Comment

Comment by Nicola Porter on June 14, 2011 at 6:13pm

LO will be three in July,  I get almost no undercoat when I brush him and he is actually so slick that the furminator brush doesn't really grab.

Comment by Sarah C. on June 14, 2011 at 5:26pm

I have a difference with my two eldest too. Didi has a very plush coat with lots of dense undercoat. Reagan has very little undercoat, so his feels a little less fluffy. However, Didi's super plush undercoat didn't appear until she was 2 and a half years old.

Not that I think Reagan will change, but just thinking about that reminds me that hair changes as we age. (For instance, I've always had super fine soft hair and now, at 23, I have more and more coarse hairs to snarl in my brush. GRARH!) I wonder how a dog's coat changes as they age. Will didi become less plush? HMM!

Comment by Jane on June 14, 2011 at 3:34pm

Henry sheds some guard hairs when he blows coat, but he loses a ton of undercoat too.

I think what you're describing is called a "working" or "tight" coat.

Comment by Alison Prasavath on June 14, 2011 at 3:28pm

A-men to Rachael's comment! I wish Noodles didn't have an undercoat. The vacuum is currently working over time right now.

Comment by Chris West on June 14, 2011 at 2:51pm

Frosty only has topcoat even though he still sheds like a maniac!  I took him to a local breeder to discuss his attributes and faults when I was first getting to know corgis.  She said he has almost no undercoat at all.

Comment by John Wolff on June 14, 2011 at 1:55pm

The long guard hairs are straight.  The undercoat hairs have the undulating sinusoidal wave curve.

There is speculation that the Fluffy gene is not completely recessive, that fluffy carriers have a plusher coat, so the Fluffy gene has been selected for even though breeders never breed fluffies.  Both of the litters I've visited included about 1/4 fluffies, the expected Mendelian ratio when both parents are heterozygous carriers.  One would expect 1/4 of such litters to be fluffy-clear.  Possibly, dogs that do not carry the fluffy gene have a different coat.

Shedding is episodic and maybe seasonal; when they're blowing their coat, it's remarkable.  Other times, they shed little.

Every corgi I've known has had a slightly different coat texture.

Comment by Melissa and Franklin! on June 14, 2011 at 1:42pm

Franklin is the same way. He hardly has any undercoat and also hardly sheds. I never brush him and when I do hardly anything comes out. I've only plucked one tuft of hair from his hind end once in his life. He is a little over 2 years old, so I'd think by now he'd have his adult coat. I had read once where they were talking about coat faults and they had flufflies and also had a term for dogs that were the opposite of fluffies (i.e. short and no undercoat). I can't remember the term ("smoothies"?) but I'm convinced that's what Frank has because the undercoat is almost non-existent.

Comment by Anna Morelli on June 14, 2011 at 10:22am

Mine did the same.  Since I adopted him in January and he was young, I'm waiting to see what his coat is like next Winter.  Since we live in Colorado, it will be a good test!

Comment by Rachael & Waffle on June 14, 2011 at 9:59am

Undercoat is the short, soft, wavy hairs.  Topcoat is the stiff hairs.  I wish Waffle didn't have any undercoat right now!