# Why some have long hair..others short hair?



## Ares2010 (Mar 14, 2010)

My GSD has short hair and was wondering why others have long hair. What is the difference in the breed? Is it bc he is only 1.5 years old?


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## dazedtrucker (May 2, 2011)

Long coats are because of a recessive gene. A litter can have a variety of coat lengths, it's genetic.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh was one of 3 long coated pups in a litter of 6- just happens if there's the gene


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## Ares2010 (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks. It seems like I have been seeing more with long coats. I don't mind it being short especially because of the shedding he is doing...just wondering.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Its easy to understand how traits are passed on. All creatures are comprised of DNA. We get our DNA from our parents. The long coat gene is a recessive gene in a short coated dog. In a long coated dog, it is a dominant gene. Look up punnet square. A punnet square is used to predict the genotype and phenotype of offspring of two parents. For example: My bitches first litter produced 8 pups. 4 pups sable, 4 pups black. 4 pups long coat, 4 pups short coat. My bitch is black short coat. The sire is sable short coat. Both dogs carry a recessive gene for the long coat, so there was a 25% chance of long coat puppies in the litter. The black gene is also recessive, also a 25% chance of black puppies. If you dont know what genes they carry you can guess by the outcome of the puppies. This current litter of hers only produced 4 puppies, so not sure if just the small number of puppies would indicate dominant/recessive genes. She had no long coat, and no black. I know the male has a recessive black gene, his sire is black, but may not carry the long coat gene, since no long coated puppies. The gene is there, just depends on how the chromosomes pair up.


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## mthurston0001 (Jul 12, 2009)

I'm pretty sure the difference is longcoats do not have the dense undercoat.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

mthurston0001 said:


> I'm pretty sure the difference is longcoats do not have the dense undercoat.


Nope - there is actually a long stock coat that does have an undercoat, and a true longcoat that does not.


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## GSD_Xander (Nov 27, 2010)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Nope - there is actually a long stock coat that does have an undercoat, and a true longcoat that does not.


Is there any way to tell when they're puppies - visually?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Are you talking about the difference between a coatie and a stock coat? An experienced person such as a breeder who often has coaties pop up in his/her litters can tell fairly reliably from as young as 4 or 5 weeks old. But sometimes it's a wait and see game until they're a little older. Longer hair in and around the ears is a good indication, and some breeders can tell by the texture of the coat, it will feel softer than that of the littermates.

As far as telling the difference between a true longcoat and one with an undercoat, I have no idea, but I'd guess it would be more difficult. Puppies don't start to develop their adult coats until 4 or 5 months old.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

As Debbie said, coatie vs regular stock coat can usually be determined pretty young. Definitely by the time pups would be going to new homes.

As far as long stock coat vs true long coat (without an undercoat) I'm not sure how one would tell until the pup was much older and the undercoat was coming in (or wasn't). But 999 times out of 1000, probably more, it would be safe to assume the pup is a long stock coat. True long coats without undercoats are very, very rare. The vast majority of dogs termed "long coats" are actually long stock coats with an undercoat.


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## GSD_Xander (Nov 27, 2010)

Sorry - I did mean determining if one would have an undercoat or not.

That's true - you're both right - they don't get that adult coat/undercoat until they're much older. 

I have a longhair whippet and from birth it was very obvious she wasn't a short/standard coat but whippets also don't have undercoats - it's amazing how little she sheds. Compared to captain hairy out there LOL


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## troy_mia (May 26, 2011)

Can DNA test be used to confirm if a puppy is a long coat or a short coat?


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## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Chris Wild said:


> As Debbie said, coatie vs regular stock coat can usually be determined pretty young. Definitely by the time pups would be going to new homes.
> 
> As far as long stock coat vs true long coat (without an undercoat) I'm not sure how one would tell until the pup was much older and the undercoat was coming in (or wasn't). But 999 times out of 1000, probably more, it would be safe to assume the pup is a long stock coat. True long coats without undercoats are very, very rare. The vast majority of dogs termed "long coats" are actually long stock coats with an undercoat.


That's reassuring to know. I had somebody at the pet store yesterday ask me about that when I was telling her about Viking. She asked if it meant he would not have an undercoat. I didn't think it meant that at the time, but it's good to be reassured of that. It would really suck for him if he didn't have an undercoat.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

ladyfreckles said:


> That's reassuring to know. I had somebody at the pet store yesterday ask me about that when I was telling her about Viking. She asked if it meant he would not have an undercoat. I didn't think it meant that at the time, but it's good to be reassured of that. It would really suck for him if he didn't have an undercoat.


A true long coat is pretty rare - has virtually no undercoat and the hair can part down the middle of the back. Our old Blue was a long stock coat - he had a very thick undercoat, and didn't shed that much. Not anything like the 2 stock coats I have now LOL....
__________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge :angel:


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

Scarlett is a stock long coat, and has that dense undercoat. She sheds unbeliveably!! Is that because she is a female, or is she just a shedder? We brush and brush and brush but she sheds constantly. She blows that undercoat a few times a year too.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

troy_mia said:


> Can DNA test be used to confirm if a puppy is a long coat or a short coat?


Hopefully Chris, or someone with more knowledge of genetics will weigh in here, but I wouldn't think so. In order for some pups in a litter to have a longer coat, both parents have to have the recessive gene, even though they both had standard coats. So I would *think* that they would test positive for the LC because they carry it. There are going to be a lot of dogs out that carry the gene that are not actually longcoats themselves, and if bred to another dog that does NOT have the gene, will not produce any litters with coaties in it.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

GSD_Xander said:


> I have a longhair whippet and from birth it was very obvious she wasn't a short/standard coat but whippets also don't have undercoats - it's amazing how little she sheds.


I didn't know Whippets came in a longhaired variety! Must look like a little Saluki or a little Borzoi. Do you have photos? I'd love to see.


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