2 Disparate Questions - Page 1

I have 2 unrelated questions.........

1) Do dogs have 'chills' when they get a fever? Just curious...

2) I have always considered my bitch Kali to be black blanket & tan, but even her black areas have the 'ticking' in the hairs; in other words, the black hair is black on both ends with a little beige band in the middle. Her daughter Ani, has the appearance of a bicolor, mostly black with red legs, & black underbelly; but she has a gray patch under her chin, & if you ruffle her hair, she has a red band in the hair on top of her head, almost like a hidden mask. The black on her back, however, is solid black, from hair tip to root. So, is Kali a blanket marked sable? And what color is Ani?

Thanks in advance for your help. jackie harris

Fever is a very important mechanism initiated by pyrogens, special chemical mediators circulating in the body. Pyrogens affect the body temperature regulation center found in the hypothalamus and cause a rise in temperature. The chills associated with fever help in this temperature raising as muscle activity is required. Fever then causes higher metabolism in cells, helps stimulate an immune reaction and the process of phagocytosis and makes a less favorable environment for certain bacteria that do not do well in higher temperature. So yes, dogs have chills just like humans. However, often what people mistake for chills, or "shaking" from fear has nothing to do with either and is simply a physiological response to other types of chemicals released in the body.

As for your second question, a photo would be helpful. I don't normally hear the term used to describe sables that you are using, but if we see a photo of the dog, that would be much better.

Sorry, not such a great picture for deciphering color....I only have a little 1.3 megapixel camera phone, not the best. I will try to get a more recent picture of Ani, I haven't gotten any good pictures of her since she was 10 weeks old, for the same reason....the camera cannot freeze movement, & she's a lively little girl. Thanks. jh

 She appears to be a black and tan GSD, not sable at all.

She appears to be a black and tan with    as we call it in Texas    A SKUNK STRIP 

 , if you are saying she has hairs with tips of grey and such from neck , collar and chin and chest , marking down towards the back of her...

Looks plain black&tan to me, not sable.

I've heard that stuff called a "bitch stripe", and most GS I've seen have it to some extent.  Even my current bitch, who is mostly black and very nicely so.

Thanks guys & gals, I have always considered her a black & tan, but after reading some of the recent posts on sables I wondered....her mom was a sable, & her mom's mom was black, (according to the breeder, I have only seen some very poor quality pictures of the granddam). Genetics are very interesting to me....her pups were 4 bicolored & 3 sables, the dad was a black sable. No, I wasn't talking about the skunk (or bitch) stripe, YR, I meant each individual hair having a different color in the middle, she just finished blowing her coat not too long ago, so I've had a lot of them to look at! Thanks again! jh