We're also going to reassure you that, by and large, a parti-colored tongue lolling out of your dog's mouth is perfectly natural. Our tour through the colors of a dog's mouth will focus on: The Chow Chow and Shar Pei conundrum. Dogs with spotted or parti-colored tongues.
Some dog breeds have tongues of a different color, naturally. If your dog isn't a breed that has a naturally differently-colored tongue and their tongue isn't a healthy pink, it could be an indication of cancer, diabetes, or another disease.
Besides the Chow Chow and Chinese Shar-Pei who both have blue/black tongues, dogs from the following breeds can have spotted tongues: Airedale, Akita, Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Shepherd, Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Tervuren, Belgian Malinois, Bichon Frise, Bouvier des Flandres, Bull Mastiff, Cairn Terrier, Collie ...
Over 35 Breeds Are Prone To Spots On Their Tongues
And regardless of breed, some dogs develop extra pigmentation on various parts of the body throughout their life, including the tongue.
The Chow Chow is a dog that is estimated to have originated in China around 2,000 years ago. Their distinctive blue, grayish-blue, navy blue, or black tongue is a characteristic trait that is more commonly found in lizards than dogs.
The Eurasier, a medium-sized dog, originated in Germany as a mix of the Chow Chow, Wolfspitz, and Samoyed breeds. These dogs often have purple, pink, and black spots on their tongues.
The Phu Quoc Ridgeback is even rarer than the Thai Ridgeback, and according to Dog Zone, there are thought to be less than a thousand members of this breed worldwide. Also similar to the Thai Ridgeback, the Phu Quoc Ridgeback is known for its unique ridge of fur and its pigmented tongue.
Spotted or nearly black tongues are not uncommon among purebred dogs, although they aren't required as breed standard unlike the Chow Chow or Shar-Pei. Dogs with dark or black points are more likely to have black spots on their tongues.
Doesn't Have a Pink Tongue
The fluffy, squishy-based Chow Chow originated in China. It's the only dog in the world that doesn't have pink lips and a pink tongue. Instead, it's more of a purple shade.
The normal color of a healthy tongue should be a deep pink. When hot, the tongue will normally be red due to the heat that is being released from the vessels, so the best time to look at your dog's tongue is when he's at rest. The younger the animal, the pinker the color, due to his vitality.
Black spots on a dog's tongue are created by pigmentation and, to some degree, determined by genetics. They're not always present at birth but can develop during the first several months of life. Your young puppy may start out with a completely pink tongue, but spots or color changes may appear as they grow.
When there is not enough oxygen being carried to the body by the red blood cells, the skin and mucous membranes (e.g., the gums) can turn a bluish color. This is known as cyanosis.
Pigmentation in a tongue can make the overall tongue black or blue, or it can create dark pigmented spots on a tongue that is otherwise pink. Black or spotted tongues like this are completely normal – the coloration is just extra pigment. Most dogs that have black, blue, purple, or spotted tongues are born that way.
Melanin gives dogs their fur, skin, and eye color, too. The Chow Chow is not the only breed with dark blue-purple tongues. Another Chinese breed, the Shar-Pei, has this feature, too. In fact, many breeds may show purple spots on a pink tongue, for example, the Golden Retriever.
A dark red, purple, or blue-tinged tongue could be a sign of heatstroke, toxin exposure, heart/lung disease, or electrical shock. A pale pink-to-white tongue could be a sign of severe anemia due to immune mediated disease, or internal bleeding.
Pale pink or white tongues imply something is stopping healthy blood from reaching the dog's mouth. Bright red means too much blood is reaching the tongue, usually when the dog is overheating, possibly from inflammation. A very pale or blue-tinged tongue also means a lack of oxygen, which is also an emergency.
The Chow's blue tongue makes it unique in the dog world, with one exception: the Chinese Shar-Pei. Like the Chow Chow, the Shar-Pei's breed standard requires bluish-black pigmentation in the mouth and tongue, with exceptions made for dilute colors, which may have lavender pigmentation.
All puppies are born with pink tongues, and most dogs have pink tongues throughout their lives. Even Chow and Shar Pei puppies' tongues start out pink, and then turn the dark color associated with the breeds when the puppies are around 8 to 10 weeks old.
A crossbreed dog is one whose parents are of two different breeds, or a mixture of several breeds. Crossbreeds often display a mixture of their parents' traits, so it's important to take this into account when thinking of buying or rehoming a crossbreed.
A black spot on dogs' tongues actually occurs regularly in over thirty different dog breeds. This includes the Labrador, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Cocker Spaniel, Collie, Siberian Husky, Pug, and Airedale.
The Chow Chow's blue-black tongue makes it unique in the dog world, but it actually shares this characteristic with one other dog breed: the Chinese Shar-Pei.
The Black Mouth Cur has a short, dense coat that is typically yellow, fawn or light brown in color, although dark brown, brindle and black individual animals are known. The breed's head is broad and flat, they have drooped ears and a powerful, distinctively melanistic black muzzle.
That's not necessarily true, as black spots on a dog's tongue can occur in any breed. It's more common, however, with about 30 breeds, including Labradors, German shepherds and Dobermans, as well as several hounds.