Blue Dapple Puppy


caligirl11

New Member
Hi. We are looking to adopt a blue dapple puppy. We read that most of them develop skin issues and loose their hair. We've read conflicting things about when the hair loss happens and how severe it is. Does any one have first hand experience with blue coats? Has any one seen an older blue dachshund that still has its fur?
 

Penny

New Member
Congrats on considering adopting a little doxie! Did you have doxies before? How did you decide on a dachshund? Thank you for coming on the forum and asking questions! Good for you!

Here is a link on the subject of Color Dilution Alopecia

Colour Dilution Alopecia - WikiVet

Treatment

There is no effective treatment for this disorder. The disease is progressive and incurable, but some palliative measures can be taken early on in the course of the disease.

Hair loss due to shaft fracture can be minimised by avoiding excessive brushing and shampooing. Moisturisers may help make the hair less brittle and gentle bathing with antimicrobial and keratinolytic products can be tailored to the needs of the individual case.

Folliculitis should be treated with systemic antimicrobial therapy.

If scaling is severe, oral vitamin A or synthetic retinoids may help.

A high-quality diet and essential fatty acids might also be beneficial.
Now, my question to you is, since this is something that is very easily avoided by breeding non dilute dogs, why would you willingly support a breeder who obviously does not have the puppies (and their families) very best interest in mind? To say "because I like the color" is hardly a good reason, isn't it? A respectable breeder would steer clear of these known health issues. In my opinion, they should charge *less* for a dilute puppy, not more. Like they do when a puppy has a kink in it's tail, and really, a kink in the tail will not involve a life long health issue that needs to be managed, including ongoing veterinary visits for help.

When you adopt a blue puppy, you really can't know how severe the issues might become. I can bet the breeder will say that they don't have issues with their dogs. If the issues start to show up after age 3 and their dogs are under 3, they may sound convincing to prospective buyers. Just know that these issues are very easily avoided and to purposely breed for dilutes, *and charge more for them*, is a despicable practice motivated by greed. There are breeders who do the available health testing and do their best to provide families with the best possible puppies. They won't be getting dilute puppies.

Glad you're here asking questions!! Good luck as you search for that perfect puppy.
 

Hunter's Parade

New Member
Why not a silver dapple?
Here is mine.Athena Hunter's Parade at 7 months old.

I'll be honest.I don't see any differences in blue and silver dapple,and confuses me even more when people in my club doesn't see it ether and Athena is a blue dapple in her pedigree.
 
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