# White Hair or "Ticking" in Black Fur



## milkmoney11 (Feb 11, 2010)

Cash is 15 weeks and has started to get some white hair speckled in his black hair along his back. A friend of mine said it is common in a lot of dog breeds and called it "ticking" (sp?). He said its an undesirable trait for show dogs. 

Cash is just a family pet and I really couldn't care less if his hair was purple (well maybe not purple) but I just wanted to make sure this wasn't some type of health issue...like a lack of a certain nutrient that caused this?

This is my first GSD so I don't know what is common/expected or if it is something I should be concerned with.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

It's called a "bitch stripe" and it's very common is GSD's. Lucy has the same thing as do a lot of dogs here. It runs all the way down her spine, but is mostly by her neck.

Maybe it's called ticking too, but i've never heard of that before. As far as i know, it's not considered undesirable either because it's so common with GSD's. Not sure about other breeds though.


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## milkmoney11 (Feb 11, 2010)

So even though it is a "bitch" stripe males can have it too? He has not been altered yet obviously...is this still a bitch stripe?


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

It's called a bitch stripe in both sexes. There's nothing wrong with it; it is what it is. He will most likely get more silver down his back with age. This is very common in american bred dogs.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Elaine said:


> It's called a bitch stripe in both sexes. There's nothing wrong with it; it is what it is. He will most likely get more silver down his back with age. This is very common in american bred dogs.


It's common with just american bred dogs? I know i've seen my share of bitch stripes with the german showlines too. Lucy's half working lines (DDR) and half west german showline and she's got her bitch all the way down her back.

And to the OP, yes, it's called a bitch stripe even with males.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

No, it is not just common in American lines. My west German working line dog has it too. It started on her croup though.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I can't recall when Ringer got his bitch stripe but both Bruiser & Slider got their"s after they were altered!


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Max started getting A LOT of speckling early....a lot of resolved when his thyroid was treated. At 15 weeks, I'm pretty confident it's not a thyroid issue!

His bitch stripe also came after altering.


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## SouthernNdN (Nov 17, 2010)

My girl, just 6 months and unaltered I've noticed has 3 white hairs in the middle of her back, she's a black an tan, so I guess it's safe to assume more may show up after the coat change.


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## Stray (Mar 29, 2009)

My boy is all black and has a smattering of white hairs, (not spots or big enough to be a bitch stripe, just single or double hairs here and there) many of which are in places where he had had a scar or injury. We're very alike that way- I have very dark hair with lots of random white ones sticking out too. It's never bothered me- I like them in fact!


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