Tervuren gum colour Health

I was just wondering what the normal gum colour of a tervuren is and whether it would also be an indication of tervuren health and how so? I tried reading up on it but cant seem to find anything.

tervuren regards

Dogs in general should have pink gums

However, some dogs have pink gums that have black patches, and some dogs have black gums with pink patches.

I think it is more to do with their skin colour [skin, not coat] than their specific breed.

The time to be concerned is when the gums are very pale, whatever colour they are.

Thanx everyone for the replies. I have established now that his gums are naturally black with pink patches. And that I could still check his capillary refilleven though its dark.

Have a great day!

Just press lightly on his gums - whatever colour they are should fade a bit when pressed but should instantly return to normal.

The only time to worry is if the full colour, whatever it is, does not come back as soon as you release the pressure.

The three Tervs and the Mali here http://www.breedia.com/dogs/belgian-shepherd-dog-tervuren

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are the photo used as a Christmas card a couple of years ago by someone I know.

I have other friends in the US with Tervs - must ask about their gum colours.

Actually all BSD's including tervueren should have black gums. If gums turn pink, there is always a small suspicion of autoimmune disorder. Things like thyroid and vitiligo might cause this. Pigmentation in gums is also mentioned in breed standard. Here is a link to pics where you can see tervueren gum color and cmpare it to Brasilian terrier gum color. http://dujoiedevie.1g.fi/kuvat/Tuula, Johanna ja Nuppu kylässä 20.10.2013/
When dogs get older the color starts to get worse, but for terv lips and gums should never be pink.

Two comments which I have just received from people in the US who own Tervs:

"Cheyenne's upper gums are pink and black, more pink on right side, more black on left. Lower gums are mostly black.

Our first Belgian Sheepdog "Player" had pink upper gums with black patches. He also had a black patch on the underside of his tongue.

Breed descriptions often list things like color as mandatory or preferred. I did a quick check online and didn't find anything really specific, except one reference that said gum and lips preferred color is dark."

and

"It is a preference for BSD show dogs to have darker gums. None of us have found anything or aware of anything linking lighter gums to an autoimmune disease."

I know that statement from US. I don't have any vitiligo-dogs myself, so I could show pics, but believe me, depigmentation of gums in breeds with strong pigment is not ok. When gums and lips start to turn pink, it is not something even vets take lightly in here. Also the attitude that good pigmentation is only for shows - no, same goes all to way to the breed standards. That is all for whole breed, not only for shows.
after collecting data of almost 40 000 BSD worldwide and also collected pics or even taken those myself, I can assure you that there is a very strong linkage especially with thyroid and vitiligo (and also gastritis and allergies) with pink gums.
I edit this: visible ares of gums have to be pigmented. Very often under upper lip gums are more pink.

I am not sure how you can say "I know that statement from US." as both of the comments I quoted were direct copies of personal posts to me from people who own Tervs when I asked owners who have them about the colour of gums in a Terv.

Meaning that I have been talking about the same issue earlier (already years ago)and have those same statements in my own e-mail (latter one almost word to word), and I think it was discussed some years ago also on mailing list. So I know that it is quite common to say that pink gums are not an issue. That's what I meant.