Odd Change in Hair Color

Question

Abbey at 2   QUESTION: My chocolate standard is going on 12.  In the past 9 months she has developed a hair color change in 3 places.  The first spot showed up on her left rib cage and is the size of a quarter and black in color.  After she was groomed in April 2012 a black hair streak was exposed on her right rib cage that is 6 inches long and approximately a 1/2" wide.  The texture of the hair is coarser than her normal coat.  Abbey was just groomed today (6/28/12) and the site on her back where she had a mass removed now has black hair around the perimeter of the scar about an 1/8" wide.  Is this hair color change indicative of something I need to have treated by a Vet?  Abbey pays no attention to these areas and rarely scratches herself.  She is a very happy and friendly companion.  The groomer says there is no change in the color of the skin and that  Abbey's skin looks very healthy for her age.  The photo is before the color change started.

ANSWER: Hello Barry,
You say that Abbey is Brown, but according to her picture she looks more Blue to me.  Blue Poodles tend to have Brown highlights to their hair like she has on her ears.  The reason I mention this is that Blue and Silver colored dogs are born black.  That is why she is getting those black spots on her body.  When a dog gets a scar or scab, it damages the hair follicles and "reboots" them.  If the body grows hair in those spots at all, it starts to grow back in the original color, which in her case was black, and it will take a year or more for the hair to "clear" to the color that she is now.  
Injurys, Hotspots, skin diseases/infections, even bad razor burns can cause damage to the skin, which can damage the skin follicles, and can lead to the hair color change.  
It usually doesn't indicate something that needs to be looked at by a Vet unless the cause of the injury is a parasite or something like ringworm.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me about this, or other Poodle questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim

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Abbey at 6 weeks  

Abbey at 6 months   QUESTION: Abbey is a brown poodle and as a matterof fact she was very dark chocolate as a puppy until she grew in her adult coat.

Answer
Hello again,
I see that she is a Brown now, I was just going by the picture I saw.  No harm done I presume.  
I still stick by what I said, that her skin follicles got damaged some how and that the dark patches are just her hair growing in in the color it was when she was a puppy.  They should change to THE COLOR SHE IS NOW in the time it took for her hair to get to the color it is now, say 9 months to a year.  

I hope this has helped you.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim