Hi- have a quick question about hair color-

One of mine has a mostly black coat with tan on his legs/neck/face. When I got him the back of his neck/back was all black. Since then he's gotten in some fur that's black at the tip, white in the middle, and black closer to the skin; this also coincided with him blowing his winter coat. The weird color thing is over his hackles (think this is the correct term), and just above his tail. Just FYI I don't think he's double coated-

Could this be because of a diet deficiency? I'm already looking into switching their diet away from Iams- but since they were on it before and his coat was black...

Any other ideas?

How old is he? GSDs often chage color as they mature.

I strongly suggest you get off of Iams. I doubt it will affect the color, but you will see some serious improvement in coat shine (and also fewer shedding problems...at least in my case) on raw. Or even a better quality kibble.

he just hit 2 in June (estimated- he was a katrina puppy)

As I said I'm just trying to decide which kibble to switch them to- the hair question is what started my search on foods, wondering if maybe it was not a good quality, which led me to realize that I should look for something else-

thanks!

My 11 year old male GSD has changed color over the years. I would say he is almost more of a sable than the traditional black and tan now. He used to have more distinctive black and tan markings.

You can look at my photobucket pictures to see a pic of him.

I would agree that switching away from Iams food would be best. Even if you don't want to feed raw, you could certainly do better with the choice of kibble

Lisa

Carolyn,

If you really want to stick to kibble, I would have no problems endorsing Innova. It's usually pretty easy to locate, too. FYI thought, I had a friend who switched from Iams to Innova and noticed that the calories are different (Innova is higher in cals) and had to adjust feeding amounts accordingly.

Also, because Innova has fresher ingredients, it does tend to go bad more quickly, so make sure you either purchase in smaller quantities, or use and air tight container. Actually, you have 2 dogs, right? Nevermind, chances are it'll never have a chance to go stale!

Also, if you can afford it, there are premade raw meat patties that are formulated to according to AAFCO feeding trials that you can try. This is what I did while I was researching raw and didn't yet have the confidence to balance my dog's diet properly.

My GSD had been on them since he was at the breeders, so he's always had raw meat as a component of his diet. But when I switched the Corgi to the meat patties, I couldn't believe it was the same dog--WAY more vitality, super glossy coat, less poo, less sheding. He seemed younger and full of energy. It really was a noticable difference in a short time.

I don't mind recommending a good premade meat patty for people who want to get off of kibble, but are still unsure about raw. It really shows you many of the wonderful pluses of raw, but you still have the confidence that the diet is balanced. It'll make you a believer. Then you'll be more likely to go full on raw and get even MORE benefits (and it's cheaper!). That's what happened with me, anyway.

Anyway, not to sound like a zealot! If you want the info on the raw meat patties, I'll send the links to you.

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Just FYI I don't think he's double coated

I thought all shepherds have the "undercoat"? That is the short soft fur that sheds like crazy in the summer.

Or are you talking about a "long coat"?

I know that the white shepherds tend to get more tan/buff color marking as they age.