A Dudley-nosed, fox red Labrador. Photo by Little Wren Art & Life. I think Dudley noses look fine on fox reds.
Dudley noses are commonly describes as a fault in so many breeds, including Labrador retrievers.
But I’ve often wondered what the origin of this term.
I found it in Rawdon Lee’s A history and description of the modern dogs of Great Britain and Ireland (Nonsporting Division)(1894). In the section on the bulldog, he describes dogs with “Dudley faces” :
A word must be said as to one or two matters relating to the variety which have caused considerable difference of opinion amongst admirers of the bulldog, and first and foremost comes the question of so-called “Dudley faces.” Dogs that have flesh-coloured noses, with which light-coloured eyes and generally yellowish-looking countenances are often associated, are called ” Dudley ” because such animals originally came from that part of the Black Country known as Dudley, which is in Worcestershire. Personally, where a dog is otherwise good, I would not disqualify him for his Dudley markings; but I must confess to being in the minority whilst holding such an opinion (pg. 224).
The town of Dudley in the West Midlands of England was the place where bulldogs with flesh-colored noses were bred.
The term originated in bulldogs from that town, but it later became used in other breeds that occasionally produced a dog with a flesh-colored nose.
The term is almost never used in breeds where the feature is standard.
It is almost always used in breeds where the feature is a fault.
And it is always used as a pejorative.
There may have been some class issues with the designation of Dudley with this unattractive feature in bulldogs.
Dudley is in the Black Country, which is so named because of all the industrialization that went on there. The place was once thought of as soot-covered, and it brings up images of working class Britons– the very type of people that Rawdon Lee and other gentry would have looked down upon.
In Labradors, ‘Dudley’ tends to be equivalent to ‘chocolate point’, ie, b/b e/e coloration. For some stupid reason this is a disqualifying fault in the show ring. Apart from some vulnerability to sun burn (not a big problem in the UK) it’s harmless. Many breeders won’t breed a chocolate carrying yellow to a black carrying both chocolate and yellow . . . or a yellow carrying chocolate . . . because they want to avoid pale noses and light eyes.
http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogNose.html
Most recent updates on study results.
Nose pigmentation is important from my readings as it is important to protect the dog from sunburn and skin cancer. It is considered the more pigmentation the more UV protection. It can be also quite helpful to establish the dogs actual color for example: Black nose on a reeddish dog likely indicates dog is not really red. It might be a yellow or sable
The pink nose generally in hound breeds believed to realte to reduced scent detection cells. Pink areas on nose leather are subject to sunburn. A red dilution would have a pale liver nose. Slate gray noses generally are typical of (dd). A bitterfly nose has some pigmentation, and from puppy to adulthood can fill in with pigmentation.
The term “red” in dogs unfortunately can refer to several genetically quite different coat colors. A “red” golden retriever (BBee) is different from a “red” Doberman Pinscher (bbEE) or a “red” Toller (bbee) and all three are different from a “red” Basenji (which is really a sable, born with sabling). And the “red” in Dobermans is actually the same as the “chocolate” Labrador, save for the tan markings. Even though the “chocolate” Labrador is the same color genetically as the “brown” field spaniel, the Labrador folks really don’t like their dogs to be called “brown”.
No wonder newbies get confused.