My 5 month old rott is getting A LOT of light brown hair

by Leah
(Kentucky)

We have recently purchased a female rottweiler. Harley Belle comes from the Von Diezel Tarheels line. She is registered through ckc. I also have the pedigree paper for her dad. Her mom did not have pedigree but she is registered.

When we picked her out she had a beautiful shiny black coat. She is now 5 months old and is turning colors. Its the middle of winter so we shouldn’t be seeing as much of her undercoat. I know that some visible undercoat is ok but she seems to have a lot. She lives inside our home and is not exposed to the sun that much.

When we bought her we also bought another one a month later. We fed them Purina Puppy Chow up until recently we were reading that it could make them grow to fast, so we switched about 2 weeks ago.

Our male Buddy Davis (purchased in 2 different states) has had the exact same environment as Harley and he hasn’t changed a bit. The light brown hair showed up a little over a month ago. It seems to be getting worse every day.

What is it? Is it bad? Will people shy away from buying her puppies because of it?

Leah – You’re right that this amount of light hair is excessive, in the photos it almost looks as though it is a LOT of undercoat that is showing through a thin top coat – but from what you say I’d guess the top coat is changing color itself.

This isn’t normal for a Rottweiler and I really don’t know what is causing it. As you have two Rotties in the same environment and with the same food/care, it’s unlikely it’s environmental so I think it’s more likely down to her genes.

She’s CKC registered, so although you don’t have a pedigree for the mom presumably both parents are CKC registered, but the coat coloration almost looks as though she has some mixed blood in her. Of course it’s possible for this to happen even if both parents are registered (if a breeder somewhere along the line hasn’t been honest or ethical) but unless you do a DNA test on her you can’t be sure. I would recommend doing that to rule out the possibility of mixed blood, you can buy tests that you can do at home just with a mouth swab from your dog, take a look here…. Purebred Dog DNA Test.

If you do this and she comes back 100% Rottweiler, or if you’re sure that this isn’t a problem, then it could just be a mutation in the genes. Rotties originally had more color variations than the breed standard accepts today, and white patches, red rottweilers and other variations can still show up due to recessive genes.

As for breeding her, honestly unless a dog has a stellar pedigree (and I mean Champions and Int. Champions in the first 3 generations, preferably in the first or second) or is a prime example of the breed both in looks and temperament then there’s really no good reason to breed him/her. Especially with a breed such as the Rottweiler who often gets bought for the wrong reasons, or by the wrong people.

If this coat color anomaly is genetic, then she will have the potential to pass it onto her puppies.

I would also suggest that you have your vet check her out just to make sure there’s no underlying health problem that could cause this. I’ve not heard of one, but I’m not a vet and it’s possible. Impetigo can cause Rottweilers to lose the pigment in their coat and skin, but that usually means white hair, not brown/tan. A vet would have a better answer for you though.

I’m sorry I can’t help more, hopefully you will be able to get to the bottom of this. Harley Belle looks like a very sweet girl and I’m sure that regardless of her coat color she is loved and cherished because the color of her hair doesn’t affect her personality or value.

Good luck.