Coat Change
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| oh it's coming! I was like you with our first two- thought I'd gotten the best dogs ever, reading all these matting horror stories and having no matts of my own to deal with. Then at about 1 year old, they started matting up like crazy and I was sorry I hadn't heeded people's warnings and started training them to the grooming table sooner. I have a 7 month old now, and I've just begun finding little tangles behind his ears and in this armpits. These are the most common areas, along with around the neck if they wear a collar on a regular basis. Every coat is different, and they all change at different rates. The only thing I can recommend is start getting him used to being brushed NOW, while its not difficult. Even if you just do 15 minutes a day when you are going to bed, or while you are watching tv. It will make a big difference later on! Best of Luck! |
Its coming all right  Yes really make sure that you can brush all parts of his body right now. From head to toe and especially feet, belly, armpits. Best thing is to make it enjoyable for them so they enjoy lying on the floor or table and being groomed all over. I was too relaxed in the beginning so when it really started coming in at about 1 Monty was a wriggly, uncontrollable monster. I was persistent and now he enjoys his 45 minute brushings every 2 or 3 days. That is what you are looking at if you want to keep him in full coat. Because I didn't do it thoroughly at the beginning he does not like his feet being brushed. So if you know your dog has a problem in one area, work on that area now and make it enjoyable, then you should be okay when it gets long and thicker. They sure look great in full coat but it is going to be a lot of work. Carls instructions are really the best for grooming and I find the Madan Pin brushes the best so far, you can do a search on the internet for them, I get mine from http://www.toplinepet.com/: http://www.angelfire.com/trek/lindonloo ... gdemo.html Tanja |
| Thank you so much for all of the input and helpful information!! I really appreciate it!! |
 I want to start by saying, I'm no expert, so if I'm wrong about any of this, please someone correct me. My first sheepie is almost 19 months old. From what my breeder told me, as well as a couple other breeders I've talked to, they go through two coat changes. The first is the change from puppy to junior coat. This should be the one you're going through right now. Usually it starts around 6-8 months. It's where you start to notice grey hair coming in under the black puppy fur. And little mats are starting to pop up as others have said, behind the ears and armpits. The second is the change from junior to adult coat. This one is generally the most difficult. Mats happen fast. This generally happens around 18 months. If your dog has the correct adult coat, more hard than soft, it should be more easily maintained, though still not "easy" and still lots of maintenance if kept in full coat. Every dog is different. Some go through changes early, some later. Your breeder may be able to tell you what to expect, based on your puppies parents, grandparents, etc. Hope this helps! I had to put my 2 cents in, as this is a topic I've been asking a lot about for the last year or so. |
| Thank you for sharing! It's a lot to learn, so advice is so helpful!! |
| Well...you all were exactly right!! At 8 mos it was so easy!! But now we are 9 mos and like you said, it happens fast!! We have tangles and mats under the armpits and under the chin mainly. I notice a lot of hair coming out when I brush. Is this due to the puppy coat coming out? And will the shedding get less with time? If so, how much time? Does this happen all over again at about 18 mos when they lose their junior coat into adult? Thanks again for all the input!!! |
| You might be pulling out undercoat if you are getting excessive hair. People often punt during coat change and have the coat clipped, not shaved down to something shorter. Realize there's no shame in keeping the tummy and pits clipped shorter if it helps with mats......unless you have a show dog, and even then you can get away with a bit. Kdog usually has clipped out behind the ears and some pit issue. But right now she's taking great delight in rolling in the winter dry lawn and coming inside like a hay stack. More than anything, that forces me to bring out the scissors or even clippers and make her less yak-like. |
You are not alone. Our Potter turns 9 months today, and I spent last night taking out the most mats I'd seen on him yet. Best bet is to be vigilant, brush often, and get them used to having those mats removed, either by hand, brush or scissor! We're showing, so I'm trying to preserve as much coat as possible. So far, daily brushings have been a big help, but we'll see how fast this goes down hill!  |
| That's what happened to us too, mats in armpits and behind ears, under chin, back of legs, but not too bad at 9 months. I found the worst time we experienced was at two years when the fur was getting longer because I wasn't keeping ontop of brushing in these areas (I now brush every two or three days). It was absolute hell at two years as the coat was getting longer and was really soft so was matting really easily. I had some frustrating crying sessions, wondering if I could do it, I chopped out so many mats at skin level, fortunately the surrounding longer fur covered the patchy areas. I did get through it and have as yet not shaved him or given him an all over clipping and I now have a good brushing system. Watch what you use to brush. I used my newfy rake which had the curved blades and it really spoiled the top coat, breaking the ends of the top coat - grey fur (not the undercoat) made the fur look awful and also matted more. A Furminator brush also does this. I do find that sometimes when I am brushing using a pin brush or a straight pinned rake the undercoat does come out, but the top coat doesn't. Sometimes I will remove some of the undercoat with the straight pin rake because the top coat starts matting with the undercoat. If you cant't bush out the mats, cut them out and keep ontop of it when the fur starts growing back in. This is what Monty looks like now if you haven't seen our other posts.  |
| Monty is beautiful!! I'm so glad to know we're not the only ones experiencing a changing coat!! Thank you for all of you input...it helps a lot for a first time OES owner. |
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