# My Black Puppy is Turning Gray/Silver



## HannahBearsMom

Where has my black puppy gone? Maccabee's coat is changing from coal black to either silver or gray. No matter what he looks like I will love the little guy. But, I am excited about the change: I love silver/gray Havs.

Pictures attached:
3 Months 
5 Months
7 Months 
10-1/2 Months (today) Very accurate color
10-1/2 Months (today) He looks slightly grayer in the pic than in real life.


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## shimpli

Awesome. He is a cutie. I love to watch those changes...


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## whimsy

What a cute little guy you have!! He will be adorable no matter what color he changes into!


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## The Laughing Magpie

Maccabee could be showing the effects of the Agouti Gene, other breeds can have the agouti gene series for color, but in our Havanese it the way it signels the color change that is very unique and is shared by a very small number of breeds mostly northern. There is a Dr. Schmultz who is studing this gene and you can find some of her papers and abstracts online. She is not studying the Havanese just many features of the signeling protein on the brain in different breeds. I contacted her a few months back about another breed and she confirmed, that for that breed to signel like a Havanese was not possible, it was another geneticist that had told me the same thing (we like to be sure). My male havanese Yogi changed to silver and white, so I think the color is spectacular, of course I could be a bit bias. Yogi has a thick strip of black left in his tail the all remaining black is mixed with a white making it look silver.


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## Tom King

Nike is still silvering more all the time. She's not quite 2. She looked a lot like that at those ages. Her face is mostly silver now. They silver at different rates, but no doubt it comes from Twinkle.


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## HannahBearsMom

Tom King said:


> Nike is still silvering more all the time. She's not quite 2. She looked a lot like that at those ages. Her face is mostly silver now. They silver at different rates, but no doubt it comes from Twinkle.


I'm so happy to hear that, because I love Nike's coloring.


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## narci

Oreo is the same. He is mostly black but if you look at his actual hair, the root is black, the an inche of Grey, then black again.


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## sprorchid

wow he's cute! if you don't want him anymore I'll take him!!!

Keeding. My 1/2 hav, he lost all his black tipping, after he blew his puppy coat. they say he's silver sable.

this is close to his current coloring:



























and his color at one yr:


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## littlebuddy

That's so great! Django was jet black and white, he's now 9 and is a light black, the hair by his bottom is grey ever so slightly, we thought he would be a grey and white hav but he's been black and white from day one.


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## HannahBearsMom

sprorchid said:


> wow he's cute! if you don't want him anymore I'll take him!!!
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> Keeding. My 1/2 hav, he lost all his black tipping, after he blew his puppy coat. they say he's silver sable.
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> this is close to his current coloring:
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> and his color at one yr:


Very cute. The white dog is a beauty!


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## HannahBearsMom

littlebuddy said:


> That's so great! Django was jet black and white, he's now 9 and is a light black, the hair by his bottom is grey ever so slightly, we thought he would be a grey and white hav but he's been black and white from day one.


maccabee is white by his bottom. It looks hilarious, almost like he's got toilet paper stuck there. I'm hoping his "white butt" will blend in a bit more once the rest of his coat lightens.


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## The Laughing Magpie

Here are some pictures of Yogi's progression, these are what I have on my hard drive with out getting out the external. His change in a very short time was dramatic after a year and a half he settled. Agouti signel protein can turn on and off through the life time as it happens in the brain. Havanese also have progressive graying, this will show effects by 4 yrs it works slowly (it does not turn on and off), also the pari gene adds white, and any dog can suddenly gray or loose color with illiness or old age...not all do but it possible. This is just a simple explaination for fun...no one wants to get me talking about genetics (I love genetics), my DH hates it!!! They are also studing the agouti and how it may affect temperment in mice. 

At one point Yogi was almost all white...then he darkened...today his legs, belly, part of his front are white but the rest is a mix. I have never cut him down. Yogi was a rescue and was listed as black poodle mix. He was turned in to the pound for a bad bite (he has a slight wry bite) also was listed as a Havanese but the pound never heard of the breed, they thought Harvety...it is a furniture store change here. After 6 weeks in the pond he went to the local rescue where I got him. I thought he was a Lhasa mix.


