my puppy's pink nose...

hi...i am new here. i just have a question about my 1 year old shiba inu. she is red (looks just like a fox!) and has always had a black nose. recently her nose has started to fade...almost as if it is going to get pink, which i really don't want to have happen if i can prevent it. anybody have any adice about how to prevent this, or answers to why this is happening? i'd really appreciate your advice! thank you.

 

What type bowl is her water in? Because soemtimes when dogs drink out of plastic (I forget exactly why) their noses will turn pink. They suggest drinking out of stainless steel or something else.

 

i'm using ceramic bowls for her...

i had actually heard the same thing about plastic bowls, so from the beginning i've used ceramic. do you think that they will do the same thing? by the way, thanks for writing so quickly

 

Sometimes this can be caused through bowls, sometimes its genetics, sometimes its rubbing the nose on something and sometimes it can be early signs of health problems like Lupus. In most cases its not a problem but worth having your vet check it on your next visit. In some cases, as long as its not a health issue the pigment may come back, some dogs lose the dark pigment in the winter but it goes black again in the warmer months. I dont know where you live but if its somewhere with hot summers like S. California you could put sun screen on the nose when the dog is out in the sun, light skinned pets, white coated pets etc are more at risk of skin cancer than darker skinned/darker haired pets.

 

Yes, sometimes referred to by vets as 'snow nose', fading of nose pigment caused by seasonal changes. Some vets aren't sure exactly why it happens. Common in some breeds and not a health issue.

 

This happens to my Siberian Husky, her noise gets all pinkish when the seasons change. I personally think it looks adorable, as Jas said, it's a "snow nose" so I don't mind =)

Could ask your vet about it though just in case.

 

thanks for all the advice!

hi guys,
thank you for helping me out. i just wanted to make sure that there was nothing that i was doing that was causing her pink nose. and i think she is adorable no matter what she did love digging and playing in the snow this past winter, so maybe that was it. with this beautiful weather we've been having in MA, we'll see if there's a change. thanks again!