Pros and Cons silky vs coarse coats.

[Justicemom]

Interesting responses. I think the soft cotton feeling coat is the worse. That is what Pike has and it got so much worse after he was neutered. His coat is also wavy. Ember has that cotton texture too but her fur is harder and straight so it still stands off. Diva's is too soft IMO and is silky not cotton like. It drapes different if there isn't undercoat to hold it out. Pike and Ember will mat. The others do not even if not brushed for a long time.

Being intact really does effect the coat texture too. Intact dogs tend to have harsher coat in general.

 

[Calliesmom]

I have no idea what kind of coats my shelties have- other than brown

Dixie is forever having knots behind her ears- the culprit there is Cran. he always tries to eat her head when they play and wrestle so her ears always get tangled. Dixie goes for Cran's legs so not as big a deal for me grooming-wise.

 

[corbinam]

Definitely an interesting discussion...seems to vary from dog to dog.

Both of mine have semi-harsh coats. I've met a few shelties with really silky coats, but neither of my pups have much undercoat (especially Lexi) so that makes it look a bit different. Still, it's fairly harsh to the touch.

Both of my pups are prone to tangles behind the ears, and under their arms. Dirt and water sheds off easily, which is quite nice.

 

[BarbV]

Tully has a silky coat, Deska has a coarse coat. Tully's coat is sooo much easier to look after. She rarely gets knots behind her ears, her coat always looks good and she has a lovely sheen to the coat in the sunlight. While they both pick up burrs and grass seeds it is much easier to get the burrs out of Tully's coat. Shiny coat is definately a lot less work.

Again, we seem to contradict each other. Indy has the silky coat and its constantly getting matted. Bacca has the coarser coat and I can't remember when I had to cut an ear matt out.

Burr's are easier to get out of Bacca's as well.

Maybe we're not properly identifying what we mean by coarse, shiny, silky, etc. I don't have the energy tonight, but perhaps I'll try to post pictures later.

 

[Caro]

Barb, it might also be the difference in climate. I think in wetter and moister climates suits the coarser coats much better. Being so dry here Deska's coarse coat dries out more often and is more likely to frizz and knot. Tully's coat is perfect for the dry climate as it doesn't dry out as readily and the oilier outer coat means she doesn't pick up so many seeds and burrs. Tully came from a local breeder who I guess breeds for a coat for this environment whereas Deska came from humid Sydney.

 

[Lysette85]

this is sooo interesting!!! Is there a way to tell with puppies how their adult coat is going to be. She has the same markings as her mom so i think she will look like her but i never thouht there was different hair types??

Do you have Luna? My LB's coat doesn't seem to be sheltie fur AT ALL!! I was wondering what "was wrong" with him. Wondering if maybe I didn't get a purebred sheltie because his coat does not have 2 layers for the most part. It's just this long silky silky SILKY fur. If you look at some of his pics you can see how silky it appears (and he is as soft as he looks haha) so I guess this isn't going to change then...I didn't know that shelties had different coat types, either. I thought they all HAD to have coarse coats as the standard to show, as well as work for it being waterproof, and extra warm. Hmmm

 

[Lysette85]

Interesting responses. I think the soft cotton feeling coat is the worse. That is what Pike has and it got so much worse after he was neutered. His coat is also wavy. Ember has that cotton texture too but her fur is harder and straight so it still stands off. Diva's is too soft IMO and is silky not cotton like. It drapes different if there isn't undercoat to hold it out. Pike and Ember will mat. The others do not even if not brushed for a long time.

Being intact really does effect the coat texture too. Intact dogs tend to have harsher coat in general.

I think it's coming close to snippin' time with both Claussen (8.5 months) and LB (6 months). Have you noticed any correlation between coat fullness and development and the age of neutering? wanted to wait until Claussen was 1 year, and LB was 9.5 months to neuter to maximize fullness of the coat and mental maturity...but I don't know the facts about if neutering has any effect on these factors...

 

[anaruadh]

Do you have Luna? My LB's coat doesn't seem to be sheltie fur AT ALL!! I was wondering what "was wrong" with him. Wondering if maybe I didn't get a purebred sheltie because his coat does not have 2 layers for the most part. It's just this long silky silky SILKY fur. If you look at some of his pics you can see how silky it appears (and he is as soft as he looks haha) so I guess this isn't going to change then...I didn't know that shelties had different coat types, either. I thought they all HAD to have coarse coats as the standard to show, as well as work for it being waterproof, and extra warm. Hmmm

her fur so far is thick, with a bit of a wave down her back, and water beads up on it when it rains or what have you. and she dries pretty fast. she also has full white legs and i haven't seen them dirty yet. so she just repels everything. but thats probably a puppy thing rather than a coat thing. her mane is starting to come in but other wise shes just shaggy haha

 

[BarbV]

I tried to find a photo of the boys both wet out of the river.....this was the best I could do. I'm not sure it tells the story

The first picture is both the boys after a swim - about 10 minutes later. You'll see that Indy with his softer overcoat appears to be mostly dry, even though his undercoat his twice the thickness of Bacca's.

Bacca is still showing wet, but he has virtually no undercoat and does not shed.

The second picture shows the wave and curl of a soft-coated Sheltie. This was about a day later after his swim. If I don't brush that out, it will matt. Whereas with Bacca, it just settles down and lays flat.

To me that's the difference between coarse and soft.

 

[mbfrench]

I think it's coming close to snippin' time with both Claussen (8.5 months) and LB (6 months). Have you noticed any correlation between coat fullness and development and the age of neutering? wanted to wait until Claussen was 1 year, and LB was 9.5 months to neuter to maximize fullness of the coat and mental maturity...but I don't know the facts about if neutering has any effect on these factors...

We have noticed a huge differance especially in Trapp's coat since he was neutered. He seemd to blossom with growth. He was at one time,not one for much undercoat,and he looked silky.with no poof really.

Now months later after his neuter,he is a puff of sheltie fur.You can really notice alot of new growth,and he seems coarser.

Jaspers coat still has not alot length in parts,but he has always had a very coarse coat.His belly,feathers & ruff have really grown longer. He has never really had much of an undercoat it seems. I do know he is an ever changing pup for colors though.He has got so much lighter in the last few months.