I have an interested breeder, but I'm trying to figure out what to tell her about the puppy's coat. His hair is more straight, and feels more course than the others. Everyone else seems to have really soft hair. I'm wondering if anyone can help me to determine what kind of coat this little guy might have? Both parents are F1B's. Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I posted a few pictures of him, and also two different girls, to see coat differences. The first two pics are of the girls, and the rest of them are of the boy that I'm needing help with.
I'm changing the pictures.....maybe these will show better. The last picture is two puppies together, not sure if you'll be able to tell the difference in this picture....
Jill, when I have had heavy shedding puppies, I can tell as early as 6 weeks.
Lightly shedding pups are harder to tell, but you can gently pull on the coat and if you get many hairs, you will have a shedder.
Often the light shedders will mature into non-shedding once they blow their puppy coat, but I always consider a pup to be a shedder if I gently pull and get hair.
The heavy shedders you can tell because the coat comes off when you pet them!
Thanks Jacque. So far when we brush Wrigley (she's 8 weeks, 3 days) there will be a tiny bit of fluff (very tiny) in the brush afterward. When we pet her (and yes, I gently pull, looking for hair, LOL!) I get absolutely no hair. So I can be hopeful that she will indeed be little or no shedding?
I know, Trina, it is really hard to know at this age. The texture is more of a give away to me...many F1s don't shed, but do have coarse coats.
My F1s did shed initially, but much less after their first year. But I have had shedding F1B puppies that surprised me too...so nothing is set in stone!
Boy, Trina, this is hard to tell by the pictures. I can tell more by what you say when you describe the feel.
It has been my experience that when a puppy coat feels coarse, they will have a more F1 coat quality...coarse and sometimes with shed.
In my F1B litters I get 3 general types of coats...the best is the wavy fleece and I can tell those within the first 3 weeks...the other two are Lab-like and curly wool. Sometimes the wool is soft and fleecy but more often than not the wool becomes coarse, but non shedding. The wool is also something I can tell immediately...but coarseness is not so easy to tell visually, I need to feel the coat to know. Once you feel the coarsness, it is likely to remain and not get softer.
Often F1B breeding will bring a throw back to the Lab...I have found that to be the case in several litters.
So, how does this affect the breeder that wants to purchase a puppy? I would say that if that breeder plans carefully and selects an exceptional coat on the other parent, they could produce lovely puppies...but I would expect some with coarse coats.
If I were breeding a dog with a coarse coat, I would look for a very Poodly (meaning silky soft curls) in the other parent...I would not breed back to a Poodle because with two F1Bs, you have a lot of Poodle already...but selecting a very nice coat could improve on the coarseness of this dog.
I would not eliminate this dog from breeding unless there are other factors that are "ify", such as borderline hips (I'd want excellent if the coat quality is not there) and non-carriers for PRA or PRC...things like that.
Of course, the Parti factor is a very valuable consideration...do you have any older puppies from these same parents to compare coats?
It is a tough decision but if this pup has great attributes, the coat quality would be a fair risk...if not, I'd pass this one up for breeding.
They are gorgeous pups...and they will do well in a pet family, of course, but for breeding I think it is important to factor in other things, not just coat.
Is the top picture the boy? Love the color of his eyes! Doodles go through so many coat changes, it would be hard to say but to me it looks like he will have long wavy coat. He is precious!