Border Collies 394 making 465 entries

Collie (Rough) 240 making 278 entries

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Shetland Sheepdog 338 making 398 entries

A Rough Collie & its Nose

A 2 year old sable rough bitch - at approx 16 months of age the base of her nose started to turn pink, some weeks prior I had used some 'dog friendly' fertilizer on the lawn, and had also washed her 'fluffy' toys in the washing powder. She is also a very destructive girl, and has destroyed numerous cushions and duvet covers as she seems to have a fetish with the fillings!

The whole of the nose is now a dark liver colour, it does look black in some lights, and the whole of her bottom lip is a fleshy pink. No crustiness, weeping or irritation of the nose, and the vet confirms it is not discoid lupus (collie nose).

Preparations tried: Dorwest herbs Kelp and Seaweed powder and tablets, Fit n Fertile, Dorwest herbs Elderberry and Nettle extract, Maritime Pine Bark Extract (shipped at great expense from Australia!), Flax Oil, Dandelion Tea, ground Millet, and Vitamin E. Have also put some anti fungal cream on the nose after someone suggested it may be a yeast infection, together with using Colloidal Silver although this has only been for two weeks, so still time for this to work.

Vet has said there is no sign of an allergy, no thickening of the skin, and a biopsy would involve a sedative and taking a small weeny slice from her nose, which he can't warrant performing at this stage. She does have dermititis of the vulva and is now on a course of anti biotics and the vet has given some Calopderm liquid as this is useful in skin allergies. She is very lively, and has a ferocious appetite. Any ideas?

I have also tried raw and cooked spinach

Any ideas on this, would be greatly appreciated

email: collienet2000@aol.com

Thanks to our viewers for these replies so far:

"Just a idea, but plastic bowls can cause dogs to lose pigmentation in the nose. Also, if this bitch is ripping beds up its possible that some of them have a plastic based filling which could be causing the problem, or she could perhaps be rubbing her nose off some kind of problematic plastic."

We too have problems with our collies nose, biopsies performed and no further forward. However, a blood test did show that he had low thryriod problems, second blood test showed just normal so not being treated at present. Just wondered if that might be your young bitch's problem. (my collie is a 2 yr old male).

http://www.sunessencesforanimals.com/personalisedforanimals.html

might be worth a whirl!!!!

message from owner
'With the pigmentation now returning, and after trying numerous products over the last six months, more recently more than one at a time - I contacted the lady from Sun Essences and she very kindly offered to look at a sample of her fur - she has come back to me today to say that she is as sure as she can be that the Colloidial Silver is what is bringing the pigmentation back'

New message in on the nose issue - 22nd June
Some years ago when one of our collies' nose went pink and completely scabby all the way up to the stop, I carefully took the scab off and put dermisol all over the area it cleared up very quickly and all the hair and pigmentation came back. We used it for numerous problems i.e getting rid of warts the dead piece had to be taken of then the cream applied twice a day over several days but they never came back, cuts, itchy areas, my friend used it on bite wound when two of her collies had a fight, we even use it on ourselves. Any thing we found the opposite to the other comments when we used metal bowls they lost pigmentation and had to change to plastic.

New message on this issue - 29th Sept
Hello - I would like to add something which may be of interest on the subject of collie nose. We had a smooth blue merle collie who was subject to scabs just above the black part ot the nose (Is there a term for that in English?) Our vet diagnosed collie nose which she said was due to a reaction to the sun. She tattooed the nose (under anaesthetic of course) and we had no further problems as the pigmentation protected against the sun's rays.
Another problem suffered by both our smooth collies was a loss of pigment on the black part of the nose (truffe in French)(truffle) and on the part of the lips where the whiskers are. The colouring of this was a purplish pink.
As both dogs were fervent mousers (having a technique of one digging while one guarded the "back door"), the vet thought they probably had a fungal infection and reccommended bathing them with Betadine (an iodine preparation) each day. this worked well, but needed perseverance.
Hope these tips may be of use to other collie owners Dianne Taimsalu in the south of France

