Adult Coat Develop Pattern

[Greenepony]

When we first got Olive she really didn't have much of an undercoat to speak of and in general her coat was very short and thin (she also had a bad flea infestation when the rescue got her a month earlier). A little over a month later it seems like an adult coat is developing- but only around her shoulder line/withers back towards her hip. Especially around her shoulder line is much thicker with a recognizable undercoat (it almost seems like she has a list of red than the flax undercoat elsewhere) and the guard hairs are 1.5-2.5". The rest is still short, soft, and puppy-like, especially her chest. Judging by how the hair from her spaying is growing in, her average rate is about .7"/month.

Is this the normal development of an adult coat in how it's growing in different spots? I full expected it to take months if not years before any sort of adult coat to develop from what the other threads on adult coats said but wasn't sure if it would just come in all over like a horse's winter coat.

Pretty much what her coat is like now (taken a week ago) http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e22/Nueroticponygirl/Dog/P1050996.jpg

 

[BarbV]

This looks a pretty typical dog of this age. At this age, they are like human teenagers, all angles and bones, and waiting for the hair to grow in.

Believe it or not, it might take up to 3+ years until the full adult coat grows in, so don't despair.

And even then, don't try to compare to pictures you see of show dogs. These dogs have been groomed to the nines and puffed up with chalk to make their fur stand out.

But even then, some dogs just will not grow the long flowy coats that you see.

Here's a picture of my Bacca at 4 years and also as a teenager. You can see he has the ruff and long feathers on this front legs, but not the long guard hair on his belly and rump. He is as you see him. He is groomed to be "au naturel"

p.s. the colour markings of your dog are very unusual.....it appears to be almost brindle, which is not a recognized Sheltie colouring. Do you know anything about your pup's heritage?

 

[Greenepony]

We're pretty sure she's a shaded sable- her undercoat is consistently some form of sable. The darker list (wasn't sure lists were even present in dog coloring) did confuse us for a while- there's a thread with other shaded sables with raccoon markings. http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=12085 I was surprised to see so many.

We really know nothing about her history outside of the last 2 months. I'm guessing she's not that well bred since she doesn't fit the breed standard that well (not terrible conformation but not ideal either, shoulder is a little steep, low, non-tipped, and typically non-erect ears, maybe too pranc-y, etc but she's built well enough and athletic enough she shouldn't break down if we do agility when she's more mature).

I thought I wouldn't see any sort of adult coat for a year or two- it's good to know that she's developing normally in gradually developing one. The Sheltie my family had, had a very full coat when we got him at 2.

 

[BarbV]

I looked again....doesn't seem to be brindle at all, but just not alot of white markings which you would normally expect. That's what threw me originally.

The white does tend to get larger as pup gets older, as does overall coat, so given the markings this pup has, you could end up with a totally different looking colour than what you have now.

I will say its very different.

I'm glad that you don't have any unreal expectations as to coat. I've been surprised on the forum many times with photos of pups. Some that I thought would grow out big and didn't (e.g. my own dog) and others that I thought would not grow out at all, but now starting to show big ruffs.

All to say, I think your dog is on par for the age.

 

[Diana]

Buffy's full coat was in by about 1.5 years old, but I think that's unusually early. It started near the shoulders and the top of the back. Her adult coat was more silky vs. puppy fluff. It was also a different color. Darker, in her case. And the browns were brighter and more golden instead of the dull brown of her puppy fluff.

Your dog is so cute!