# At what age did......



## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

your dog's muzzle/snout start to turn gray/white? 
Sean's muzzle was solid black and now it is solid white. He's 10 y.o. so this comes as no surprise, just wondering when it started changing in your dog.


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## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

Elmo turned two last month and he already has some white hair on his muzzle.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

i voted 4-6, but i'm pretty sure that Gia was still 3 when i first noticed. by 6 it had spread further back along her lips, chin and neck... but it has not noticeably changed any in the last 3.5yrs.


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## GranvilleGSD (Mar 28, 2007)

Also voted 4-6 for Shannon and Chloe that seems about right, but Izzy is 2 and she has already started. I heard that dogs that work tend to go gray in the muzzle faster than those that don't work.


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## barbprzyby (May 15, 2008)

Naomi started 4-6 years and now is 14!
She still has black on top of her nose, but has small patches of solid white on side of it.


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## marksteven (Aug 2, 2008)

Ramsey has Snow- Winter nose color at 14months.


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## blord (Feb 14, 2009)

Ellie is 9-1/2 years old and has just started to get a few gray hairs around her mouth. I don't want her t get old!!!!!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Chama started turning white at age 11. Basu started turning white at age 8 and Rafi already has white around his muzzle!


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## WinitheGSD (Sep 21, 2008)

dogs shouldn't have white hair on their muzzle until they are like 8. if you raw feed your dog they wouldn't have any white hairs. my puppy had quite a few white hairs but a week after we switched her to raw she had a black muzzle and NO white hairs. i vote 4-6 because i see so many dogs with white hairs at this very young age, however i vote they shouldn't have white hairs until around 8.


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## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: shepherdmom12I heard that dogs that work tend to go gray in the muzzle faster than those that don't work.


Elmo must be getting some intense super secret training while we're out.


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## MelissaHoyer (Sep 8, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: WiniIsmylifedogs shouldn't have white hair on their muzzle until they are like 8. if you raw feed your dog they wouldn't have any white hairs. my puppy had quite a few white hairs but a week after we switched her to raw she had a black muzzle and NO white hairs. i vote 4-6 because i see so many dogs with white hairs at this very young age, however i vote they shouldn't have white hairs until around 8.


That's completely false! It has to do with heredity. My GSD has been raw fed for her entire life and at 3, she has the start of some grey hair. My older GSD started raw at 3 and was very grey by 5.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

That's a new one! I agree Mellisa, I'm afraid it's heredity not feeding. I've noticed a lot of GSDs seem to get little milk beards quite young - like by 3 years. We've had other breeds and mixes that didn't get grey until much later.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I'm not worried!







Rafi came with the white hairs. He's probably had them all of his life.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

I can't vote - sorry! Morgan started turning gray before she was a year old. LOL, someone once said it was all the stress. If that's true, it certainly explains all the new silver fur since Otto's been here!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: pupresqThat's a new one! I agree Mellisa, I'm afraid it's heredity not feeding. I've noticed a lot of GSDs seem to get little milk beards quite young - like by 3 years. We've had other breeds and mixes that didn't get grey until much later.


Agreed! and it depends on the individual dog, regardless if it is pure bred or not. 

Keeta is raw fed, a mixed-breed, and has been turning grey around the muzzle since she was around three years old. There are a lot of raw-fed GSDs and other mixed breeds that will start going grey early, and others who will not show any grey until much later. 

Though I have to agree that a very poor diet may age a dog prematurely - but we all know people that have had labs live to like 16 years on Kibble and Bits!


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## ahlamarana (Sep 22, 2008)

My male has never eaten anything but raw, he is out of raw fed parents, and he had a grey chin/muzzle already when I got him at 2 1/2 years old.


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## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

I couldn't vote. 2 & 3 years were my answers.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Diva has been kibble fed her whole life and still just has a few grey hairs on her chin. (She has had those as long as I can remember)

She will be 11 this year.


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

Sounds like we need some younger options! Bella is 3, and somewhere within the last year she's started to get a little grey. My last GSD, Angel, was probably about 9.


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## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

Since Sean got sick at 3 y.o. I never really knew if it was a side effect of the meds. or not.


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## lcht2 (Jan 8, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: shepherdmom12Also voted 4-6 for Shannon and Chloe that seems about right, but Izzy is 2 and she has already started. I heard that dogs that work tend to go gray in the muzzle faster than those that don't work.


maybe it has to do with stress, kinda like humans









not really, thats just a myth also but if it is true then i should be totally grey by the time im 30....craaap..


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## Lola1969 (Mar 6, 2007)

Ozzy is somehwere in the neighborhood of 3 and I noticed white hairs under his chin several months ago.


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

I think Mayzie started getting a couple white hairs on her chin around 2 years. She's almost 4 now and has quite a bit more


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

Both Cody and Isa had white hairs on their chin since they were first born. It didn't start spreading until Cody was 3 years where it was more noticable and for Isa it was about 2 years.


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