[Bossoli]

Bradley is 20 months old and he's already starting to get the SLIGHTEST hint of white on his face. It's a very small amount of fur along his upper lip. I don't mean he has a white patch or bright white fur; just a slightly greying area. As you can tell in the picture, it's barely noticeable.

Those of you whose dogs' faces starting lightening with age, when did it start? A friend of mine has a 5 year old male whose face has lightened to the point of looking like 10 year old. Do some dogs' faces just ligthen a little earlier than others? I've also seen some dogs who are really up there in age whose color hasn't changed a bit.

 

[FlyingQuizini]

It varies. My male is 6 and is just barely starting to go grey. He's got a little grey soul patch on his chin and a few grey hairs here and there on his face.

 

[Loisiana]

Conner is only 5 and most of his face is white already. A lot of goldens do start young. He was probably around 2 when I first noticed.

 

[ZeppGold]

Honey will be 5 this month and her face is really gray. She's been getting gray for at least two years. She is very afraid of thunderstorms and other loud noises. I often wonder if she is so stressed that it turned her gray earlier. (Just like people.)

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Brooklyn is graying, she's five. (originally thought she four). She's blonde so it doesn't show much.

 

[Bossoli]

Honey will be 5 this month and her face is really gray. She's been getting gray for at least two years. She is very afraid of thunderstorms and other loud noises. I often wonder if she is so stressed that it turned her gray earlier. (Just like people.)

Thanks for sharing the picture of Honey. She's beautiful and has the sweetest face! I'm sure stress could play a role but my guess is that with some dogs, it's mostly genetics.

 

[Penny & Maggie's Mom]

Both Penny & Maggie started graying a little last year when they were 5.

 

[Bud Man Bell]

Buddy's face turned white when he was 3. He is now 13 and a half and still quite a stud.
Bonnie&Buddy

 

[fostermom]

Jasper is 4 1/2 and no white yet. Danny is three and no white yet. Poor sweet Jasmine, my golden/lab mix has been going grey for about 3 years. She's almost 9.

I do agree that it is a lot genetics, but I also believe that stress can play a big part. My Jasmine is my alpha and was the target of my chow/corgi for many years. She was attacked quite often and all of us were stressed out. I finally had to have the chow/corgi put to sleep and she is as happy as can be with her brothers, but boy does she have a lot of grey. Of course, she's black, so it's more obvious.

 

[tennisball]

My rescue Rocky had grey along his upper and bottom lips when I got him. My bridge dog Cody started getting white around 5 or 6 years old. Personally, I love the white/grey they get on their faces! It's so adorable. I think senior goldens are the cutest just because of their faces.

 

[MyBentley]

My Bentley definitely started graying around the muzzle when he was six. He is going on nine now, but I think he acts younger than he did several years ago.

 

[Maggies mom]

Hootie and Maggie are both 4 and there getting some gray on there faces

 

[Debles]

Mine are uncle and nephew, they both started graying at age five. they are now ten and six.

 

[fostermom]

My Bentley definitely started graying around the muzzle when he was six. He is going on nine now, but I think he acts younger than he did several years ago.

I will say Jasmine acts younger, too. It doesn't last as long as Danny's burst of energy, but she hangs with the boys. Jasper wears out before she does.

 

[Laurie]

My Reno started turning white/grey around 7 years old. Our late Phoenix, who was 8 when he passed, had no signs of white/grey at all.

 

[My Dog Lennon]

Lennon is 11 and just started to get white hairs, but he's also very dark reddish golden. (Somebody thought he was part irish setter.) Then again my neighbors golden is six and started greying a while ago.

 

[3 goldens]

Hunter was just barely 4 when Proheart6 killed him and he had no gray. Scooter was just past 5 when he had heart attack and no gray. KayCee started getting some gray when she was bout 7. Buck died of heart attack at 12 years 3 months and had verfy little gray0--and he was one of those red goldens mistaken for Irish setter sometimes. Honey is 8 but she is pale and my vision is not great, but I don't see any gray on her face.

 

[Artimus]

Chester started going gray pretty early. He was probably about three. He's a little bit of a worrier so we think that might be why it started so soon. We call him our little frosted flake!

 

[puddinhd58]

Rusty is 8 and he started showing some grey around age 6... he has the soul patch...

 

[GoldenDude]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but one of my Goldens who is 4 years old has started turning gray/white around her face. I was freaking out a bit, but I'm glad to read others experienced this color change around this age, too! (It's not a topic I read about too often, but I figured there was probably a discussion of this somewhere on here.)