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snow nose?


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Usually the nose will develop a lighter to pink stripe down the mid of the nose as the season changes. I had one case where the noses changed out of season and became a lot pinker...it turned out it was due to using plastic water bowls.

how does that do it? the rubbing on the plastic? mine use a big plastic dish.

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I'm not sure WHY it happens, but it happens with all northern breeds it seems. It might be a genetic thing, maybe the lighter colour nose helps them to blend in more and to help avoid detection from predators (when they were out there in the arctic hunting for themselves when they weren't pulling sleds)

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how does that do it? the rubbing on the plastic? mine use a big plastic dish.

According to people much smarter than I am it is because plastic is porous and it allows microscopic bacteria/algae to grow no matter how much you wash them...through use it gets into the pores of the nose and it changes the coloring. I was skeptical but after I quit using the plastic bowls the noses all went back to black.

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I'm not sure WHY it happens, but it happens with all northern breeds it seems. It might be a genetic thing, maybe the lighter colour nose helps them to blend in more and to help avoid detection from predators (when they were out there in the arctic hunting for themselves when they weren't pulling sleds)

so its just a genetic thing? ive seen some that don't appear to have it, i dont think sonomas parents have it but then again i saw them in winter and she was born in the winter... i dunno.

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According to people much smarter than I am it is because plastic is porous and it allows microscopic bacteria/algae to grow no matter how much you wash them...through use it gets into the pores of the nose and it changes the coloring. I was skeptical but after I quit using the plastic bowls the noses all went back to black.

well thats interesting. time for a stainless steel bowl then?

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That's what I use now, stainless is very sanitary and easy to clean besides. Not one issue with nose discoloration since.

yeah i mean appearance wise im not bothered ut if its unsanitary then i have to do something about it.

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According to people much smarter than I am it is because plastic is porous and it allows microscopic bacteria/algae to grow no matter how much you wash them...through use it gets into the pores of the nose and it changes the coloring. I was skeptical but after I quit using the plastic bowls the noses all went back to black.

Now that's an interesting little tidbit to stow in the memory banks somewhere. Very interesting ....

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yeah i mean appearance wise im not bothered ut if its unsanitary then i have to do something about it.

Well comparing the two materials stainless is the most sanitary of readily available product. Appearance wasn't so much the issue as it bothered me that something from their water bowls was changing the color of their nose...I was not comfortable with that thought.

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I'm not sure if plastic is totally related. Suka's fed and watered out of ceramic bowls that are washed regularly.

Although, I don't remember him having a snow nose until he scraped it up a few times after burying his bones in the backyard. Hm...

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I'm not sure if plastic is totally related. Suka's fed and watered out of ceramic bowls that are washed regularly.

Although, I don't remember him having a snow nose until he scraped it up a few times after burying his bones in the backyard. Hm...

Not sure, just sharing an experience I had. When you have (then) 8 dogs that hadn't had previous snow nose suddenly develop pigment changes and not just in the traditional snow nose fashion you start to wonder the cause. The only change had been plastic buckets for watering vs their ceramic indoor bowl. Our vet suggested this theory, tested it by taking away the plastic and problem solved and has not re-occurred.

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