Doberman Health: Color Dilution Alopecia

In my The Doberman: Color post, I touched on Color Dilution Alopecia briefly. I've actually seen it coming up in Google searches, and thought that I would do a more in-depth (or at least slightly more informational) post.

It is a condition resulting in hair loss and skin irritation that only affects the dilutes of the Doberman breed, so blues (which are a dilute of black) and fawns (which are a dilute of red). I think Nola from Thursday's post is a blue, if that gives you some color perspective (I'm not saying she has CDA, just pointing out her color):

Dogs and their Owners

What's that they say, about dogs and their owners resembling one another?

My single grey hair (discovered last week. Did you know it's rather hard to take a picture of one's own head? I supposed I could've asked somebody, but didn't think of it):

Elka's single white hair (much harder to see, apologies, so I drew an arrow. It's on her flank, not her head):

Now, I'm sure my grey hair is because I'm *sigh* 30. Elka's white hair on her side, I have no idea. I know dogs will frequently grow back white hairs after an injury, but to my knowledge, she hasn't hurt herself in that manner. Or she did on the scale of a single hair follicle and I missed it. Go figure.

(I thought about posting this for Black and White Sunday, but thought that might be a little too tongue in cheek....)

Monday Mischief: The Joys of Dog Ownership

So, I may or may not have a Doberman hair in my toe like a splinter. As you might imagine, it's hard to see based on light, and I might be hallucinating. Not to worry, I'm not going to post a picture of my right big toe for your perusal. Or the sole of my left foot. Yup, two. It's so awesome.

But really, our dogs sometimes put us through a lot.

The Doberman: Feet

Yup, feet.

See, conformation standards cover everything, from the head to the tippy toes.

Dobermans are supposed to have cat feet, according to the AKC standard, meaning "well arched, compact...turning neither in nor out." Why, what did you think it meant?