My dog's black fur is turning brown. Why is this happening again?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Pigmentary changes to the hair/coat are not that unusual, especially if there are no underlying lesions. If your pet ever sustained an injury to that area in the past, even a mild infection or burn, the hair follicles can be affected & color can change months to even years later. So, if she is not bothered by the area, you feel no lumps, bumps, roughness, see no redness or dermatitis, then this may just be a normal change in an unusual area. Just mention it to your vet at your next visit. Take care.

Smokey could definitely be experiencing some changes to his coat due to growth. I would certainly suspect this particularly if he is not having any sort of itchiness. Thyroid disease is common in dogs, but very uncommon in younger pups. I don't believe I have ever seen a hypothyroid dog under the age of 6 or 7 years. Sunbleaching can happen but it wouldn't cause actual loss of hair. Hair loss in absence of itching is typically due to something like you have described, an endocrine condition, or some sort of immune mediated condition. As long as the hair loss hasn't been spreading considerably and there are no other clinical signs of illness, I would continue to monitor the situation carefully for a few more days before going to the vet. If there is itchiness associated with the problem, Smokey will likely require some therapy in the form of both topical and systemic drugs. Hope this helps. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your question. As long as the skin beneath is healthy looking, this is not going to cause harm to Cookie. Hair coat color change can be due to numerous factors including (but not limited to) genetics, environmental temperature, previous trauma to hair follicles, systemic hormonal disease, etc. If this was sudden that the hair coat changed color, I would recommend having Cookie examined by a veterinarian and have her blood tested just to be on the safe side so that any recommendations for additional diagnostics and treatments can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

It's not uncommon for the black parts of the coat to turn reddish with sun exposure. That's the most common cause and it's a benign change. A poor diet could also potentially do it as well. Make sure you are feeding a high quality cat food. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi and thank you for your question! Sometimes dog hair can change in color and texture when they age just like human hair can. I wouldn't worry too much about the hair change unless it appears like he is loosing fur, the skin around the fur is red, inflamed, scabbing, or infected-you will want to see your veterinarian if that is the case.

Skin darkening can occur due to natural aging, low level irritation from infection or allergies, a healed wound or changes in hormone levels from hypothyroidism. Your veterinarian may be able to determine the exact cause after a thorough physical exam. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

There are many nutrients required for healthy skin and coat color and any one of these can result in dulling and fading of the coat. Ensure he is receiving a well balanced, complete diet and consider converting to a skin support range in order to exclude this if he has no other signs of poor digestion/food absorption (chronic diarrhea or weight loss). Certain hormonal conditions such as cushings and thyroid disease can also affect coat condition and color, a full vet check and blood panel would be recommended to investigate this