At what age will my sheepie's adult coat come in?
Thanks for any information. |
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| Hi and Welcome to the forum!
I think it's around 9 months where Martha will "blow her puppy coat" but I think there's variation in that timetable from as little as 6 months up to a year or so, but I'm sure other will jump in with a more knowledgable post (I've never had a puppy!) I just wanted to jump in and say Hi!  |
| Thanks for the info. By the way, I have a sheltie pic on right now, but I promise to get one of Martha up real soon. |
| Welcome Martha & Mathas Mama.
Around 6 months onwards you will start to see light grey guard hairs coming through. It varies with the breed as some are earlier and some later. Usually the first spots for this change is at the back of the hocks and up the back legs and across the shoulders. When that has all come in usually around the 16 - 18 month mark that is called the Junior Coat, then they start changing again to a slightly darker mature coat, usually finishing around 3-4 years of age. They are a late maturing breed and when these coat changes happen it is the time to be vigourous with the grooming as they matt very easy at this stage.  |
| I know this sounds pretty obvious when I type it, but it'll seem like the coat changes faster if you clip your dog. If you've never cut his hair, a lot of the grey hides underneath and the darker puppy hair stays on top longer. Clyde is 18 months and looks pretty dark but if you lift up the top layer, he's all grey underneath. |
Welcome to the forum! 
Did you name her Martha after Paul McCartney's dog? |
| Ollie is now 9 months and his coat is almost grey grizzle, but when you group the hair together you can still see about 1" of black puppy fur - his is getting much thicker now and the fur on his back end and neck is starting to curl - but I think this all started when he was about 6 months old. |
| AS for the texture of the hair, it depends on the dog. My parent's sheepie was the silkiest puppy and she still pretty much has soft, silky hair. But Barney, my sheeper, has pretty coarse hair, but we got him when he was 6 months old and his coat was already grey by that point, so we don't know what his puppy fur was like. I would say in general that the hair texture gets coarser as they get older and that the white fur is smoother than the grey... |
| Martha's Mama,
There are a number of "Grooming Forum" threads that discuss the puppy to adult coat transition including age, extent and "damge control" during the transition period. Some of the most pertinent are: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?p=14701#14701 http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?p=15207#15207 http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?p=17462#17462 Of course feel free to ask more questions if these threads aren't sufficient. Thanks and Cheers Carl |
| First of all, thanks for all the great information and the links!
Willowsprite, yes I did name her after Paul McCartney's dog, for whom he wrote the song "Martha My Dear", as I'm sure you already know. The name suits my sheepie perfectly, so it was a good choice. This is my first sheepie, and I am so excited to have her. She is just a big bundle of love and fun. I do need to stop carrying her around, though! |
Welcome to the forum!  Enjoy carrying little Martha around while you can, cause you will be so surprised at how fast she will grow!! Can't wait to see pictures of the little darling! |
| With my young OES Zeke we started seeing large areas of grey on his
back legs aroung 3-4 months and those areas are almost white now. But the big change started for us around 8-9 months. Those puppy coats are such a gift! The fur will be coarser and not nearly as easy to care for once the new coat begins to come in. Around that time the reality hits of how much time goes into caring for an adult OES coat, but of course you could opt to keep the fur shorter and avoid the matting problems. I know some here have taken out some of the finer undercoat and it does make the job much easier. The difference from puppy coat to adult coat is rather dramatic IMO, and nothing like any other dog I've had. Enjoy the puppy coat! Great time to get you both used to the grooming before the change begins. Shellie |
| WELCOME! Can't wait to see pictures. I am Mom to a new OES pup too! |
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