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## HannahBearsMom

The Laughing Magpie said:


> Here are some pictures of Yogi's progression, these are what I have on my hard drive with out getting out the external. His change in a very short time was dramatic after a year and a half he settled. Agouti signel protein can turn on and off through the life time as it happens in the brain. Havanese also have progressive graying, this will show effects by 4 yrs it works slowly (it does not turn on and off), also the pari gene adds white, and any dog can suddenly gray or loose color with illiness or old age...not all do but it possible. This is just a simple explaination for fun...no one wants to get me talking about genetics (I love genetics), my DH hates it!!! They are also studing the agouti and how it may affect temperment in mice.
> 
> At one point Yogi was almost all white...then he darkened...today his legs, belly, part of his front are white but the rest is a mix. I have never cut him down. Yogi was a rescue and was listed as black poodle mix. He was turned in to the pound for a bad bite (he has a slight wry bite) also was listed as a Havanese but the pound never heard of the breed, they thought Harvety...it is a furniture store change here. After 6 weeks in the pond he went to the local rescue where I got him. I thought he was a Lhasa mix.


He's beautiful!

Color genetics is very interesting. I thought Maccabee would stay dark, like his grandpa, Charly. Tom thinks Maccabee will continue to silver for a while. I trust his opinion, as he has seen six generations of Twinkle's (Maccabee's grandma) pups and thinks his color change is progressing like others he's seen.


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## Carefulove

Laurie,
It certainly comes from Twinkle. My Toby was rich shinny black until just about 2-3 months ago. He has always had white markings on his chest and paws and a dark silver muzzle. Now, when you part the hair on his sides, you can see about 2 inches of deep silver coming in. He also has a silver spot on his tail, just where it bends up so you see it from above. Is absolutely beautiful since is not light, but a deep/dark silver.


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## HannahBearsMom

Zury,

Where are the pics? Toby isn't as silver as Brio, is he? I love Brio's coloring. He was already very silver (at 5 months?) when I picked up Maccabee in March.

BTW, the timing makes perfect sense. Toby is 2 or 2-1/2 months older than Maccabee and Maccabee's major changes started about a month or two back. His face has been lightening for a while.


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## Carefulove

HannahBearsMom said:


> Zury,
> 
> Where are the pics? Tobyy isn't as silver as Brio, is he? I love Brio's coloring. He was already very silver (at 5 months?) when I picked up Maccabee in March.


I haven't kept up with the pics. No, he is not as silver as his brother (I haven't seen any new pics of Brio, Tom is worse than me I guess when it comes to pictures!). Toby still looks pretty black, you can't tell he is silvering, unless you look at his tail or part the hair on his sides.


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## Tom King

Here's Brio, Toby's Brother, from a couple of weeks ago.


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## HannahBearsMom

Brio is gorgeous! He's changed so much since I saw him last March.


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## TilliesMom

WOW! I can't believe how silvered Brio is!! Gorgeous!!!


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## Tuss

I think the dark silver color is very stunning! Looks like they rolled in charcoal! My girl has stayed very dark black; she has a few light hairs randomly here and there but hasn't silvered at all (yet). I'd love her regardless of what color she becomes!


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## sandypaws

Brio is handsome and has such interesting coloring. His color has changed dramatically from his baby pictures on your website. It looks as though he has some tan mixed in with the silver.


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## Tom King

That must just be the way the picture looks. He doesn't have any tan or brownish anywhere.

edited to add: I looked at the picture, and went to look closely at him, and the part that looks brownish in the picture is actually a really dark silver. It's dark silver on top, and fades lighter as it gets lower on his body, to the white of his feet.


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## The Laughing Magpie

Brio, is a gorgeous example of the agouti signel at its most spectacular. It is very different then progressive silvering/graying. Yogi is about the same color he is not a show dog, but we have never bothered to tell him.


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## misstray

I love the silver. I always think it looks so nice.


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## miller123

Miller was jet black all over until he blew his coat, his tail and butt are all light grey now and his back has a lot of white tickling. His paws turned chocolate brown.


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## Carefulove

Tom, Looking closely at Brio's face, is like looking at Toby's, down to that messy mass of hair on top of the eyes. Toby's Silver (the 2 inches on his sides) are the same deep silver as Brio's darker areas.


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