Hair Discoloration

Question
We noticed recently that our apricot-colored toy poodle has developed 2 brown spotted areas.  We recently switched his dog food from Purina One to some other brand that was on sale at the grocery store.  If the food is what caused the discoloration, will it go away by switching back to his old food?

Answer
Hello Ali,
Your dogs discoloration could be caused by a number of things.  She could be starting to change color a bit (the Apricot color is caused by a fading gene and so the color of the hair will get lighter as the dog ages), some medications will cause a dogs hair to change color as it mixes with chemicals in the dogs body and can change the dogs hair color, or she could have gotten an injury to those areas of the skin that are changing, (that will cause the hair to grow in a different color, most of the time it will grow back in the original puppy color) For instance, if a Silver dog gets an injury, the new hair will grow in black because Silver puppies are born black then change to Silver as they age.  Most Apricot Poodles start out a dark Apricot color at birth, even a dark Red color, so if those spots are more of a dark Red color, it could be due to an injury or even a hot spot that your dog had in that area of the skin.
It could be because of the new food, but hair changes due to this, usually are more overall the body, not just specific spots.  Cheaper dog foods usually use a poorer quality dye in the food, and this can cause the hair to dye and change color.  If you are concerned about the food, I would switch back to the old food and see if the hair grows in a different color.  I would have him shaved down and start him growing back again so that his hair will grow back quicker and you will be able to tell if his hair color is returning to normal.

If you are still unsure, you might give your Vet a call just to rule out any medical problems that could be causing a coat color change.  I don't think your dog is ill, but it wouldn't hurt to let your Vet know and see what he/she has to say.

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

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim