# "Lemon Coloring"



## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

Ty just turned 5 months old and it appears that his areas of "lemon" are actually getting a bit more noticeable. I am not really sure if this is because his hair has gotten longer or the areas have gotten bigger or they have actually gotten darker. I do not plan to show him, am going neuter him and will adore him no matter what color he is. But I am curious, if he is going to turn white at what age would it be?


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## mee (Jul 17, 2004)

usually the lemon color will disappear, my baby's lemon ear and patch on her back disappeared at around 7 months of age


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

> _Originally posted by MomtwoMaltmuffins_@Aug 7 2005, 08:09 PM
> *over time the lemon/ biege will disappear.
> 
> Casper had the lemon on his ears and a small patch on his back.  The patch on his back the hair was even different, short and curly.  Now the patch looks like it has all disappeared and the hair is normal and his ears are white.  He is now 1.5 years old, I dont remember when exactly it all disappeared
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=88136*


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You would be surprised at some of those dogs in the show ring who had lemon before they were bleached.









I did a fairly close breeding last year -- the girls had the same grandfather on the sire and dam's side. While this was done to help set size, it also brought out the color in them, whereas their parents are white. It took about nine months for them to become completely white--and I didn't bleach them either.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

It never occurred to me that some of the snow withes might be bleached!! I also just recently read that unlike most hair maltese hair will continue to grow from the en(most hair grows from the root) which explains why some of the hair is white on the end and lemon at the root!


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## Furbabymom (Dec 17, 2004)

> _Originally posted by puppymom_@Aug 7 2005, 09:05 PM
> *Ty just turned 5 months old  and it appears that his areas of "lemon" are actually getting a bit more noticeable.  I am not really sure if this is because his hair has gotten longer or the areas have gotten bigger or they have actually gotten darker.  I do not plan to show him, am going neuter him and will adore him no matter what color he is.  But I am curious, if he is going to turn white at what age would it be?
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=88135*


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Sassy's apricot coloring several patches on her back lightened up and the apricot on her ears lightening up but it never went away. Skeeter's beige/tan patch on his back darkened with the hair there getting course and rought. His ears lightned up and are a light buff tan and white while his back darkened.

I know some Maltese with a lot of color as puppies that had white hair growing in as an adult and they are all white. I also know puppies like my Skeeter and Sassy with more color. Many show dogs have color on them or in their recessive genes that come out with close breedings. I have learned some color is not that important as long as our Maltese are healthy and cute in our eyes and lovable. Of course all white is aesthetically pleasing and the standard calls for all white with some lemon on the ears permissible.

Susan & my furkidz in NJ


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## dhodina (Apr 1, 2005)

Alot of the Marcis lines have lemon or apricot coloring as adults. Light coloring isn't considered a fault even if may be considered undesirable.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

Catcher didn't have any lemon at all, whereas Kallie and my first Malt, Rosebud, had a little on their ears as puppies, but it went away as they got older.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

> _Originally posted by puppymom_@Aug 8 2005, 01:01 PM
> *It never occurred to me that some of the snow withes might be bleached!!  I also just recently read that unlike most hair maltese hair will continue to grow from the en(most hair grows from the root) which explains why some of the hair is white on the end and lemon at the root!
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=88301*


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That subject was discussed on here a few months ago. Down in to the thread are some great links from JMM. Basically, hair grows from the root in everyone. The info in the thread mentions that a good way to understand this is that if you dye your hair or your malt's hair, the new color comes in from the root rather than from the ends. Here is the thread.

http://spoiledmaltese.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1486


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## Bijousmom (May 29, 2005)

> _Originally posted by puppymom_@Aug 7 2005, 08:05 PM
> *Ty just turned 5 months old  and it appears that his areas of "lemon" are actually getting a bit more noticeable.  I am not really sure if this is because his hair has gotten longer or the areas have gotten bigger or they have actually gotten darker.  I do not plan to show him, am going neuter him and will adore him no matter what color he is.  But I am curious, if he is going to turn white at what age would it be?
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=88135*


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This is amazing that the same thing is happening with Bijou except that he will be 6 months old on the 15th. Same thing happening with his ears and a spot on his back. I have been wondering about this also. Thank you for writting about this.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

I don't want to ressurect an old subject but I do have two maltese books at home that have rather complicated drawings of maltese hairgrowth showing growth from both the root and the tip. I'll have to check the authors. I have also noticed that on Ty's back where one of his original lemo spots is thir is longer white hair, og course there could siply be white hair that has grown out around it. I'll have to go home and check the authors of the books I have, it may be that they are not reputable sources since my knowledge comes only from reading their books. 

