cb130103
JH
Posts:22
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| 01/07/2013 1:55 PM |
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Hi, everyone. This is my first time posting, but have been reading for awhile. My little guy, Drake, is 4.5 months old. He has very light "ticks," or spots, all over him, but none are really dark or that noticeable.
I recently found a dog park in the area (be careful, I know), and to my surprise there was a 1 year old female GSP, that was COVERED in spots. I mean she was just as much black as she was white, almost. TO my surprise, the owner said that she was whiter than Drake with almost no spots at all til she was about 6 months old.
My question, is it normal for the dog to "grow into" his spots? Did any of yalls GSPs accumulate more over time? However, when I give him his bath, he gets WAY darker and little spots seem to pop up out of nowhere. |
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everbell
Kanata, ON
MH
Posts:3166
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| 01/07/2013 2:35 PM |
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| Bo looked almost gray as a puppy and he is now almost a solid liver roan (by that I mean from a distance of say 10 feet, he looks solid liver, but up close you can see the white mixed in.) I think his colour didn't finally finish changing until he was almost 18 months. However, now (at almost 6 yo) he seems to be getting a milk moustache and I can seem more white popping out where he used to be all liver. |
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Joce and Rich
Bogart and Shiraz (GSPs)
Roxane (RIP: 1995-2009) and Tiger Lily (Cats)
The Everbell Adventures |
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singltrak
Las Cruces, NM
MH
Posts:1149
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| 01/07/2013 2:57 PM |
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Shorthairs, like Dalmatians, are born white with patching or blanketing. Within a couple of weeks (sometimes even days), they start to look like they've been rolled in ashes from the fireplace and then ticking will come in. How much ticking or roaning they get will depend on what sort of genetic makeup they come from. Solid liver won't turn white (except with age) but a white or piebald gene may show up in a Bb alleled litter. So, you may find your guy staying the same light ticked or he may gradually get darker.
It will be fun to see what sort of answers you get from this question. 
Phyllis and the Singltrak furtribe |
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Look to the Past, Breed for the Future |
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NixiesMark
Texas
MH
Posts:120
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| 01/07/2013 3:40 PM |
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| I was curious about this when I picked Nixie up from the breeder. Her dad is liver roan and has many dark spots whereas her mom was not. The breeder told me they are born white and that she would look more like her dad. Nixie has solid liver spots and the roan part of her was gray but grew more spotty, distinct and darker as she got older. I haven't noticed a change recently though so I wonder when that stops? She's just about 9 months now. I love that about this breed though! |
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smatulewicz
Michigan
MH
Posts:1191
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| 01/07/2013 3:46 PM |
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| I have been told that it is quite common, especially with the dogs that have more liver and ticking to darken some with age. Bella did darken a little around 5 months and I haven't noticed any change since. I always assumed that it would be in a few years I might see another change. A couple GSPs locally are much darker than her but still ticked (just harder to tell) and I was told by their owners that they looked very much like Bella when they were her age. |
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cb130103
JH
Posts:22
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| 01/07/2013 4:36 PM |
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| Well, I'm definitely curious to see how he turns out. His head is solid liver, and his body is predominently white. His mother and father were pretty heavily ticked, but neither one of them had a solid brown head like he has. I will try and post some pictures |
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cb130103
JH
Posts:22
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| 01/07/2013 5:04 PM |
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Here's my boy
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Splat
Illinois (Northern)
MH
Posts:3136
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| 01/07/2013 6:32 PM |
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| He looks like my blitz... he will always be more white... some more liver specks might show up but he will be white ticked as far as i can tell... |
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DuckFever
Central Oregon
MH
Posts:321
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| 01/07/2013 6:41 PM |
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ROWDY ON POINT AT 3 MONTHS OLD:
ROWDY AT 9 MONTHS: (This pic doesn't show all the spots that have come in on his left side but they are far more prominent than at 3 months. You can tell the difference on his legs though.)
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The worst day of hunting is better than the best day at work. |
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Nancy D
No. Lower MI - Gaylord Area
MH
Posts:849
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| 01/08/2013 7:17 AM |
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My Lucy is about 11mos. old when I adopted her. She has the dark head and a fair sized brown patch on her butt. Other than
that she had light ticking. She just turned 3 a few months back and has gotten more ticking on her body, heavier on her legs.
Basically, she's white with ticking. Having never owned a GSP before, it was interesting to watch. I need to get a better
picture of her for my Avatar as she was a little over a year in that picture. |
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DLord
Holly Springs, NC
MH
Posts:89
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| 01/08/2013 9:35 AM |
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I found this facinating when I picked out Zoe that they only developed their ticking as they got older. Since it was almost a 5 hour drive I picked her out through a photo from the breeder. I've attached a few pictures to show you the development of her ticking (sorry for all the pics)
4 days old:
4 weeks old (she's the one in the pink collar)
8 weeks old - 2nd day home already learning bad habits
4 months old
This past October 2012 - 20 months old
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singltrak
Las Cruces, NM
MH
Posts:1149
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| 01/08/2013 3:30 PM |
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Even more fun is when you get people "ordering" specific patching or a solid liver head, or blaze but only x-wide, etc... Um, not so much....
Phyllis and the singltrak furtribe |
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Look to the Past, Breed for the Future |
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clicklbd
SE PA
SH
Posts:53
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| 01/11/2013 9:30 AM |
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This is VERY interesting. I come from Cavaliers, where black grows faster than brown, which grows faster than white. So you could have a blenheim (chestnut and white) puppy with a nice blaze, and by the time they are 3, the blaze is almost gone. I whelped a ruby boy with a white spot on his head, and now at age 4, he is a solid ruby. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen -- I have a lovely ruby boy with white toes and white on his chest. Luckily, he can go in juniors because he'll be super fun to show. (That's Giove, who is Phyllis's puppy from afar.)
Phyllis, does brown takeover in gsp? |
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Patti |
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singltrak
Las Cruces, NM
MH
Posts:1149
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| 01/12/2013 9:14 AM |
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Solid liver is (can be) dominant over the roan, Patti. But, you have to HAVE solid liver in the bloodline to get it. And Black is dominant over liver.
But, yes, a wide blaze will narrow down, and also can "tick in". Dogs that I've thought would be light ticked have gradually darkened over time
...girls tend to blow some coat after whelping and come back in darker...The Shorthair is a conundrum...truly!
Phyllis and the Singltrak Furtribe (who are wishin' for a bit more fur this morning!_
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Look to the Past, Breed for the Future |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:7844
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| 01/12/2013 11:32 AM |
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| Shorthairs really are interesting when it comes to coat color. In my last litter I had some very dark roan and some light roan, and the puppy I kept which was light roan ended up as dark or darker than one of the dark roan puppies. For shorthairs the actual coat color genes are separate genes from the ticking and shading too which makes it even more interesting. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
   
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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demetre126
Ontario, Canada
JH
Posts:37
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| 01/13/2013 4:26 PM |
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great photos, Rowdy and Drake remind me of my boy a lot, this really is a great breed. I'm not anticipating it or anything but I have a solid liver male, any chances of his coat changing? would be interesting even though I really like his dark look now. |
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