Grooming through "Cyote" phase.

[ClantyreSheltie]

My dogs sleep in the house. No way to get around that. I live in the city with neighbors and a fence I don't totally trust. My dogs don't stay out unsupervised. Even if I put them in the unheated basement at night, which I don't think I could do anyway, it doesn't drop below 60 degrees.

What I have noticed this year, since this is the first coat-blow on the raw food is that as good as I had hair, I have lost it. Even the mature intact male dog who doesn't generally blow a lot of hair has blown it. The girls all look sad, but they came in season a few months ago, so that doesn't help. I expect this is a swing in the hair curve, and that it will come back quickly.

 

[Chris]

Actually, no, the bushy, very-profuse coat that you see in neutered dogs (and especially in spayed bitches) is not what we want for the show-ring. After neutering, you do see more coat (often more than the poor dog ever had in his life!), but it's lost the correct harsh texture and fitted outline. There truly is a huge difference between altered/unaltered Sheltie coats.

Well, I sure learned something today!! Who'd a thunk??

 

[BarbV]

Well, I'm not sure about all this....

Indy and Bacca are both the same age. Both neuteured the same time....around 11.5 months.

Indy's coat is still almost puppy. Huge thick undercoat and short guard hairs....which means he looks like a porker because everything sticks out sideways.

Bacca's coat is longer and silkier with very little undercoat. With so little undercoat, his coat seems to lie very flat

Neither one has grown into the full Sheltie mane.

But my forever pup, Timber, who I think was neuteured around 7 months, had a gorgeous coat at two years.

I think its more about genetics, personally.

As for dealing with the gangly teenage phase. Grin and bear it. They are going to look goofy no matter what you do!

p.s. First pic, is my forever pup in his glory at, I think 2.5 years.

Second pic is my boys looking less glorious. It's not an attractive photo, but it does show the difference between their coats. Fancy Pants, Indy and Lean and sleek, Bacca.

 

[Caro]

Lexi's in a weird hair growth stage now, too (she's 9 months). It seems like her undercoat is growing faster than her topcoat, so she has these "chunks" of undercoat poking through. I call it her "chunky monkey" look. It's especially noticeable on her rear.

Is this pretty typical? It's not the prettiest look since the undercoat is a light cream color, and her topcoat is a beautiful red with black tips.

(Oh, and she has always had that leggy coyote look. I assume one day her fur will cover her looooong legs!)

That's exactly how Deska's coat grew. So he looked like a fuzz ball and there wasnt enough outer coat to hold it down. At about 18mths his outer coat became more noticeable. But even now his outer coat doesnt cover his long legs (esp if I trim the hock hair)