Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Is Mushroom Secretly an Elderbull?

Look at this picture of Mushroom, taken at her foster home over a year ago.

So comfy in my bed

Now look at this picture of Mushroom, taken around Christmas. Notice any differences?

So comfy in my sunbeam

If you answered "She's going grey", you're right. But how can this be? We were told that she was only about a year old when we adopted her.

We did some Googling and found that muzzle greying is not a reliable way of telling a dog's age. Just like people, dogs can go grey earlier due to a combination of stress (*cough* Badger) and genetics. A better indicator is whether a dog's bottom row of teeth are jagged or smooth. Jagged would indicate a younger dog, while an older dog's teeth would have smoothed out. We weren't able to get a good look at her teeth, though, because she kept trying to give kisses. Mushroom already has a vet appointment this week, so while we're there, we'll also ask them to reevaluate her age.

Has your dog started to go grey? If so, at what age?

4 comments:

  1. Verrrryyyyy interesting! I can't wait to find out if the vet thinks that Mushroom is older than originally though.

    I always go back and forth about Athena's age. Sometimes I think she's younger than we think she is, and sometimes I think she's older. She doesn't have any noticeable graying yet, but I have noticed that her bottom teeth are super jagged.

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  2. She's soooooo adorable! Smooches Mushroom!

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  3. Hmm...so interesting. Our pups are older and while Miss M is greying a bit in the ears and eyebrows, Mr. B hasn't...maybe because he's already gray?

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  4. My dads lab is really starting to grey, shes about 8.5 years old. Hank hasn't started to grey, his ticking has gotten much much darker but hes still just a baby so I think the greying is still a few years out.

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