Not that any of it really matters, I was just curious.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

The book: Maltese A Comprehensive Guide To Owning and Caring for Your Dog by Juliette Cunliffe

This book states that "Unlike human hair that grows from the the base, a dog's hair also grow from the end" (pp 75)

I don't know if this is a reputable source or not.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

> _Originally posted by puppymom_@Aug 11 2005, 05:33 PM
> *The book:  Maltese A Comprehensive Guide To Owning and Caring for Your Dog  by Juliette Cunliffe
> 
> This book states that "Unlike human hair that grows from the the base, a dog's hair also grow from the end" (pp 75)
> ...


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That is not true. Hair is dead. It cannot grow from the ends. It has to grow from the follicle.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

That is what I thought, and was supriased to read that.


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but some breeders bleach the pups before they go to their new home. You may see the darker hair after the bleached part grows out. Also, for some of you who have had problems with the tear stain products not working, it might be that this area was also bleached, as things like Eye Envy won't work as well after bleaching.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)

> _Originally posted by puppymom_@Aug 11 2005, 05:33 PM
> *The book:  Maltese A Comprehensive Guide To Owning and Caring for Your Dog  by Juliette Cunliffe
> 
> This book states that "Unlike human hair that grows from the the base, a dog's hair also grow from the end" (pp 75)
> ...


[/QUOTE]
I believe we had a discussion about this some time ago. My opinion is this has to be incorrect because if the end of the hair was "alive" and growing, wouldn't the dog be in pain as it got a haircut? Just a thought.


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## Laceys mom (Nov 12, 2004)

Lacey had the lemon on her ears and a patch on her back. She is now 19 months old and the patch on her back is completely gone and her ears are just a little off white.


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## Vanitysmom (Jun 9, 2005)

The lemoning, in my opinion, is a catch-22. Some believe that you need it for good pigment but it is not desired. Good pigment (the black points) is required in our standard. Personally I would rather have a bit of lemoning on the ears than poor pigment.

If your dog is out in the sun it can actually get darker due to the pigmentation. I have excellent pigment here at my house but I also do have some dogs with color (lemoning) in their coats........not all of them but several do. I had one girl here that during her show career, I could not let her go outside because if I did she would get the lemoning down the part of her back and of course her pigment was gorgeous with or without the added sunshine......she is now 7 years old and has never had winter nose....in fact there are only a couple of my guys whose pigment has faded with age.

So to answer you question.....it may go away as your dog gets older and it may not....some do ...some don't. But it is nothing to really worry about from the picture I see of your dog, which is a real cutie, by the way.


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## chloeandj (Apr 1, 2005)

When my mom got her male Tucker, he had lemon/champagne coloring all over his body, but he had white roots at 13 weeks old. So she didn't worry about it too much when she brought him home. He is now about 9 months old and has been visiting me this week so I was able to really look at him. If I look at him in good lighting I can see his hair is actually striped looking, like it came in dark lemon for a while, grew in very light for a while then came in lemon again. Now it's very light again. I'm thinking it's about time that his hair is changing from his puppy coat to his adult coat and hoping he stays the color he is. Interesting to hear what Vanitysmom said about the pigment, as his pigment is very dark. 
Here's a picture of him snuggled up to Lexi after long day of playing, you can see how dark it was on his ears and how white his roots are now. So there certainly is hope that your pup will lighten.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

What cuties!!!  It will be interesting to see what color Ty winds up. Doesn't relly matter to me, I think his "champagne" ears give him character! We spend alot of time outside in the sun so he may wind up a "suntanned" boy!


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## chloeandj (Apr 1, 2005)

There you go! He's a suntanned stud!


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