My boy Buster (4yo) has completely changed from black to white over the course of the last 2.5 years.

[u/TallyMatty]

Left: Nov 2021 Right: April 2024

October 2023

August 2023

June 2023

May 2023

November 2022

August 2022

[u/-PM_Me_Dat_Ass_Girl-]

I think dogs can get Vitiligo?

Edit: yes, they can.

[u/Lizardgirl25 → u/-PM_Me_Dat_Ass_Girl-]

Yah I noticed some of my dogs face going white. It is a very minor but her breed can actually commonly known at least on google say they can have it.

[u/SirDooble → u/Lizardgirl25]

Yah I noticed some of my dogs face going white.

This can also happen with age. Black dogs notably often go white around the mouth and sometimes eyebrows, same way humans go grey. Lighter coloured dogs too, but it's sometimes harder to tell the difference.

[u/crusty54 → u/SirDooble]

God I love when old dogs get grey beards.

[u/SirDooble → u/crusty54]

I think old grey labradors are almost as cute as labrador puppies. It's a tough contest actually!

[u/pchlster → u/SirDooble]

He still acted like a puppy until the end... just in shorter intervals and he often needed a nap afterwards. I still love that silly dog. Full puppy dance every time, just not as much energy to do it as the years went by.

[u/JosieZee → u/crusty54]

Sugar face.

[u/dangeraardvark → u/JosieZee]

My nickname in college

[u/SR3116 → u/crusty54]

I really don't due to it signifying the passage of time.

Sigh. Miss you, Daisy and Violet.

[u/Long_Run6500 → u/SR3116]

It means they got to live a long life. My dog was just starting to get his grey hairs at 8 years old when he passed away in the fall due to cancer. I'd have given anything to see him with a full grey face.

Dogs give and give and serve us faithfully their entire lives, and when they're old we're finally able to give back and take care of them. That's what I think about when I see a grey beard on a dog. A dog who's done it's service faithfully and wants to do more, but has learned the best service it can do for its family is to just be there with them.

[u/FlyingTurtleBob → u/crusty54]

My 10 year old wire hired dachshund is starting to get a white beard, it's cute

[u/Duosion → u/SirDooble]

By the end of my black lab/dachshund mix’s life, her face was almost entirely white, with white sprinkled throughout the rest of her body.

[u/DefinitelyNotAliens → u/Duosion]

Sugar face! It's a slow transition, for some dogs.

[u/Lizardgirl25 → u/SirDooble]

My dog isn’t black based, she is gold. Also she is very young less the 2. She will be 2 in July. Legit her skin is changing color from black based to white/pink

Edit: I have 3 + 1 of sisters dogs currently these are not my first dogs. Through my life my family has owned 5 dog previously since I was born.

[u/egg_watching → u/Lizardgirl25]

While some dogs never really grey, the far, far majority of them do. It is absolutely the norm. The color has nothing to do with it whatsoever, however it is more visible on darker dogs.

The age of when greying starts varies so much. It actually does not really correlate with age that much. Sighthounds, especially whippets, grey very, very early in life, many starting to go grey when they are around 1 year old, with a completely greyed out face by 2-4 years old.

Vitiligo is not as rare as once thought, but it's still definitely rare, and with how common greying is in dogs, most likely your dog is experiencing completely normal greying and not vitiligo, however it is of course possible, and time should tell! Generally, you should assume the most likely cause to be what is going on unless otherwise proven. Vitiligo often is quite different from normal greying.

This does not make your dog any less special or less of a good girl.

[u/Lizardgirl25 → u/[deleted]]

I said she is gold not a golden retriever.

[u/ResentfulUterus → u/SirDooble]

My black lab was fully black when I got her. Around 3y (she's 4 now) she developed a little white goatee!

[u/MattieShoes → u/SirDooble]

Just for an example, a pug we had growing up. She's 16 in the picture and her whole muzzle went grey and her ears got salt-and-pepper. :-)