Re: [pyrnet] Re: Pigment change

["Barb Bowes" <bamb@monmouth.com>]

All I can tell you Cindy, is what someone else told me. It has
something to do with the petroleum distillates leaching out of
the plastic into the water or food. I don't really know if this
is the reason, but I do know that some dogs (not all) have
problems with this. I do remember being at a Pyrenees function
and having someone there ridicule the fact that this could happen
from plastics. I believe it went something like this, "All of my
dogs (Pyrs) eat out of plastic and there's no problem with their
noses!" This was said in a very derogatory and disdainful tone,
BTW. At which point I replied, "My dog's nose would be jet black
too if I applied black permanent marker to it everytime I took
him out in public!" Needless to say, the other person sort of
faded off into the sunset, as it were. I do not know why this
only happens to some dogs. It may be that they are already
genetically predisposed to pigment loss, ot it may have something
to do with the chemicals and/or minerals contained in the water
or in the food that haelps to break down the plastic. When it
happened to Bo, I just chalked it up to his being all white. But
when I saw it happening to a 3 year old spayed bitch that was
marked, and had some of the best pigment I've seen in many a
year, it made a believer out of me!

Barb Bowes
Bo & Chelsea (Pyrs), Flopsy (Pyr Shep) & Machin (Doxie)
The more people I meet, the more I like my dog!
bamb@monmouth.com