# A little confused on coat development



## NancyJ

At almost 7 months Beau still has a LOT of puppy coat.

He has adult coat along his back the sides of the chest, his neck, has feathering on his tail and thighs but still has a lot of puppy fuzz on his back legs and loin.

Is that typical or is he just slow getting coat?


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## MaggieRoseLee

Pictures!!!


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## Whiteshepherds

Is he a long stock? Annie is and it took her almost a year to start getting a full adult coat. The first winter (she was a year old) she didn't have much undercoat, I started to think she might not get any. (she has it now) 
I can honestly say she went through some pretty strange looking stages while her coat was coming in. Part long coat, part short...pretty weird. Always wondered if all long stocks are like this.


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## Rua

I'm so glad you posted this. My girl is getting a new coat in as well, but I'm a bit unsure as to what is normal and what's not. She suddenly got all these grey looking hairs (Is this the undercoat?) sprouting up all along her black puppy coated back. But she still has tons of puppy fuzz on her sides. 

At what rate does a GSDs adult coat come in? 

I'll be curious to see what the more experienced have to say on the matter.


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## NancyJ

He is a big boy (I think ) who has grown quickly the past month.
Ok the camera on my phone is only good for still shots so (blush) I know my dog is not the only dog who does this. No toilet tank chemicals at my house......


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## NancyJ

Oh, he is a patterned sable so it is more a question of texture than color. He is not blowing that fuzz which looks uneven on the back - it is not combing out. 

The disturbed hair on the back too. ????. Never seem him licking or scratching there. It is not wet. and the underlying skin is not irritated. Normally I would think flea allergies but Cyra is flea allergic and if there is a flea in my house. POOOF. she gets scabby back there and is miserable.


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## BlackthornGSD

He's a puppy and this has been an odd winter so my dogs are all blowing coat in weird ways--and weird times. 

I don't really expect to know what color my sable dog is until he's over a year--all depending on the time of year--because it will change seasonally. 

Gotta love those sables.

What color is Oda now, eh? I thought she was finally going to grow her adult coat and first she shed her undercoat like a yak, then she started shedding out her guardhairs, and now she's wandering around in the softest fluffy undercoat and still shedding guardhairs.... I'm sure she'll be in heat any day now--maybe then I'll finally figure out what color sable she is!


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## NancyJ

LOL well I guess we will just have to wait. Never thought about the weird winter doing stuff. My adults have normal coats (Neutering did a number on 8.5 year old Grim but it came back better than it was)--hers looks as wonky as Beau's


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## Rerun

Yeah it's normal. Just saw some 7 mo old czech pups yesterday and one has mostly adult coat in, the other still about half puppy and half adult coat.


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## FG167

Kastle is a long stock coat. He shed his puppy coat pretty fast but it's really slow leaving his head area (his floofs are slowly thinning out). He was a REALLY poofy puppy so it's easy to see how his hair changed I think. I think Beau is ok at that age, especially with the crazy weather...

Puppy coat at 4 months:

Here you can tell he is starting to get his adult coat in (one month later, at 5 months), you can *see* the texture changes:

The change started like this:

This is what he looks like now, at 8 months:


Eden, my Corgi is blowing coat like a fiend. She's got mangy tufts sticking out all over her body and I pluck her every day  LOL The weather is doing a number on her. No one else is blowing right now though.

I love the toilet shot hahahaha

Also, I see lots of dogs with cowlicks on the backend, by the base of the tail. I think it's cute.


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## kitmcd

What is long stock coat? Mine is 6 months and has no undercoat at all. Her "adult" coat has been in since about 5 months.


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## JakodaCD OA

I was just posting in another thread, I got the grooming tools out yesterday and Masi and the two aussies are just blowing coat like crazy..Masi, even at 3, still get's a nice black line along her back and then "poof" the rest just follows She is constantly changing color tho tends to remain very dark overall..


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## Kaz

Feed some omega 3 and 6 supplements and you will stop worrying about coats.

I am disturbed by people who let their dogs drink from the toilet. Is it just me?

Or is it a common thing ONLY in the US? I had a friend in Orange county who wouldn't even put out water for her cats, since they drank from the toilet.


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## katdog5911

what does blowing coat mean?


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## onyx'girl

blowing coat is when the dog sheds out the winter or summer coat. It is much more noticeable than just a regular shedding. 
Use an undercoat rake to get out the puppy wool. Sometimes it doesn't just loosen on its own, depending on when the pup was born/coat change.
I don't let my dogs drink from toilets either...but it is because I don't want my floors messed up with sloppy GSD drinking. That is contained to my bird room!


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## NancyJ

Kaz said:


> Feed some omega 3 and 6 supplements and you will stop worrying about coats.
> 
> I am disturbed by people who let their dogs drink from the toilet. Is it just me?
> 
> Or is it a common thing ONLY in the US? I had a friend in Orange county who wouldn't even put out water for her cats, since they drank from the toilet.


I give Grizzly salmon oil. What guard coat is in is quite glossy. He does not have all the guard hairs yet - that was the question. Oh for those asking he just has a normal double coat. Not long, not too short.

I do put out water but they like the toilet. For an animal who would just as soon eat deer poop I am not going to worry. Now drinking out of streams and ponds I discourage (giardia) and carry water with me.

Actually if you keep your toilet clean (which I do) studies have shown most toilets are cleaner than your average kitchen counter.


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## KZoppa

Shasta is almost 2 and she still kinda looks like she has some puppy coat, mostly on her hips and she's got the twisty funky fur on her rear end above her tail.


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## ladyfreckles

How can you tell when the undercoat comes in?


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## onyx'girl

There is always undercoat(unless the dog is a true long coat, not a stock long coat) It just gets thicker certain times of the year, some dogs don't grow a thick undercoat due to climate. Pups wooly coat is the undercoat, they get the guard hair at about 4 months/the adult coat coming in. But that puppycoat sheds out when new undercoat comes in(That, IMO depends on climate/time of year the pup was born/adult coat change)


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## NancyJ

This fluff on his rear legs is pretty tight - not shedding so I guess it is thick puppy coat. We sure have NOT had anything resembling a winter here. UNGH. maybe 2 hard freezes? Maybe 10 days with frost on the windshield, if that.


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