo on that area, also to stop the itching and discomfort. The black in that area wasn't cos of skin pigment, but rather fungal infection. Over time, from all the licking, the area is permanently discolored. So if you are at all worried, seek advice from your vet.
Yes our Daisey Our Daisey had the same was wondering about it. She is still her normal sweet and fun self so I didn't see any change there. But wanted to be sure.
I know I'm late to the party but when this happened to Teller I was mildly alarmed. It didn't help matters that I googled 'dog skin turning black' and came up with all sorts of scary medical conditions. The vet put my mind at ease during his check-up and said it was normal and that there was nothing to otherwise indicate any health problem. I thought it was just something that happened randomly like how certain yellows will see a fading of their nose as they age but his skin turned back to its normal pink later on. Now I've noticed that it fluctuates and will sometimes darken/lighten again. It might have something to do with increased friction/higher melanin deposits as seen in humans around the bum/genitals region but either way it's totally normal. As long as your dog isn't losing hair or experiencing itching, cracked, flaky, bleeding, or dry skin you're fine.
Take the dog happen to mine it had thryroid giving him the thyroid medicine is skin went to pinkish color
