Black coloring on a dog's tongue?

Question

I have a mixed breed dog which is part sharpee, part pitbull, and part lab. The dog has black colorings on his tongue. Someone told me that means he is part Chow. Is that true? Is that feature particular only to Chows?

Answer 1

actually, that is a trait of shar pei's also, so that's where the spotty tongue comes from. sounds like a neat mix you have there!

Answer 2

The Chow Chow's blue-black tongue is one of the breed's most well known physical characteristics. It's also the most misunderstood.

The Chow is one of the most ancient breeds and is the ancestor of many breeds of today. The orgin of the Chow's black tongue is a mystery; we don't know how or why he came to have it.

We do know that the Chow is not the only breed with a blue-black tongue. The Chinese Shar-Pei shares this trait as well. A few other animals have black tongues, too: the giraffe, polar bear, and several breeds of cattle including the Jersey.

We also know that blue-black spots on tongues are very common in dogs - more than 30 pure breeds are known to have members with spotted tongues.

******Spots on tongues are simply deposits of extra pigment, like birthmarks and freckles on people. Dogs often have spots of dark pigment on their skin, too, hiding under their coats. These spots can be large or small, many or few.

If a Chow's tongue has a pink spot on it, does that mean it's not purebred? No. Chow puppies' tongues are pink at birth. They darken to blue-black by 8-10 weeks of age. Some tongues don't cover completely and they may have small spots or splashes of pink. Elderly Chows and Chows with the dilute coat colors of cinnamon and blue sometimes lose tongue pigment as they age and develop pink spots.

What if the dog looks like a Chow but has a completely pink or mostly pink tongue?

Knowledgeable Chowists agree that such dogs are not purebred Chows and might not have any Chow parentage at all. The Chow is a member of the spitz family, a large group of breeds that includes the Samoyed, Siberian Husky, Malamute, Akita, Shiba Inu, Pomeranian, Norwegian Elkhound, Keeshond, etc. They all share basic physical characteristics: a similar body structure, over-the-back tail carriage, upright triangular ears, and a dense offstanding coat. A Chow-looking dog with a pink tongue is more likely to be a mix of one of the other spitz-type breeds.

Answer 3

OKay so your friend may be right but Chows are not the only blue tongued dogs.
Here is a list of only blue tongued dogs.
1. Chow Chow
2. Shar Pei
3. Khai Dog
Here is a list of colorations of blue on a dogs tongue.
4. Labs...(though not common Labs tend to have a black spot on the back or the very front of the tongue. Such does my dog a purebred AKC registered Yellow Lab.)
5. Afgahn Hounds


In other words...................
Totally black tongues and gums are typical of chow chows and shar peis.
However, any dog breed that has black and tan, or predominantly black coloring can have black spots on the tongue.
We see this occasionally in German shepherds that are black and tan and frequently in rottweilers and Labrador retrievers.
I'm sure that there are other breeds in which the
black tongue spots occur, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately.

Hope this Helps =)

~Amber~

Answer 4

Chows do have solid black or partial black tongues. They aren't the only ones however. Shar-peis and labs have been known to have spotted tongues. It is just some extra pigment. It is a myth that Chows are the only dogs with black tongues and that they must have solid black tongues to be pure breeds. Many show Chows have partially black tongues and many show labs have black spotted tongues.

Answer 5

I had a neighbor dog once who had black spots on her tongue. She wasn't chow at all, she was a spaniel and black lab mix. Chows are knows for their black colorings on their tongues, so you could have a bit of chow in him, but it's also possible that it's not.

Answer 6

Chow chows and Shar pei both have black or blue tongues.

From: All About Those Tongues, http://www.chowwelfare.com/cciw/blacktongue.htm>
We do know that the Chow is not the only breed with a blue-black tongue. The Chinese Shar-Pei shares this trait as well. A few other animals have black tongues, too: the giraffe, polar bear, and several breeds of cattle including the Jersey. <<
So, you can tell your friend that No, it means he is part giraffe! lol

Answer 7

"Chows are distinguished by their unusual blue-black/purple tongue and very straight hind legs, resulting in a rather stilted gait. The blue-black/purple tongue gene appears to be dominant, as almost all mixed breed dogs who come from a Chow retain the tongue color."

It seems as though it would be part Chow if the entire tongue is that color, but if it's just random black spots, it may not be.

Answer 8

No it isn't just a Chow feature. Any breed or mix can have black spots on it's tongue.

Answer 9

Although chows have a black/blue tongue it doesn't mean your dog is part chow. Lots of dogs have markings on their tongues.

Answer 10

The black colorings on his tongue are from the Shar Pei part of him. Chows are not the only breeds to have blue/black tongues since Shar Peis also have blue/black.

http://www.chowwelfare.com/cciw/blacktongue.htm

Answer 11

Black tongue coloration occurs in larger breeds of asian origin (sharpei, chow chow, shiba inu) and occasionally labs and goldens (Some show goldens will have black on thier tongues).