It will probably go back to black in spring. Clancy's nose is becoming pinker as he gets older.

 

Yep, Sidney's nose went 'pinky' his first winter and though it got darker again this past summer, it never really quite went back to the full 'jet-black' he had as a little puppy. Well so far into this winter most of his nose is back to pinkish. I think that all dogs with dark noses, experience some lighting of the pigment during the longer dark winter months... and to, all dogs' noses will lighten with age. The degree of pigmentation loss in either case, I think, is determined by the dog's genetics.

I believe the term use to describe the color of the nose, lips, and eye-rims of a dog is "black points"... and Golden Retrievers are supposed to have strong black-points.

 

Mojo got his "winter nose" many years ago and it stayed. Never did go back to black.

 

Buck's didn't turn until he was 4 years old, and it turned in the summer. The reason? he got stung on the lip by a ground wasp and had a bad reaction. His face swelled and eventaully his nose actually peeled, kinda like a sun burn, and then it was what i call rust (that sounds better to me than pink) and it never went back black. KayCee is 6 and honey is 4, and both still have jet black noses.

 

Lots of Goldens seem to get pink or brown noses as they get older- I think its just something that varies from dog to dog. It seems to be more pronounced in winter and I have heard that digging [when they push their nose in the dirt] can make it worse.

Of mine, Millie has a pale nose [like her dad] and Daisey has a black nose tho' they both started out black.

 

SOME of it is perhaps caused by the cold, but pigment in general is caused from genetics. Is your pup NORMALLY really dark or just kind of brownish pink anyway? I think its a little unusual if the cold is making a 6 month olds nose turn pink so young unless its just mostly genetic.

 

I was about to ask that question.

Both my 10 and 3 year olds noses turned a pinkish/brown from jet black at around 18 months old. My old fella who departed at 15, his nose was always jet black, a little scaley near the end but black. My 3 year olds parents noses were jet black as we actually checked knowing that our 10 year old's had turned pinkish/brown. Thinking it may be in the genes, we were surprised to see our youngest's change colour when his parents 4 & 5 year olds had remained black. In the summer, they darken a little, but far from black.

It seems more common in Golden Labradores for them to have a brown nose, but I have seen quite a few Retriever noses turn brown. It's more the end of the nose with ours like the black has worn off. I have read with show dogs that methods have been applied to recolour the nose in those cases as apparantly a brown nose looses points, but recolouring I believe was unsuccessful.

it's a good question though???

 

It's been winter for awhile now, but I notice Tucker's nose is getting lighter. Not sure if it's going to go "pink" or not. Its mainly looking different on the top near the fur line.... ????

 

As others have indicated, this is one of two things - "snow nose" which goes back to darker in the warmer weather, or simply genetics. Bailey (our lab) gets snow nose, but Zoe's is genetic. We haven't had Bentley long enough to know what his nose story is . My guess is that since Dakota's happened in the cold, it is "snow nose".

 

Phoebe's nose turned slightly pink last winter, she was just a little puppy. During the summer it did get a little darker, but never as black as it was when she was a puppy. This winter it is very pink so I'm expecting her nose will continue to be pink. I've been told plastic bowls can cause the nose to lose pigment, but Phoebe always had a stainless steel bowl.

Since Phoebe is simply a family pet, I just tell her she's pretty in pink.

Jan, Seamus, Gracie & Phoebe

 

Snow nose

Here is a snow nose. It went back to black last spring, but who nose this year. I love this nose.

 

Here is a snow nose. It went back to black last spring, but who nose this year. I love this nose.

And a quite handsome nose it is!!!!!

 

Sidney's nose has been decidedly pinky for the last year and I know it will never fully go back... however I have a really good explanation I like to use. Sidney also has a large round (about an 1" diameter) black spot right at the end of his tongue. When people ask me about it, I just point to his pinky nose and tell them the color rubbed off. It's amazing how many people do not understand its a joke... they just stare at him dumb-founded like and say stuff like "Really!"... I finally have to tell them I'm just joking.

 

That's a good one! Hailie has a large black spot on her nose also. Her nose did become brown this winter, but I think it is becoming a little darker. i will have to wait til spring/summer to see if it will return to its original shade. Well, I love her either way!

 

My two have pinkish noses now. Beau's really did stay black for quite a while and Emmy's seemed to turn this year(she is 5 years).

 

I've noticed that Zazoo's nose is looking on the burgundy side this winter after having been black black all along. I think it just adds more character to his overall good looks!!! (me biased???!?!?!?!)

 

I am so glad someone finally asked this question. I have always loved Beau's black nose and then last spring he decided he was going to re-landscape the
back yard and his lovely black nose went to pink. I most have pushed about a 1/2 ton of mulch as he dug up the sprinkler system in the back so I honestly believe he just flat wore the color off his nose. The little stinker.

Julie