What Does It Mean If A Dog Has Black/Purple Spots On Its Tongue?

Question

My dog has black/purple spots on its tongue. My mom use to tell me that the spots meant that she (the dog) was a Chow Mix. But my friend told me that it means that the dog is Pure Breed. Whoes Right & Whoes Wrong???

Answer 1

Shepherd girl is right, I don't know what's on the link she posted, but I have a registerd siberian husky and she has black on her tongue, I raise and breed shepherds and I know they're pure and sometimes they have a black spot on their tongue. I rescued a siberian mix once and I'm pretty sure she wasn't mixed with chow, something with less hair than a sibe because this dog had less fur than some of my shepherds, and her tongue was black and pink. A dogs skin can be the same way, mixed colors.

Answer 2

Dog With Purple Tongue

Answer 3

Any dog can have some black spots on the tongue or on the inside of an otherwise-pink mouth. It does not mean there is any chow ancestry involved.

Answer 4

This just goes to show that there are so many people that THINK they have a clue and don't, but feel they need to answer questions all the same!!!!!!!!!!!!
As you have found from people who really do know what they are talking about, BOTH are wrong!!!!!!!
I have had Newfs for 16 years, I know none of them are mixed with Chow (thank God) , and many of them have a spot or many spots on the tongue. Then there are the ones that have NO spots.....yet they are still purebred.
Just a bunch of myths that clearly MANY people actually hold as truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

I rescued a Black Lab/?? mixed breed. He has black spots on his tongue and I was curious about them as well. Thank you src2580 for your comment. I respect your answer, coming from a breeder!

Answer 6

A Chow does have a bluish/black tongue. The tongue is not pinkish. Any breed of dog can have black/dark spots on its tongue, or on its body(skin). My yellow lab has black spots on her skin under her yellow fur.

Answer 7

They are both wrong, as well as, most of the people who answered before me. What your mom is telling you is just a misconception and what your friend is telling you is just an old wives tale.
Black spots are just extra pigment, that is all and any dog can have them, pure or mixed breed. Think of it like a beauty mark on a person.

ETA: I looked for a site to back up my answer, here is the link:
http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/BlackTongueDebate.htm

Answer 8

This business about black spot on tongue equals Chow, or some derivitive therefrom ... that's not an 'old wife's tale,' it's an 'old timer's tale.'

Back when the railroads were being built, many 'laborers' came here from foreign places. These laborers included construction workers, launderers, and cooks.

Now, feeding a bunch of hungry men on 'what you have' isn't always an easy thing, but coming to the supper table with nothing was a sure butt-kicking.

Keep in mind that this was before refridgeration, so meat was kept on the hoof, vegetables were mostly root vegetables.

So, when the buffalo have moved to lower ground, and all you have to cook with is whatever available meat you have and some onions, carrots, potatoes, flour, salt, pepper, and water what do you fix a bunch of hungry men? That's right, Bread and stew.

Oh, but wait, the buffalo have moved on ... so, where's the beef? Well, it ain't on the hoof, its on the paw ;).

But not all dogs were subject to being cooked as chow, only those with obvious imperfections - like having black spots on their tongues. So, when the cook went looking for what was later to be referred to as 'stewing beef,' he went looking for dogs with black spotted tongues; they were destined to be served in the form of stew.

Remember, this was back when there was no refridgeration and Chairman Gore had not yet invented his internet. So word of mouth was how stories got told. Well, the stories about how black spotted-toungued dogs were used as stewing beef to prepare chow for the railroad contractors got confused with the news of the introduction of the black tongued Chow-Chow into American culture, having been brought into the states by some of these 'cooley-laborers' (which is a different story altogether). With time, the stories got all messed up, and mixed up, to become "dogs with black spots on tongue are good for chow."

And to this day, when I see 'stewing beef' in the store, I think about where that bit of 'beef' comes from, of black spotted tongues, and of the the early railroader, the invention of the american 'classic' stew and, of course, how the introduction of the word 'chow' came into our language at about the very same time the Chow-Chow moved into our living rooms.

So you see, your friend and your mom are not necessarily wrong, its just their facts aren't right. But now, because Chairman Gore gave us this internet thingy ... I am pleased to give you the facts about what's right and what's wrong.

Answer 9

ok, well your mother is (OF COURSE) correct, and apperently
your friend knows nothing about dogs. Anyways the black/purple tounge spots are a characteristic of a Chow,
however, tounge spots have been seen in labradors, and pomeranians. Hope i awnsered your question!
-funnygirl
P.S My dog has black tounge spots, and she is a chow/american eskimo/black labrador mix.

Answer 10

Your mother is correct, and your friend is an idiot.

Did you really have to ask? Mother ALWAYS knows best!

***EDIT***

After reading later answers I humbly admit that I only THOUGHT I knew the answer. I usually double check myself before giving out answers like this, too. It just goes to show how easy it is to believe that something is a fact just because you have heard it before. Shame on me.