Coat Change Question — Coarse hair on back

[Beamer1115]

Hello doodle parents!

Beamer is my 16 week old F1 standard goldendoodle. 

For the past 1.5 weeks I have noticed that Beamer has been shedding and we have little tumbleweeds of fur all around the house! Additionally, he has developed thick, coarse, dry hair all along his back. This hair is darker than his soft fleecy hair. I’ve attached pictures to this post. 

Is this part of a coat change or should I be concerned about a possible allergy? 

As a first time doodle parent, I’m not quite sure what to expect. If this is part of a coat change, will this be his adult coat or is he going to be fleecy all over like the rest of his body? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can forget about food allergies. Beamer is way too young to have developed any kind of allergy, and food allergies are actually quite rare. They also don;t manifest as shedding.

Beamer is also too young for the coat change. 

I can't address the coarser hair along his back, but lots and lots of doodles do shed, and F1s in particular. My F1 was a very, very heavy shedder. Typically, if they are already shedding at 16 weeks, they are going to be shedders as adults, coat change or not. 

[Beamer1115]

Thanks for your reply Karen, I’m more concerned about this change from soft to coarse hair and allergies were just one thought as to what may have caused it. It’s good to know that food allergies can be ruled out though. 

I was fully aware that F1s are more prone to shedding before I got my pup. With that being said, Beamer didn’t start to shed until this change occured so I only mentioned it in case it is correlated. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It is very common for doodles to get a coarse stripe down their back.  It eventually goes away. This isn't a great photo, but you can see a darker stripe down Ned's back.  It is no longer there. Click on them to make them larger.

[Beamer1115]

Thank you for your reply! 

I was concerned because his hair had become pretty thin but it’s slowly returning back to normal and as you said the coarse stripe is going away! 

Ned’s a cutie!! Thank you for sharing. 

[AliandShooter]

My 15 week old f1 is going through the same thing! He didn’t shed when we brought him home but about 2 weeks ago I did start findindke little dust bunnies and now when I brush out his coat theirs plenty of hair stuck on it so I’m not sure if it is coat change he seems a little wavier or if it’s seasonal shedding as spring started already and theirs been plenty of warmer weather

[Beamer1115]

Thank you for your reply!

Yes! This is exactly what happened with Beamer, I would brush him daily and there was a lot of hair stuck in the brush in addition to the hair bunnies around the house. I think you’re right about the seasonal shedding with all the weather changes happening. 

Good news is that Beamer’s hair is returning back to normal. The coarse stripe is fading and his hair is becoming softer and fuller. He has a normal amount of hair coming out during brushing sessions too. I’ll upload pics at a later time! 

[Beamer1115]

Here are the updated pictures of Beamer’s hair. 

It is a bit difficult to tell by the pictures but the coarse hair is getting softer and the dark stripe isn’t as big as before. 

[Nala and Cooper]

I thought I was the only one who noticed this! I always thought it was from applying her monthly topical flea preventative, since the color change and coarseness would manifest only around the area of application. Hers is still noticeable, but is more subtle than it was previously. The flea meds were the only correlation I saw, don't know if this applies to anyone else!!

[Beamer1115]

Thank you for your reply!

That’s useful information to know! We were thinking about switching to a topical flea and tick preventative after a bad reaction with Trifexis but now I will be reconsidering the topical treatment. 

[Jordon Van Kooten]

My Cooper also has gone through the same thing, same age as your furbaby. The vet told me it was a coat change but people also told me it was way to early for him to be going through a coat change. The way you describe it is exactly what he has gone through. Now that I’ve gotten him brushed out well, he hasn’t shed since. So weird!!

[Beamer1115]

Thank you for your reply Jordan! 

I’ve also recieved varied responses; I spoke with a groomer who said it’s a coat change and Beamer may just be developing more of a retriever coat but as Karen said above our pups are too young for a coat change. . 

I’m not quite sure what to attribute it to at this point seeing that other doodle owners have noted correlations to different factors.

I do appreciate everyone’s input though! It seems like this is common in doodles and perhaps if we get enough responses then we might be able to pinpoint the cause(s). 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The stripe isn't part of wheat we mean when we say the coat change.  It is just a step in the life of so many doodles - perhaps because they are a mixed breed the different breed hairs are at war. :-}