Strange Coat

J

Jasper1

Forums Regular
My sheltie has just made it to the one year mark this week. I'm concerned about his coat because it looks to be coming in about the same everywhere except for a patch on his back right before his tail begins. This hair looks softer (less coarse) than the rest of his hair and also a little lighter in color (hes a tri and this particular hair is black/grey). I know it takes up to 2 years for the coat to "really" come in, but I was wondering if this particular patch issue was normal?

Also are there any tips to trimming the thick clumps of hair that grow on the back of his hind legs? I've found it difficult to make this hair look nice.
 
Yes a picture would make things clearer (you can add a link with a picture saved on another site). Keep in mind colour will kind of even itself out as the coat gets longer.

To trim the back of the back legs (hocks) you need thinning scissors (single or double sided). Brush the fur to one side and, clipping from the front, cut in line with the side of the leg, then brush it to the other side and clip again in line with that side of the leg.
 
Just a thought since there are no pictures, but it sounds like he has no guard hairs there only undercoat? Could he be biting the fur in that area, and chewing off the guard hairs?
 
Okay I made a photobucket account just for this, so I hope this works.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/bradtu1220/photo3_zpsdb8a46d8.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/bradtu1220/photo2_zps56b7cb42.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k218/bradtu1220/photo1_zps10a106e6.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k...10200724417392860_256808373_n_zps54ad7802.jpg
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k...0200724419512913_1952204705_n_zps34599f08.jpg

I threw a couple extra in there showcasing his cuteness. As a proud parent should. In the pictures it may be difficult to really see the patch of lighter/softer hair. He doesn't chew on himself or anything like that, and he's only had little scissor cuts around his neck, feet and hind end area.
 
if you didn't say those pix were all the same dog....
all three pix looking down on the back, all the fur looks brown- just a little darker towards the head and lighter towards the tail- more like a mahogany sable than a tri.
but the other two pix showing the face- those look like a tri with very black fur and tan points...

he's a cutie though:yes:
 
haha yeah it's definitely the same dog. Although the pictures were taken a couple months apart. The ones looking down on him i took today with a camera phone so they aren't the greatest. In real life it looks more grey and has a complete different texture than the surrounding hair
 
Wow. Your dog looks SO much like my Melli in conformation. That is interesting to have a brown patch. Do you know the pedigree? Is there any help by looking at the parents/grandparents for clues on unexpected color?

Is your dog in the sun a lot? I had problems with a black persian "rusting" if he laid in window sills too much. He got a spot in that exact location based on how he laid with the sun only on a small area. I had to nail the blinds to the sills until we were done showing. I don't know, though, if black shelties can "rust" since my girl is, well, an indoors kinda girl.

Beautiful dog. OK, I may be exceptionally prejudiced since my girl looks very much the same.
 
Haha thank you, I let him know that everyone thinks he's cute and now he's strutting around with all sorts of sheltie confidence.

He is an indoor puppy. We go out to play for a couple hours a day and he loves laying and looking out the window, but there is no point in time where just his rump is getting excessive sun that the rest of him isn't. Also, I got him from a very nice breeder in Dallas. I met his mom, dad, and a sibling that came from an earlier litter. It was a while back, and I didn't really look for any similar pattern of hair in them. However, looking back at pictures that we took while we were there it looks like none of them had a patch like this.
 
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