When did your Golden's face start turning white/grey?

51493 Views 23 Replies 22 Participants Last post by Rundlemtn, Jun 30, 2020

Bossoli

Discussion Starter · Nov 2, 2009

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.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

FlyingQuizini

· #2 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #3 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #4 · Nov 2, 2009

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.)

See less See more

AquaClaraCanines

· #5 · Nov 2, 2009

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

Bossoli

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 2, 2009

ZeppGold said:
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

· #7 · Nov 2, 2009

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

Bud Man Bell

· #8 · Nov 2, 2009

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

fostermom

· #9 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #10 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #11 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #12 · Nov 2, 2009

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

Debles

· #13 · Nov 2, 2009

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

See less See more

fostermom

· #14 · Nov 2, 2009

MyBentley said:
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

· #15 · Nov 2, 2009

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

· #16 · Dec 13, 2009

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

· #17 · Dec 13, 2009

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

· #18 · Dec 13, 2009

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

· #19 · Dec 13, 2009

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

GoldenDude

· #20 · Jun 2, 2019

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.)

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.