New message 14th June 2007
I once had the problem with the nose and lips turning pink. A blood test told me there was a lack of balance in the hormones. I had some remedies sent from a firm in England called TRIDEX. These helped a little. Just make sure you do not feed anything that contains maise as this kills pigmentation, and give fish liver oil on the food.
Astri in Norway

Follow up 14th June 2007
Six months after the nose started to lose its pigmentation, the lids of the eyes turned pink and we thought they were both related - we had various blood tests etc, and purely by accident I mentioned to the vet that she was licking herself a lot. It turned out she had vaginitis and after treating this successfully, and stopping her licking, the pigmentation has returned (not sure if the collodial silver helped as well, but it didnt do her any harm) although we were still left with pink around the eyes. A few months later I noticed she seemed to have problems keeping her eyes open, and although there was no discharge, a visit to the vets diagnosed quite severe 'dry eye' and this is being treated with optimmune drops on a daily basis, and again the pigmentation has returned around here eyes. So after 18 months, it transpires that the two were not related.

More help received 17th June
I am wondering what dog food you are feeding? There are so many additives and preservatives in all dog foods they have been processed to the hilt till there is next to no goodness left. Oh yes they say there are all these really great things in there and possibly there were before this dog food was put through a high heat process Have you tried feeding your dog a raw diet?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding take a look at this site and you may find some answers there that will help your dog. Edith edefreedom1945@sympatico.ca

More help received 25th June
I was reading the collie forum and found this topic about nose & lips turning pink and additional skin irritation.

Just wanted to point out what nobody has yet suggested; it might be due to autoimmune reaction. One of my breeding has this problem and I have done lots and lots of research and consulting the vets, and it seems this is very typical slight autoimmune problem, even if not diagnosed as the well-known discoid lupus. Also the "dry eyes" ARE connected with this, as I read it is in fact a common symptom associated with lupus etc, also caused by autoimmune reaction that affects the tear ducts. There are many different symptoms that indicate autoimmune disease and at first it might seem they are not connected, but since the working of immune system of affected animal is genetically flawed, it is quite likely that even frequent ordinary skin inflammations (feet, ears, genitalia most commonly) etc are ultimately linked with a faulty immune system that attacks the dog's own cells and slows the healing. It seems some cases do not require intensive treatment, but others do, and from what I've heard/read, most use corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive therapy. It is also normal for the disease to go into remission for periods of time when the symptoms lessen or sometimes almost entirely disappear. Sunlight might very well be one of the causes that worsens the problems due to loss of the protective pigment.

Hope this gives ideas and definitely should be worth a thought to those with such problems.

Best regards, Johanna & Irokon collies, Finland

Update 17th July
Message from owner, she feeds on Hills, with fresh meat and vegetables, all cooked as raw food gives her colic.

Subject 1.
RESTRICTION OF COLOUR REGISTRATIONS

ROUGH COLLIE

At its meeting on 23 November 2004 the Committee approved the following restriction
on Rough Collie colour registrations,

effective from 1 January 2005:

Sable & white; tricolour; blue merle; non-standard.

25/11/04
For further information please contact
Press Office
020 7518 1008 / 1020
pressoffice@the-kennel-club.org.uk

***************************************************************

If anyone has any comments re the KC's new addition to our colour registrations for publication on this page - please email us at
collienet2000@aol.com

Thanks for all the emails - we understand that this is a new KC computer system which will now highlight any colour that is not one of our three recognised colours listed in the breed standard [ie sable & white/blue merle or tri-colour] that has been declared on the registration papers. The forms will be returned to the breeder to be amended, and if not amended registration will not go through.

