My cairn is changing color

[Guest]

Hi Cairn lovers, My name is Catherine and I am new to your forum. I have a six year old female Cairn. She was born a dark brindle, but turned blonde by the time she was one. Now, her undercoat, which has always been light is turning very, very dark almost black. At first I thought maybe she was bruised it was so black, but it is actually her fur. I started giving her Paaws Vitamin supplements a month ago. Could this be causing the sudden change? My vet couldn't say for sure. She suggested that I contact a breeder. I sent an email to the only breeder I could find in our area, but I haven't heard back from her. I thought that maybe with all the Cairn people on this forum you might have an answer for me. I really don't care what color she is as long as she is healthy. Thanks, Catherine

[bradl]

Hi Catherine. Cairns frequently change color. Especially brindled ones. We always drag out the puppy pictures for visitors - like any good doggy parent to show how the dark handsome fellow sitting on their feet started life as a red brindle. Some seem to go through a rainbow of color changes (red to wheaten to red again to silver to black, or whatever) while others just get darker and darker. Or more and more silver. I think some dogs are just determined to keep us guessing. We have a friend who suggested all brindled dogs should simply be called "pre-black."

I do hear people say that clear reds and wheatens (no brindling at all) can stay one color and I believe it; we've never had one ourselves to speak from experience.

[Catherine]

Thank you brad1. We have had three Cairns over the past 35 years of our marriage. The first two were dark brindle, but Morna is our first blonde. When we got her we thought see would be like the other two. Imagine our surprise when she turned blonde. Now, we think that Strider and Poco are channeling through her so she is changing to match their colors. I am glad that this is normal and not due to the vitamins. I can't believe that more people don't have Cairns they are the perfect dogs for city dwellers. Thanks again for your reply.