Spotted Underbelly

by Natosha
(Greenbelt, Maryland)

Why is it the older my JRT gets, the more spots she get on her underbelly?

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Nov 15, 2008
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starstarstarstarstar 		Skin Pigmentation
by: Stefanie

One of the characteristics of terriers is that they have these skin pigmentation. I have a 1 year old JRT and a 6 month old fox terrier mix. They both had faint colored spots on their pink skin when they were puppies and they have grown progressively darker. Now they are pretty much completely black. For example, on Penny (my White/Tan JRT) as she got older all of the spots got darker, she developed some extra spots and some of the spots developed into areas that "sprouted" new tan spots. It was really really interesting to see this happen.

Just like humans, these areas get darker because exposure to the sun increases the melanin production creating "dog freckles."

I hope this helps.

P.S. Penny and Jackson also have black spots in their mouths. These also got darker with age. :)

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