Re: coat change

Question
I have an apricot toy poodle who just turned four years old. In the past 4 months he has developed darkened spots on his back.  Three different spots.  It is only on his coat and not his skin.  No trauma, no injuries and no change in food.  He is eating, playing and acting appropriately.  Is this normal in apricot poodles?

Answer
Hello,
Actually it is fairly common in Apricot, Silver, Brown, and other "Fading Gene" colored dogs.  
What it seems to be is when a Fading Gene colored dog is bred to a Black colored dog (some breeders do it to strengthen the color of their dog).  
What you get is the skin starts to Mottle or get dark patches in it.  I am not sure why this is, unless it is the Black or darker color coming through.  It doesn't happen with every puppy in every litter, but it does seem to be a more common occurance than in the past.  
You typically see it in dogs who come from Backyard breeders, or from breeders who aren't as selective in choosing what dogs to put together. (Proper Breeders will pair dogs together that have the same colored dogs in their background, so as to keep the colors pure).
Your dogs spots will slowly change to the color that your dogs coat is now, but they will always be slightly behind your dogs coat color until your dog reaches a color climax.  This is because the darker spots will be about the same color as when your dog was a young puppy.  It will take as long as a year or more for those spots to lighten (about the same time it took for your dogs coat to lighten)

*I want to add that I am not assuming that you got your dog from a poor quality breeder or that your breeder made any mistakes breeding this litter.  I am just saying that you Usually find these skin changes in dogs who's breeders may not have been properly educated in pairing breeding dogs together.*

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

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim