# Losing pigment on tip of nose



## hartman studio (Feb 14, 2008)

Mindy has lost some pigment on the end of her nose-it has turned brownish instead of the glossy black it has always been. Any ideas as to why this has happened, or what I can do to restore pigment (short of shoe polish-LOL)?


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## hartman studio (Feb 14, 2008)

Thought I'd show a picture of Mindy to show what I'm talking about.


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## thor's mom (Jan 20, 2009)

My hubby noticed the same thing with Thor a few weeks ago.


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## ivyagogo (Sep 11, 2007)

Happens to Gryff too. It's called Winter Nose. It will come back when they get more sun when the weather turns nice.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

I have no idea about the original question but must comment on that irresistable face! So sweet!


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## hartman studio (Feb 14, 2008)

Oh, a winter nose-that would explain it. It has been much colder and cloudier in North Carolina this winter than usual. Hopefully Spring will arrive soon- I say this with another 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground which fell last night!!!

Thanks, Sylvia-Mindy is a sweetheart!


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Winter nose, how interesting? I am finding more and more good things about the Sun and Vitamin D, I’m building a port folio for my case to move to the beach.

Now to get some brown on Smarty and Galen's noses. (LOL)


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## thor's mom (Jan 20, 2009)

hi Smarty, I recently moved from Alaska and am now living in georgia...what part of GA are you in? I am in Perry, which is near Robins AFB. Do you know of any good breeders that are within a few hours and are reasonably priced? My family fears we are suffering from MHS even though we only have one, we are really wanting a second sometime in the next couple of months.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Winter Nose is fairly common with cream dogs. 

Twinkle has a different kind of winter nose. In winter here when the grass is sparse and dirt showing here and there, she rubs the pigment off a spot on the tip of her nose by skimming the ground with it snooping around so much. You can see it in her 13 year old picture at the bottom of her page. After a spell of bad weather for a few days, when they mostly stay in the house, the black comes right back.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Winter nose (some people also call it snow nose) is most likely the cause. 

I don't know if there is any science behind it, but I've also heard some swear that different food/water bowls harboring bacteria can do it too, so that may be a reason to use stainless steel bowls.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Lulu gets it too, even here in sunny California!


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

thor's mom said:


> hi Smarty, I recently moved from Alaska and am now living in georgia...what part of GA are you in? I am in Perry, which is near Robins AFB. Do you know of any good breeders that are within a few hours and are reasonably priced? My family fears we are suffering from MHS even though we only have one, we are really wanting a second sometime in the next couple of months.


I sent you a PM. We all get MHS....


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Lily got winter nose 2 years ago, and it never went away. She has a dual color nose!! Kinda cute I think!


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## Lilly'sMom (Jan 28, 2010)

Hannah, my non-havanese gets it too. I've never noticed if/when it changes. I'll have to pay more attention to it.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

For the first two years, I thought Kodi had winter nose. Every winter it would turn brown and then go back to black...except one summer it just stayed brown, and the rims around his eyes also turned brown. After checking into his background a little further, his sire is a chocolate and so are a few of his grandparents going back a ways. So, I guess he has that chocolate in him, too.


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Cali has a brown nose all the time!

Don't know why, because I don't see any other evidence of Chocolate in her.

It doesn't matter to us, as we just love the little gal!


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Nan, what color are Cali's lips? Are they black or brown?


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Kimberly,
I just checked her lips and they look like a very dark brown.
Do you think maybe she has some chocolate in her background?


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Cali *is* a chocolate if she has brown lips, brown nose and brown around her eyes. That is all "chocolate" means in this breed. 

"Chocolate" is simply the word that describes brown pigment instead of black.


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

That's really strange, because the breeder never mentioned that she was a Chocolate, or that she had chocolate in her background. I'm going to look carefully around her eyes to see if I see brown.

I did realize the definition of choc. that you gave, but all this time I thought she just had a Dudley (?) nose. I think that is what I read in a Hav book.

Joke's on me, because I like chocolate Havs LOL.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

LOL!


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Hmmm - I now begin to wonder if Lily is a "chocolate"???/ 3/4 of her nose is brown and now has been for years, she has big brown eyes and the outer rim of her eye is brown. Hmmmm


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

Fascinating! I will have to check Biscuit for winter nose.


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