# Blowing coat As I said Niko is blowing her coat like no time before which has been great we are dissapointed with her miserable shiba tail!  It is so thin and itty bitty!  Its so sad and pitiful! ## Thread In General · started by MommyofNiko · 14 replies - **Category:** [General](https://nihonken.org/community/c/general) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## MommyofNiko · 2008-04-19T13:15:49.000Z As I said Niko is blowing her coat like no time before which has been great we are dissapointed with her miserable shiba tail!  It is so thin and itty bitty!  Its so sad and pitiful! ## scarlet · 2008-04-19T13:55:11.000Z I keep wondering when Jake is gonna blow his.  Sure, we've had some shedding, but not in the clumps I have seen from other Shibas.  Niko will get her tail back, but in the meantime I'm sure she's enjoying some fresh air ## kojichan · 2008-08-06T23:45:18.000Z My now 6-month old Shiba has been shedding his undercoat (with a lot of help from daily furminator brushings) quite a bit over the last week or so. He seems to have almost no undercoat left. Is it normal for Shiba's who live in the northern latitudes (I live in NY) to start making way for their winter coat this early? I figured this wouldn't happen for at least a few more weeks. It is August afterall, and still very warm out. What environmental cues set it off if not the temperature? Shorter days -- e.g. less daylight hours? ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-08-06T23:51:02.000Z Robert, you are likely OVER brushing your pup. He really should only be brushed weekly as he does need his undercoat to some extent. He is also likely losing the last of his puppy coat to make way for his big boy coat. There is no set schedule with coat blowing. Their bodies make the rules, shiba through and through. ## kojichan · 2008-08-07T00:26:30.000Z Thanks Jessica. When I first used the furminator on him, not much came out, and I didn't really expect anything to. Just did it mainly to be sure he got used to it, but not every day. But one day about a week ago, a lot came out when I brushed him. So I just kept it up each day. Maybe it is just the puppy coat going, but I'll take your advice and lay off for a while. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-08-07T11:08:44.000Z I'd get a Zoom Groom to use in between furminator sessions, as the furminator should only be used once or twice a week at the most. The zoom groom is very soft and gentle (it's rubber), a lot of dogs really enjoy being brushed with it. Even during peak blowing, I don't brush Nemo more than 3 times a week, and when he isn't blowing, maybe once a month. ## kojichan · 2008-08-16T14:17:40.000Z Well, it seems Koji is just going through some seasonal or growth-related shedding. Even since I stopped brushing him over a week ago, hair just continued to come out. The old shiba shake has recently been sending hair flying through the air. So I gave him a short brushing this morning to get rid of what was obviously already shed. So at 6+ months, would this mean he's losing his puppy undercoat? I have no idea when that happens or if there really is such a thing. Other than a brief mention of that in one thread on this forum, I have not been able to find any information, anywhere, about blowing "puppy undercoats". Can someone weigh in on that? Is there really such a thing? Do they actually blow their coat, apart from seasonal shedding, as they begin to mature? Thanks. Bob P.S. Poor boy got neutered (and micro-chipped) yesterday. I hate to see him with that Elizabethan Collar, especially when it catches on things as he walks around, not being able to judge how far it sticks out. But he seems to have accepted it pretty well. ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-08-16T14:27:36.000Z Both Miko and Moto blew their puppy coats. It was considerable and the puppy tumbleweeds were EPIC. As a shiba owner you may as well make peace with perpetual fluff balls floating about. Even when I vacuum 2x a day I still will encounter a tumbleweed here or there. I don't think you have anything to be concerned about. I have a house full of dogs in cones right now. I feel your pain. ## MommyofNiko · 2008-08-16T15:22:47.000Z Niko is blowing her coat again. I swear this Atl weather is terrible for poor shiba's! ## kojichan · 2008-08-16T17:06:39.000Z Thanks, Jessica. Actually, the shedding itself doesn't really bother me. I was just trying to understand if he's going through normal seasonal shedding (but it seemed to early for that), or if he is losing his pupply coat -- something real that they go through about this age on the way to adulthood. So I'll take your response as confirmation of that. : ) ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-08-16T17:33:29.000Z I think blowing coat is conditional, seasonal (or climate) and age dependent. But eventually, every shiba blows his coat in some degree.. For instance: Tsuki: when she blew her coat when she was about 10 months it was a very humid, hot spring here and you could tell where we brushed her, there was actually an indention of fur - it was like 3-D where it was blowing out, and smooth where the hair was already blown and brushed off. Kitsu: he hasn't blown per se, but he does get a lot of hair during weekly zoom groom brushes and our monthly furminator with him has to be outside. I think for him it might be more seasonal - he's going to be 2 this winter Hachi: She had a lot of her frizzy gray undercoat coming out when we picked her up this past May. Her coat seemed like she was a long haired shiba until we did multiple furminator sessions and continuous zoom groom pets, its like she lost 1/2 her body weight in fur! now tumbleweeds are coming out in chunks from her thigh area and butt fluff, so it seems never ending in this house!! She'll be 2 in october. I'm attaching a picture of my ex-foster dog, Kobe (now adopted, named Yoshi) when we picked him up, he was blowing coat in a major way, you could pull his hair out in chunks! it was so sad, he was a stray and not groomed for some time. After we furminated him like every day for a week, he looked like a normal shiba. Kobe/Yoshi: [image no longer available: 228_1208222067.jpg] ## kekti · 2008-08-16T18:40:11.000Z whats wierd with roxys shedding is that there wernt tumble weed fur or clumps it was/has been really spreed out ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-08-16T20:42:07.000Z whats weird about it? Maybe due to the climate you live in and she's not all that old yet, maybe she hasn't blown yet or will to that extent ever. Tsuki didn't blow her coat until after she was spayed. ## kekti · 2008-08-16T22:17:39.000Z she's blown her puppy coat i just think she sheds loosely like she sheds alot but she does it over a long period of time 2-3mo! ## kojichan · 2008-08-23T12:34:03.000Z Fur tree ..... (Silly, I know, but WTH). --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)