Hi,

I have a year and a few months old husky. He came home with us as a white and grayish black puppy.

My problem is that he has been turning yellow. Not a yellowish Sable.

My vet said that we should have him groomed (hair cut) I've been reading that it is not a good idea to do so.

We live in a tropical country and it's hot. He sometimes lies down on his pee.. which might be why he's yellowing?

Any help and advice as to what to do to get him back to his white coat. His coat is white on the inside (inner coat), it is the outer where it's yellow.

You really shouldn't let him lay down in urine.

Do you have a picture of him that shows what you're talking about?

Well shoot, my post didn't post.

My question was - is in the sun a lot? It could be sun damange.

Do you bath him after he gets in urine?

Shaving/clipping is not recommended unless he is severely matted and tangled beyond groomin.

We don't "allow" him to play,sit or lie on his urine. I've never seen him do this. It's more of a theory because he's yellowing and does sometimes smell bad.. he isn't always supervised but is within earshot of people.

I don't think it's the sun, he's mostly under a roof unless he is out running/playing.

We use organic shampoos and used to stick to one brand (buddy's if I'm not mitaken). I noticed the yellowing when his shampoo was changed to a "cheaper organic" shampoo when I was away on a business trip. We've since stopped using the shampoo and are back to a "better" brand.

Would a whitening shampoo be harmful to him?

He gets bathed regularly because he enjoys the water as it gets very hot and humid here.

I'm trying to post photos but the site isn't allowing me to.. I will figure it out! Haha

Any chlorine in the water? Or high iron content?

Unless puppy is really dirty or smelly, I would not bathe him so much - the oils in his skin are good for his coat.

I use cornstarch based Johnsons baby powder for odor control

I can't post a photo but was able to change my profile photo to show his yellow areas.

We've tried not bathing him as often but he ends up not finishing his food from the heat. It gets uncomfortable for him when he's not inside the house.

Is allowing him in the water without shampoo a bad thing? Just to keep him cool.

Joey, I'm going to presume that you're in the southern hemisphere since it's getting cooler here and I think even in the worst areas it's less than hot. On that note, I live in the desert where the temp is often around the 40c mark during the summer. Husky's adapt surprisingly well to the hot weather in that their fur acts as insulation both against the cold and the heat. If the pup has plenty of drinking water available to him and some place top get out of the direct sun he should do fine. Huskys are among the cleanest of breeds, their fur seems to be naturally cleaning; my Avalanche can go roll in the mud (when there is mud) and within a couple of hours it's all dropped off.

Now all that said, from what I can see in the picture, it looks like the yellowing (brownish in the picture?) is following his normal color pattern.

joey5622 wrote:

I can't post a photo but was able to change my profile photo to show his yellow areas.

We've tried not bathing him as often but he ends up not finishing his food from the heat. It gets uncomfortable for him when he's not inside the house.

Is allowing him in the water without shampoo a bad thing?  Just to keep him cool.

Absolutely!!! Go get yourself a plastic kiddy pool, fill it up and watch the fun begin Assuming you have a yard...

I'm with Al - though I can't see the pic too clearly, it may be that your pup is a wolf gray which is becoming more prominent as he grows up. This will have buff/beige/reddish coloring along with the black/gray

http://www.huskycolors.com/wolf.html

He has a pool and he goes crazy when it's out. I think I end up more wet than he does haha

How can I tell if the yellowing is a result of his natural color pattern?

And yes, we reside in the philippines, he was born and raised here.

Look at all the pics in the link I posted - also look at other colors and their patterns. If the yellowing is in the pure white/cream areas but either at the transition between black/gray and the white or mixed in with the black/gray, I'm gonna guess its part of his color pattern.

If the yellowing is a result of urine - he'll stink of urine. Chorine or iron in the water - the yellowing would be uniform throughout the coat (and with iron, your laundry would have spotting and your plumbing fixtures would be stained.

Sun damage would be dry, coarse and possibly even brittle and mostly on the top, I would imagine.

Here's a wolf gray pup - notice the yellow/buff color on the hind legs:




And here is a darker wolf gray - again with the buff color fading between the black and the white on the legs:

I don't mean to fixate on this, but how often do you suspect he is laying in his urine? You say he smells like it sometimes; is it a lot? Have you ever observed him doing this? Does he pee, then lay down in it, or does he do it while laying down?

The reason I ask is because sometimes when dogs urinate on themselves while laying down, it's a sign of incontinence. Incontinence is a symptom of several possible issues.

Sorry, I don't mean to be scary. It's just that we have had some others post lately about seemingly innocuous behavioral problems that turned out to be symptomatic of more serious problems.

Thanks for all the information! !! It is greatly appreciated.

I will rule out sun damage as his coat doesn't seem to have any problems.

He doesn't lay down then pee himself. I've never seen him do that.

Personally I don't think he smells like urine. My gf says that he does sometimes.

He's not caged and has his own "house" of sorts. It's open air, roofed and is gated. Its about the size of small bed room. He like staying right beside the gate. He pees close by to the door. I'm assuming that urine gets to him sometimes. Either that or it dries up and he ends up lying down where it was.

Joey, someone else might remind me differently but somewhere at about 5 posts you should be able to post up a picture - the powers that be limit pictures until you've written a few notes just to dissuade spammers. Why don't you see if you can post up a pic now, if you would please.

Huskys are really funny when it comes to water; Misty my first Husky would go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico any time we were close, getting her out of the water was always a task; Sasha, my Sibe.will tolerate getting spritzed with a hose but isn't impressed at all by lakes or streams; Avalanche, my Alaskan Husky, surprised me in that he'll go swimming but if I even reach for a hose, he's gone.  If yours like the kiddy pool (or other bodies of water), by all means, go for it!

I'll chime in, Miya loves to be in water, 120 degrees f or 24 degrees f (sorry don't know how to convert to c). Anyways, let your pup have as much pool time as he wants.

Now to color, hmmm, Youngish puppies may need assistance cleaning themselves and a pee tinge may happen, however, I wouldn't think it would show on his back. with that said, most huskies make dramatic coat changes as the age. Even adult huskies may have subtle color changes, and with different times a year can make a difference too. Since they are good at getting rid of dirt, frequent baths with shampoos are not recommended, it strips their natural oils. A good brushing however, never hurts and will loosen up dead hair, and any dirt that doesn't fall off naturally or when swimming. Miya can at times look yellow, although she is more of a tan/beige/white. It just varies in color across her coat, so you can also see deep brown, black, and silver/gray. The best pic I have to show her yellowish tint is not the brightest in lighting, but you may see what I mean. It shows more on her hind leg down to almost her paw, and pretty much nowhere else. I don't know why it happens, because in other pics and in person she looks more white. I assure you she isn't really dirty nor any pee issues, lol. Having a pic would certainly help us, and your avatar, although small, looks like how my Miya looks at times, on the hind end/leg........in this pic it looks like her whole side is a yellowish color....does his fur resemble this?