The Truth About Dogs With Black Tongues
“He must have some Chow Chow in him.” – If you’re the owner of a dog with a tongue that happens to be be-speckled with black or dark purple spots, I’m betting you wish you had a dollar for every time you’ve heard that phrase. So, is it true? Is every dog with a dark tongue a Chow mix?
Photo by Madjag
Chow Chows aren’t actually the only breed that have a dark purple tongue – the Shar Pei also shares this interesting feature. However many breeds and mixes have been known to exhibit extra pigmentation on the tongue (think of it like a tongue freckle, or a clump of them!) – this does not mean that the dog is not purebred nor does it mean that if the dog is a mix that it must have either Chow Chow or Shar Pei in it’s background.
Photo by cbrown117
Kathy Welsh, Anna Wallace, and Vicki DeGruy of the Chow Chow Welfare Center worked on finding examples of purebreeds that displayed spotted tongues at various dog shows and with the assistance of breed fanciers. Here is the list they compiled:
Airedale
Akita
Australian Cattle Dog
Australian Shepherd
Belgian Sheepdog,
Belgian Tervuren,
Belgian Malinois
Bichon Frise
Bouvier de Flandres
Bull Mastiff
Cairn Terrier
Chinese Shar-Pei
Collie
Cocker Spaniel
Dalmatian
Doberman Pinscher
English Setter
Eurasier
Fila Brasileiro
Flat-coated Retriever
German Shepherd
Golden Retriever
Gordon Setter
Great Pyrenees
Irish Setter
Kai Ken
Keeshond
Kerry Blue Terrier
Korean Jindo
Labrador Retriever
Mastiff
Mountain Cur
Newfoundland
Pomeranian
Pug
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Rottweiler
Shiba Inu
Siberian Husky
Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier
Tibetan Mastiff
Popularity: 3% [?]
September 20th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
wondering what mix my dog; who looks alot like a chow and has a black tongue but only weighs 27lbs.
May 13th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
My dog is a chow/ golden retriever mix, he is 11 mo old and only weighs 35, I think that because chows are smaller dogs is the reason that our dogs are small
February 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Our 6 yr. old black lab mix has a beautiful pink tongue with lots of black spots. We don’t care what he’s mixed with…he’s the best!
August 1st, 2011 at 12:29 am
My 6 month old pure bred Blue Pit has a complete black tongue, not freckled. His mother and father are pure put, father is a blue and mother is a brindle. Father is massive at over 100 lbs and mother is small at only 40′ish lbs. At 6 months old he’s 50′ish lbs and silver in color like his father with brindle legs like his mother. He’s amazing and funny.