I recently adopted a 4 year old Papillon through a friend who fosters rescue Papillons. Jazzie was rescued from a puppy mill at 6 months old.
She has what the AKC considers fault coloring – she has a brown nose and her lips and eyes are lined in brown instead of black. She is also “liver” colored – white with darker brown and a tan color. She does not have any black on her body at all. See picture below.
I’m not interested in showing her or anything, so I really like her unique features. I was mainly interested in giving her a second chance at life. 🙂
My Question: Why do some Paps (like Jazzie) have a brown nose instead of black? Is it a recessive gene? Is it a result of inbreeding (as far as I know – from her puppy mill “pedigree,” she hasn’t been inbred)? Or is it something like the albino features in humans?
Are there any health problems associated with brown-nosed Papillons?
Here is a picture of my sweet Jazzie.
Thanks! Stephanie
PS: She has all the standard Papillon features (besides the black) – tail, size, temperament, coat, etc.