What's typical for Mature Coat turnover?

WrylyBrindle

I know a lot of you have younger dogs, but for those who have- or have had- nihonken or Northern dogs for 3 years or more, how does the shed cycle change as they get older? It's like Sage is losing his entire coat this season- not just the woolies this time.

Summer #1- he was a baby (born in February in Tennessee) and he hadn't had a winter coat yet, not much sheddification. No real woolies yet.

Summer #2- he had had a lite adolescent winter coat, but it wasn't too robust and I only remember him shedding his wool.

Summer #3- a mature winter coat, lots of woolies to brush out.

this is summer #4- Mature winter coat, thicker than I *think* I remember, it's almost August and his woolies are gone, but he's shedding quantities (of colored guard hairs) that I have never seen before. I mean I can see SKIN on his undercarriage now.

Now, it's entirely possible that I don't remember last year accurately, or it depends on the coldness and hotness of each year, and Reilly doesn't shed much so I can't go by her. When their coat is mature, do they blow gobs of guard hairs all at once like this periodically?

He doesn't look mangy or patchy, just really, really - "seasonal" I guess. Like he's gone from an expedition parka to a windbreaker. It's still a thick coat on the shoulders, mane and rump by anyone's judgement, but more like a lab-coat (lab-rador) in a lot of ways. Is it going to come back all new and better than ever in the fall?

To groom him I use a greyhound comb, a rubber curry, an undercoat rake, and occaisionally a metal toothed loop- but I am afraid to use that one too much. It's effective, but I dont want to pull too much off if its not ready to go yet.

tsukitsune

Kitsune turned three this past winter and this summer is the worst coat of any shiba I have ever had to consistently brush and brush and brush.... its never ending! I've only used the furminator twice this season, I mostly use a metal slicker type brush and a rubber brush and hand pick out the tufts. So much of it! Right now he's still got lots around his neck area, but is looking pretty "thinned out" on his legs and lower torso.

Tsuki is two this summer and she has a velvety soft coat but I still get a handful of stray fur whenever I pet her too.

Mylo

Mylo did a weird shed this summer too... I think it's the super odd weather lately though. His coat has no clue what to do. Some days it's super hot, others it's raining and cold. He's finally leveled off his undercoat shedding, but his guard hairs have been going all summer. I made a thread about it called "shedding guard hairs" and the consensus was "if he's not itchy or swollen or balding, it's probably normal". Check out that thread though for a bit more info and see if it parallels what's happening with your boy. (I think they might be connected through ESP by the way)

sunyata

This year has been an odd shedding season, no doubt! Both Bella and Nola have been shedding for MONTHS! (it never ends!) Now that they have pretty much completely blown their undercoat, they are starting to shed their guard hairs. Nola is getting pretty thin in some places, it is kind of funny looking, since normally she is so fluffy. I think it must be this really odd weather that we have been having.

lindsayt

My observation is that on the birth month and then about every 6 months after that you can expect some sort of heavier coat loss, with a total coat blow once a year of top and undercoat in the summer months on the year mark of that cycle. Although some top coat is lost every time, it's just not as profound as the summer loss. It seemed that at age 2 was the most dramatic out of coat experience mine have had so far, but I'm curious to see how they are at ages 3 and 4 and if those will be worse than at age 2 (hard to imagine!)

This is something I have been learning recently thru practice. We can't really control the amount of undercoat our dogs can grow at any given time. We can hope that supplements and good diet with exposure to proper conditions will grow a good one, secondary to good breeding. We can have greater control over top coat however, in so much as the dog will replace what hairs are removed thru brushing or plucking. Avoiding frequent brushing is generally a good idea, but when the coat is damaged, or dropping, removing the top coat that is close to going will help accelerate the process of regrowth by making way for new hairs, and may reduce the length of the out of coat experience.