I wouldn't say its albino, because even the off-colored fur has a color, versus albino = lacking any pigment. Definitely something going on with him pigment though.
I've never heard of this before, its interesting! Pocketpit, do you know any more?
You're right about it being a depigmentation issue vs. being albino. I don't know a whole lot more about it other than depigmentation is thought to be caused by autoimmune issues, thyroid problems and possibly other unknown factors. There was that one weird case of T cell lymphoma I read about and some of that dog's pigment came back after beginning chemo treatments.
One of the two Rotts I've seen in person was just 2 weeks ago. A four year old, intact male that was brought to us for DKA treatment. Nice looking dog so he probably had some decent breeding behind him. He'd just begun to depigment so his nose was affected, he had white ear tips and a couple of tiny spots on his head. His foot pads had also been affected and most of them had morphed to pink with black spots.
The other Rott was also a male, but older and severly affected like the dog in the photo in this thread. His owners said the problem had begun in Dec. of the previous year and six months later the dog was covered in white. I can not remember what we were treating him for but it was nothing serious because if I remember correctly he just got outpatient treatment.
Apparently Boxers are another breed that tend to be affected but I've never seen any.