Black coats can definitely take on a red hue from the sun. (We refer to it as a sunburn here) Especially tough if you are showing a black dog, have to keep him in a covered run. or in the house. I think red coats intensify in the summer, also. I do know that the tan in our red bitches gets lighter as the coat dies and gets ready to blow. Then usually the new coat grows in a richer tan or red. That was true of our Reno daughter, Peddacres Ramblin Rose ROM and our Gage daughter Fiesta ROM. And it seems to still be true in our Fire X Bailey daughters today. Carol In a message dated 10/6/2008 9:44:37 P.M. Central Daylight Time, Stormy435@xxxxxxx writes: On an ALMOST completely different subject, I was looking up something else and found a statement that the California (or maybe all southern?) states can pale a dark pigmented tan to very light. I thought that was interesting. I know that out here in the desert, the black on my darker dogs can get a red tinge (NOT food, the ones that stay out of the sun, in the house or shed, don't get it). And Yo, who loves to be out most of the time, can get his top coat around his ruff, lighter and even crinkly. I use sunscreen on his coat and that helps. Has anybody else had problems with sun and coats? Stormy *~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^* http://www.FairhopeGSD.com Dogs love is different. It requires no return. ************** New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out! (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000001) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================ **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out! (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000001) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================