Are all puppies born with blue eyes? Yes, all puppies are born with blue eyes, but they can be born with pure blue eyes, or bluish eyes that have flecks of grey, green, or brown in them.
A puppy’s eyes are closed at birth and stay closed for the first 8 to 14 days of life. At this stage, they are wholly blue. That is there is no visible difference between the iris and the pupil. When a puppy first opens their eyes the surroundings appear hazy. At about 3 to 4 weeks old their eyes begin to function similarly to an adult dog.
Eye pigmentation is the result of Melanin. The iris which is the colored part of the eye and it’s pimintation is determined by the concentration of Melanin. Melanin also affects skin, coat and nose also. You may have noticed that some dogs have pink noses. Read “Why do dogs have pink noses” to learn more about this.
Coat color and genetics also play a role in determining what the permanent eye color will be for a dog. Liver dogs have amber eyes as the liver dilutes the brown eyes to amber. This can range from light brown to a yellowish or grey tone.
When do puppies eyes change to their permanent color?
A puppies eyes will start to change to their permanent color at around eight to ten weeks old. For some puppies, it may be up to sixteen weeks until the true eye to settles in. If there has been no change of color by this age the dog is likely to have blue eyes their whole lives.
Adult dogs can have blue, green, hazel or brown eyes. The default color for most dogs is brown. Some dogs can also have one eye that is one color, and the other eye a differing color which you may see often with Huskies.
Dogs with brown eyes have a greater concentration of Melanin in their iris compared to dogs with lighter colored eyes. Dogs that don’t produce Melanin are called Albino. They would have light skin, a white coat and their eyes would be pink. This is very rare.
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