Dachshund with vitiligo

My mom got a dog to replace Cindy (it's okay - she's taking much better care of her pets now) and it's a purebred black and tan dachshund. But it has white splotches on its back, so my thought is that it has vitiligo. I seem to recall that it isn't harmful toward dogs, but I want to make sure. So tell me - is vitiligo harmful?

EDIT: Well I seem to have found some more info that's telling me no, it isn't. Anyone care to reinforce this thought? Thanks much.

Are you sure it's not a dapple dachshund?

For those you don't know, vitiligo is a skin disorder that causes discoloration of the skin pigments.

If you even *suspect* the dog may have a skin problem, or fur problem, or any health problem, don't you think it should see a vet?

Vitiligo doesn't cause any harmful physical problems as far as I know. She's going to the vet to get spayed so we'll ask then.

The spots are pure white, so I'm assuming it isn't.

Dapple spots can be white.... if the dog came from a double dapple parent you'll sometimes have more white spots than gray or salt/pepper spots. Could be pie-bald patches too.

She's almost completely black and tan except those spots. -shrugs- Unless I see harmful effects of any sort I don't think there's any cause to worry. Thanks for your help. I'll bring back plenty pics when I go to my mom's house next.

Do the white spots have hair on them?

No, it's not. However, it's also typically very rare in dogs and cats, and is generally diagnosed by doing a skin scraping, and AFTER other skin conditions have been ruled out. Not by looking at the dog, and thinking that's what it MIGHT look like.

If the dog has a patch of discolored skin that does not look right, you should not try to self-diagnosed the dog on the internet with what you think it might be. The dog should be brought to a vet and properly examined so that the dog can get a proper diagnosis.

It isn't discolored skin, it's just white patches of normal hair. I guess I just remembered a picture of a doberman with vitiligo I saw once and that reminded me of it. It isn't that it doesn't look right - as far as we know she's looked that way her whole life. Sorry guys.

Based on your description, I would say she's a minimally marked dapple doxie. Vitiglio is usually accompanied by hair loss.

Huh, I didn't know that. It was just a hunch after all. Thanks guys.

We have a doxie client who comes into work who is red except for a few small white spots.

Now that I have her in person I can see her better. She's black and tan except for a normal-looking white chest spot and patches of mingled white hairs that make her look merle/dapple from afar but up closer are just white spots. I guess we have a unique dog! She's happy and healthy and cries for about 5 minutes every time my mom leaves without her, haha. Very well-behaved, except for peeing on me when I picked her up to go through a neighborhood of big dogs and pooing on the floor once a day.