Black lab question

[Georgia]

I've been trying to figure out how old Frank is. The rescue vet said 18-24 months old, and our vet thought 3-4 years. He is so playful with his toys which makes me think he's younger, but he has some gray hairs on his muzzle which makes me think he's older. His grey hairs are tiny little ones under his nose and on his chin around his mouth. Those of you with black labs, how old were they when they got grey hairs on their muzzle?

[Berna]

I really think it depends on the individual dog, not the coat colour. Some dogs start greying as young as two but some don't until they are 8 or 9. I think the condition of the teeth is a much better indicator of a dog's age than its greying hair.

[Sternenlicht]

We had a lab when I was younger that started having grey hairs when she was a little under a year old.

[MikeLynn]

Really depends. I could probably find some pics of my late girl to give you a better idea, but to sum it up: Lynn didn't have that many grey hairs even when she was 13, except for a little bit of snow on her chin. I've seen black labs who were, probably, a lot younger, and the only black part of their faces were their eyes.

[Labradorks]

Sam is going on five and still plays with toys. My nearly 17 year old boy played with toys until he was about 14, when Sam came along and would steal them. As far as grays, like other say, it depends. Around 5 - 6 is probably about average.

[Snowshoe]

There is a genetic link to the "greying factor" that has little to do with age. Oban has grey around his upper lips that started a few years ago at age 5. Jet got a few grey hairs under her chin about age 10 and by age 14 there were still so few there that a person standing up could not see them.

The greying factor genetic link runs in my human family too. Hey, better than male pattern baldness.

[Woodrow_Woodchuck]

That is a hard call, to age them by grey hair. My first black gal was really grey at 8. Folks thought she was ancient but she still played like a puppy. I don't recall when it started though. Second one started going grey at around 6 or so. It was just that dignified little bit of color on the muzzle. It never spread from then until she was 12.5.

Sunshine, at 3 now, has a few on her muzzle. We call them "highlights" because at 3, she is way to young to go grey. She will also get random, single highlights on her head and all over actually. They are nothing permanent as she sheds them off regularly.

[Georgia]

My Sam is two but he is such a light yellow I would never know if he had a grey hair. I figured those of you with black labs, and chocolate too, would notice the grey hairs much easier. I get so curious sometimes wondering about Frank's life before us...

[POPTOP]

When Bandit joined the family at age 7, he had very few grey hairs on his chin. However, I have seen much, much younger black labs who had more than he did. Think it's like humans, we all grey at different ages. Not know parentage makes it hard to know when they started to grey.

Woodrow Woodchuck, I 100% agree, they are highlights, including what I have and I'm sticking to that, at least until I get to the hairdresser.

[Macy]

Macy got some grays on her muzzle at around two. She's three now. That's the only place she has the grays.