Older dog's fur changing colors?

Question

I have an 11-year old mixed breed female. She has a double-layer coat and we have her shaved every summer. She has always had nice black fur when it's at its full length, and then we see the grayish undercoat when she gets shaved. She has also gone gray around the muzzle. I know all of the is normal. But, this last time she got shaved, we saw spots! Spots of black fur in her gray undercoat. Spots that were not visible before she got shaved. She has never had spots, shaved or otherwise. Her skin underneath is a uniform color and looks otherwise normal.

Is it normal for a dog to develop spots like this? They look like small dalmatian spots except they are black spots on grayish fur.

In response to snagelfritz: In my question, I stated that my dog is going gray around the muzzle, and I also acknowledged the fact that I know this to be a normal occurrence in the aging process. The SPOTS (not areas of graying) in question are along the length of her body, not on her head. I believe a closer reading of the question was warranted here.

Answer 1

Yes this is normal. I not sure how old you are, but, when you can Grow a beard and take a picture of yourself. When you 50, grow a beard and take a picture of yourself, then compare the two. Just part of growing old and with dogs it most noticed around the muzzle/nose.
Sorry, you may be a girl, so, get your brother/dad to pose for the pictures. ;-)

Answer 2

My husband & I have a 2 yr. old Rottweiler/Blue Heeler mix. Also female. She has jet black hair on 98% of her body, thick medium-short length fur....and when we get her shaved down for the summer time, she has this multi-colored undercoat... it's soft and fuzzy. Unlike her top-coat which is soft & shiny, but a little coarser than the undercoat. It's also in patches along her body. A patch each on her shoulders and several along the sides and around her tail. I know this is just part of her mixed-breed and there's nothing to worry about.

Answer 3

Are these spots itchy? are they inflamed? most spots on older dogs are from age, and that is normal, but dogs can get skin cancer just like people. If the spots are raised, have a different texture or are sore, this is very important. If they are just spots that the skin looks a bit different, still have your dog checked, some metabolic diseases show very little symptoms and if detected early can be treated more easily and with less stress to the pet. As a pet owner, I tell my friends, "if it is enough to worry you, it warrants a trip to the vet" nothing is worth more to me than my animals being healthy.

Answer 4

YES! My pup was very light (his 1st name was polar before i brought him to my home) with a tiny dark spot on his back a month or so went by n his coat got yellowish n the spot grew, then around 6mo his spot grew more n his eyes went from blue/green to green.. Now he is a yr i assume n his coat is brown n his eyes darken, he grew some grey fur under on both sides of his neck in between is white n the white runs down his belly n on his legs.. I never knew dogs could change so much in 1yr

Answer 5

Just an old dog thing. Nothing to worry about if the skin beneath looks good. Just like age spots or sun spots on humans.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

Age spots, realy. One of mine is doing the same thing.

Answer 8

hmm..im not too sure on this one. my dog gets a few new spots w/ age , and she's only four.
every few months or so i'll look and she has a couple of new little spots

Answer 9

she's pretty old now
it's a natural thing to have spots as they grow old

so don't worry......if u still r,then u can go to the vet and ask it urself

calm down ^_~

Answer 10

this happened to my beagle..she started out almost all dark colors and now she is a medium color..but it is nothing to worry about