Here’s something I didn’t know about beagles… they change colors. Not like a chameleon, per se, but more like people (or their hair, at least).
Tricolour Beagles are almost always born black and white. The white areas are typically set by eight weeks, but the black areas may fade to brown as the puppy matures. (The brown may take between one and two years to fully develop.) Some Beagles gradually change colour during their lives, and may lose their black markings entirely.
And it’s happening to Oliver. Our black & white (and a little brown) tri-color beagle is slowly browning. You can see the slow progression when you compare his nose & ears in this picture in August versus this shot in December.
It’s sad, because he’s a beautiful dog and… even worse, it means that he won’t be a “puppy” much longer.
Of course, I don’t have a lot of room to talk. At least he’s turning a color, which is more than I can say for my own hair. 🙂
First off, he’s STILL a beautiful dog. Secondly, I think it’s now become obvious to the rest of the world just how very much you love this dog. He IS awesome, after all! 😉
True.
I meant to comment on this a week ago, so forgive my lateness. Daisy was black and brown when she was a baby, and is now firmly salt and pepper. Can’t find a speck of brown on her! I think one of the more bittersweet parts of having Cookie…is that as she’s aged, her fur has gone from jet black to gray to stark white in some spots. I knew black poodles turned more silver as they aged, but it isn’t until I look at pictures of her when she was a puppy…that I realized how much she’s truly aged.
Why do our doggies have to grow up?
Our Snoozer went from Jet Black to a very George Clooney-esque salt & pepper, Stacy, so you’re not alone.
One of life’s great gifts is getting to share our lives with dogs and vice versa.