Coat color question
I know that sheepies are supposed to change from black to gray at starting around 6 months old. I first saw Barney last Feb (he was born in Sept, so that would have made him around 5 months old) and he had already completely changed to gray. He has since become an even lighter gray, but I was just wondering if this is highly unusual in a sheepie or if something is wrong with him because of it, or if maybe they doctored his AKC papers and said he was younger than he really was. He has definitely grown since then... Here are 2 pics...One from the day we got him (last March) and one from a few weeks ago... 
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| I don't think the age at which they begin to change color is set in stone. I have had Izzie since she was 8 weeks old. I don't remember when we first started seeing gray, but it was definitely earlier than 6 months. Much of her still looks quite black, but that is because we haven't cut her hair yet. When I part her hair there is quite alot of gray.
It looks like Barney was cut down when you first got him...so all his black ends were gone. It is alot like highlights growing out I guess. Barney looks very regal in that second picture. His pose is great!! 
Amanda |
| There all different in when they change. How old is Barney now? If you saw him at 5 months was he clipped off? That might explain the light grey as all the guard hairs are gone and only the light undercoat is showing or he was just an early bloomer. His coat colour now is lovely, I don't think there is anything wrong with the colour. If he is under 3 he might start to change again with maturity to a darker grey. My Kelsey is nearly 11 and she has a light grey coat, brie is just about finished changing to a mature coat she is 3 and is going to be darker then Kels. There all different. When brie went from puppy to junior coat she looked nearly white in the grey area. |
| Barney is 16 months old now. I hadn't actually even thought about him being clipped when I saw him--he was somewhat hairy, and definitely not shaved, so I was just assuming that was how much hair he would naturally have had at age 5 months (without haircut or anything). I guess I don't really think anything is wrong with him, coat-wise, but looking at all the other people's puppies at their various ages made me wonder if Barney was odd (we know he's odd, but in a good way!).
Here is another shot of him soon after we got him, just to show a different angle on the hair...  |
| For 5 months he was definately clipped off. Sometimes people do it to get rid of the puppy coat and let the junior coat come through quicker.
I think Barneys coat colour is lovely, I love the lighter grey very much and it is a prized colour here as far as comformation goes.  |
He has grown beautifully 
To me he looks older than 5 months in the first pic, but I've never had a male OES so I have no experience there. Clipped, the color may well have been grey underneath, Dancer's was at 7 months. Sky however at 18 months still has some puppy coat. |
| What did he weigh at 5 month, tTephanie? Do you remember? You might be able to use that as a guide too. Since he and Clyde are only a few days apart we can compare records! |
| Barneys coat will go through several changes. Some change very early to gray,(3 months) others have lots of black/gray until they are 15 months etc. There is no right or wrong unless it stays black or brown forever.
A dog who has steel gray when mature, clipped down my have a light gray color. Look at the coat you can see the bands of colors from the shaft to the ends. Look at your dogs coat at about 3 to 4 years. Its all in the gene makeup, each line is different. Barbara |
Quote: He has grown beautifully To me he looks older than 5 months in the first pic, but I've never had a male OES so I have no experience there. Thanks, Stacey! It is so funny looking back at pictures of when we first got him. He was so awkward looking! I don't think he was mistreated at his old home, but I think he was less than cared for. I know, to me he looks older than 5 months, too, but we have his papers and they said he was born on Sept 5, 2004... Quote: What did he weigh at 5 month, tTephanie? Do you remember? You might be able to use that as a guide too. Since he and Clyde are only a few days apart we can compare records!
I was just trying to think about that. I am pretty sure he weighed 50 something pounds. I remember that for the plane ride out the combined weight of the dog and the crate had to be 70 pounds or less and he just made it, so does a 20 pound crate and a 50 pound dog sound reasonable? I know I have the records somewhere. It just amazes me that he has gained over 30 pounds in the last 9 months! I know he weighed 63 pounds when we had him neutered at 7 months... |
| That sounds almost exactly on par with Clyde so he could very well be the right age. I know Clyde was 60 pounds at 6 months because we commented that he grew ten pounds a month then he started to taper off after that. So, 50 pounds at 5 months seems just about right. It seems like Barney and Clyde are almost exactly the same size as each other all the way to now! He is still growing though and is visibly taller from about a month ago, which sounds crazy but true! |
| It's nice to have a dog that is pretty much exactly Barney's age (and has SO many similar traits--and problems!) so that I can somewhat compare the two. I think Barney might still be growing, but definitely not a ton...I want to see more Clyde pics! |
Lol. I have so many. I never post all of them otherwise the forum would be overloaded with Clyde. I like to leave everyone wanting more!  I should do some multiangle shots though.
It's funny, I bought all these multiple picture frames and filled them all up with pictures of the dogs-- probably about 60 pictures worth. James looked at me working on them and said, "Uh, do you think sometime, we might make it into some of the pictures?" |
| I really love the color of Barney's coat, I hope Max will lighten up that much!! I'll probably have Max shaved again this Spring or early summer, so I'll probably notice a big difference since he is very grey underneath the black.
Sharon |
| Tuc will be a year old tomorrow, and he's been grey since very young and still seems to be getting even lighter |
| where the heck have you been carla? |
| Carla, welcome back! |
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