Further information

As you may have gathered, the Kennel Club have issued a Restriction to the Registration of Colours for the Collie (Rough) Only
> As a member of the Kennel Club Breed Standards and Stud Book Committee (BSSB) where I represent the Pastoral Group, an item on the Agenda was the colour registrations of Rough Collies.
> This item submitted by the Rough Collie Breed Council (RCBC) with full approval of member collie clubs, requested that the KC only recognise the colours, as listed in the KC Breed Standard, for registration.
> For those of you with long memories, this has always been a request by the RCBC, going back for many many years and at last it has been recognised.
> On perusal of recent Breed Record Supplements, you will see some breeders have been submitting colour registrations which are technically not correct to our Breed Standard, for example: Wolf Grey, Black Brown and White, Gold and White, Dark Brown and White. Blue/White and Black - need I go on?
> Therefore, from the 1st January, those breeders who try to register colours which are not within the Breed Standard,
> i.e. Sable and White, Tricolour and Blue Merle may well have them returned with the colour listed as NON STANDARD.
> If this happens, the option may be given to re-register to the correct colour.
> Contrary to all current rumours it does not mean that Non Standard is a Colour!!!
> It is up to us all, as breeders, to ensure that when we register your puppies, they are register correctly
> By the way, at present, this only affects Rough Collies, not Smooths
> Also, for your information, Collies are NOT the ONLY Breed to have requested this change in colour registrations, as if reference is made to past KC Gazettes, you will find other breeds who have experienced similar problems
> I hope that this has helped you all to understand the reasoning behind this issue 207.04.
> Carole Smedley

Hello Carole,

Thanks for the clarification, however I have one query which you may be able to clear up.

If a person has a Collie with a registered colour as "Non Standard" would they be allowed to show it?
In all other aspects of the breed standard apart from height it is up to the individual to decide if a Collie meets the standard or not and it is acceptable to show it, therefore by allowing registration as a non standard allows a person to show collies of any colour, something which I have always thought as permissable, but have often been told that, say showing a white collie is not allowed.

Best Regards
Philip

***********************************************************

In Dog World issue December 10th 2004
Mrs Speding writes.....
"Another item resolved by the RCBC during the year is the vexed question of the acceptable colours allowed when registering litters. Years ago, during Pat Mildon's term as secretary, the KC agreed with the RCBC that the three colours laid down in the Standard, sable and white, tri-colour and blue merle, were the acceptable colours.

Recently, due to the changes in the computer system at the KC and the KC policy of registering every puppy, no matter how the colour was described on the litter registration form, we have weird and wonderfully coloured collies registered. Once again the RCBC raised the matter with the KC and the Council reiterated its previous position, agreed by all the clubs, that only the three Standard colours were acceptable.

The RCBC and the KC have agreed; "The following restriction on Rough Collie colour registrations, effective from Jan 1 2005 ; sable and white, tricolour, blue merle and non-Standard. This means that only the three colours as stated, will be accepted and any variation will be classed as non-standard and the registration form will be returned to the breeder for amendment". Lets hope this ends the matter.

*******************************************************************

Various breeders have asked about this subject and it still seems to be causing confusion between us and the KC.
At January 2005 we have the folowing responses from the KC in relationship to how they will deal with the registrations of non-standard listing and indeed what can be shown.

I am writing in response to your recent enquiry regarding the colour
restriction on Rough Collie registrations, which became effective on 1
January 2005. This in no way affects eligibility for entry to Kennel Club
licensed events. If a dog is not registered as one of the listed colours and
is therefore registered with the non-standard colour description, it can
still be entered for competition in the usual way. Any subsequent awards
achieved would be valid, provided there has been no breach of Regulations.

I hope that this guidance will be of assistance.

Yours sincerely

Caroline Hallett
Manager - Registered Societies
STA DEPARTMENT"

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding Rough Collie Colours. The new
> restriction on colour registrations does not affect eligibility for
> exhibition - any registered dog can be shown, including non-standard
> colours.
>
> If the registrations department receives colours which are not listed,
> then efforts would be made to advise the applicant of the permissible
> colours.
>
> I hope that this guidance will be of assistance.
>
> Yours sincerely
> Caroline Hallett

Any comments re this subject.....collienet2000@aol.com