Food affecting coat color - Page 2

Exposure to sunlight can cause dark coats to have a reddish cast. I use to try to keep dark coated dogs in the shade most of the day or spray them with a sunblock. Some coat supplements (fatty acids) will make new coat growth appear more "colorful".

Carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene that can bring more color to the red/brown areas of the coat. In humans too much will cause a yellowing of the skin. The pellets most likely contain a higher concentration so dogs will need to eat fewer to see results. Some dogs don't like carrots.

MCap:

I know you mentioned using chicken and we have had great success with it.  Does food affect color - can't say for sure 100%.  But when we were in Australian Shepherds,  some of us found that lamb changed our dogs coats - gave them a red hue.  We took them off lamb based dog food and their coats went back to their true color.  I haven't used lamb since so can't say if this would affect GSD.

Also in some breeds, black dogs hair can get sunburned - looks a dull reddish color.  Not sure if this is true for black GSD.  There are products that you can spray on their coat to prevent it.  In our Afghans, we just kept them in during the hottest part of the day.  This sunburn can also occur in horses.

Cassandra

Yes, black GSD coat can turn reddish due to the sun. Nero is a sun dog and the hairs on his tail always turn red in the
summer. I didn't know there was a sunblock for dogs.... I will have to look into this :)

Melissa

How long does it take for the carrorts to begin to affect the color?   ecs

melba

http://www.epi-pet.com/sunscreen.aspx

Thank you ggturner :) Does it prevent the black coat from turning red? I would assume it would.

Melissa

Sunscreen applied daily will prevent a black coat from turning  red.  I don't know that it's neccessary to pay any extra for sunscreen manufactured exclusively for dogs. I've used the sunscreen sold tor humans, SPF as high as I could find, and it worked well.

I imagine it would take months for beta-carotene to effect the color. It would only inlfuence the color of the new growth, the old growth would be the color is it until the coat is shed.

well this explains why my Lexi has went red on the back of her back lol I thought she was changing coat colour and i didnt like it haha

She is three but has been out in thr sun alot the last two weeks which explains the change

So can a gsd get sun burnt?

I have also been told that feeding kelp supplements will make the black in a coat even blacker (does that make sense:). Does anyone know if there is truth to that?

EchoEcho

I have given my dogs Kelp for years. Not only does it have alot of vitamins and minerals, but my dogs have always had nice dark pigment. They do not get the "snow nose" either. I have used the kelp from Solid Gold and also one called SOURCE. The source can be purchased at most feed stores. It comes in a pelleted form or a poweder, I have always used the powder. The Source is used for horses mostly, so it lasts a long time for the dogs.
I have told several people about the kelp that have had dogs with the winter nose issue. Once they have been on the kelp for a little bit the dogs nose is black and black can be.