purple splotches on rottie pup's tongue?

[thoradopter]

There is a rottie pup in a rescue group (for small dogs) that I am planning on seeing, this weekend if possible. The shelter director (who has no experience with rotties) told me he looks pure rottweiler but has purple splotches on his tongue. I thought that was a characteristic of chows.

Can anyone familiar with rottweiler breeding tell me if this trait appears in rottie pups at a certain age, or does this suggest that the dog is a rottie/chow mix? If he's a chow mix, I probably would pass on adopting him given what little I know of chow temperment. I have not yet seen the dog but he appears to be 4 to 7 months old by his picture. I would appreciate any replies. Thanks. Linda

[Burnsway]

More likely he has chow if their are spots on his tounge. Although some but very few labs will show up with some coloration on the tounge. But as far as I know Rotts will not unless mixed with one of these 2 dogs. My guess if it has no long hair and anyother chow caracteristics it is probably mixed with a little lab.

[frontierrots]

LOTS of Rottweilers have purple or black spots on their tongues. However if the entire tongue is purple mottled (mre purple than pink) then I would suspect a dash of chow or Shar pei blood in there maybe a few generations back

[Burnsway]

Interesting,

I never seen a Rott with Spots unless it was a mix. When Psyches sibblings were dumped a while back I called a lady that had an ad in the paper that described the time and situation to a tee of the dogs. She said that the vet told her that they were not Rott/mixes's because they had no spots on the tounge and I remember me thinking that sounded absurd because not one Rott in reality or in pictures have I ever seen any colors on the tounge. Now I wish I would have gone and checked those pups out to make sure they were not Psyches sibblings.....

[Kasey]

I own a rottie with a dot on her tongue. First rottie I have ever seen with a spot. But seeing how I bred the mother and know that there is nothing but rottweiler blood in there, it is different.
I also own a chow and his tongue is purple. The rottie just has one black dot on her tongue and so she got the name Dot.:)

[frontierrots]

We used to co-own a male- most definately purebred- with a 1/2 dollar sized black spot in the center of his tongue. We've also owned several unrelated to him with single small spots and one pup we produced had multiple small spots

[Carolina]

For what I have seen and heard at FCM trials (Mexican Canine Federetion) the tongues are preferably without spots, but sometimes some pups will have them, not meaning that they are not pure, but have some faults.

Carolina :D

[thoradopter]

Thank you for your responses so far. We are going to meet 'Stasi" on Monday. Having lost Thor about 6 weeks ago, we want to be 'selective' about another rottie rescue. By selective I mean that he has to be a male (due to our 8-9yo spayed female chocolate lab) and a puppy (clearly < 1yo- we were told Thor was @ 1yo 1 year ago at a shelter but he was probably > 5yo and we cannot go through another heartbreaking loss of an adopted rottie again within a few years).

We have no problems with a rottieX, but preferably a rottie/GSDx like our first rescue Sammy (dead at @ 9yo of aplastic anemia after 8 yrs happy with us). I just can't warm up to chows or a rottie/chow x. There are far too many pure and x rottie dogs out there who need a forever home that I hope forum members can understand a selective rescue. Thanks. Linda

[Burnsway]

Thoradopter

Don't ever feel guilty or wrong when having one preference over another. We want you happy with your new forever adopted pet...:D I mean I love chows, I work well with chows but I would never expect someone to get a chow or chow mix if they were not at ease with it. My 16 yr old chow mix...shes crossbreed between red chow and White Eskimoe. You would not know it with the fact shes 100% black...roflmao. But I know because I was living with the people who owned both mom and dad. So if a Rottie/GSD mix is what you want I'm sure in about 2 seconds you can find just that out there wanting a forever home with you.

Good luck on whatever decision you make and Im so excited that a foster dog is soon going to find a new home....:D

[AngelBunny]

thoradopter:

"I hope forum members can understand a selective rescue."

Oh, yes, we can. No one should *ever* feel they need to settle for a dog--there are far too many dogs needing loving homes for anyone to feel they have to settle for a dog. You adopt the dog that's perfect for you--you want to feel the match was made in heaven.

[rottmommie]

funny, one of the most protective and loyal companions that we ever had was a chow mix.......and the kids could yank on his ears or whatever they wanted to.
He was a bit aloof with us adults though....

[PuppyLove]

Thoradopter,
This is a bit off topic, but I wish you luck with your potential adoptee.

[RottnKid1]

Hi thoradopter,

I just wanted to echo the previous posts. You absolutely should be selective in your adoption. That's how you ensure that you get the dog best suited to you and your family. To do otherwise would or could jeopardize the chances of making the perfect match.:)

The only thing I would caution you against is making judgements about the temperaments of other breeds based on limited knowledge as you stated about Chows in your original post.:) :)

[RottnKid1]

I'm sorry, that last paragraph didn't come out the way I intended. It was supposed to say: The only thing I would caution you against is making judgements about the temperaments of other breeds based on the limited knowledge you stated you had of Chow Chows.

Any kind of prejudice we have of other breeds can and will come back to haunt us.

[thoradopter]

Thank you for your posts and encouragement. RottnKid 1, I in no way meant to disparage Chow Chows although it may have come across that way. Every dog breed has its loyal afficionados and every breed has its own core personality traits. What I should have said is that my husband and my preferences have seemed to settle on rotties and if it's a mix on a rottie/GSD mix. Yes, there are far too many of those available for adoption and yes we will know when we encounter one that we will do everything for during his life with us. I'll update you when we meet Stasi on Monday. Linda